FAQs: Rumors & Questions

Do professors in the department keep secret grade books?

Some do and some don’t. But even if a professor keeps a private entry of grades for papers, exams, oral reports, participation, and so forth, it functions more like a memory aid than an official record. Since your final grade will be determined by your performance over the course of the semester—taking into account factors like effort and improvement—the professor’s written comments on papers probably provide a more accurate index of how you are doing.

Why doesn’t the department offer courses on literature in translation?

Because we are an English department, not a comparative literature department, foreign literatures in translation fall outside of our field. We do not prohibit some translations from being taught in our regular course offerings. On the contrary, several of us use translations in our classes in order to ramify historical and cultural understandings of the literature in question.

Whom should one ask about graduate study in English?

The chair of the department is available by appointment to discuss graduate school plans and applications for post-graduate grants.

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