One exit examination is required for the student who chooses to do a thesis. Thesis writers must take an exam in an area different from that of the thesis: e.g., someone writing a thesis on Dickens couldn't take the exam in nineteenth-century British literature. For the student who does not write a thesis, two exit examinations are required.
Following are the readings lists for the various historical periods compiled by instructors expert in those periods. Selections are somewhat negotiable in the event that a student has a particular interest in an author or genre not present or well-represented on a particular list.