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GRAVY! one down ... 2006-02-08 — 9:17 p.m. |
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One exam down, two to go!! That major exam was definitely pretty rough. I open the envelope, see the first question on the sheet, and swear audibly. I don't even SWEAR, people. But swear I did. You would too if the first question asked about "hard pastoral" if you'd never even HEARD that phrase in your LIFE. Then the second question asked to compare the use of dialogue in two different works by Thomas More. Too bad I only read TM's Utopia. But it was OK because I only had to do 3 out of 5 for that first section (16th century), so I just did my best on the three next questions, which involved mock-encomium, satire, and allegory. I even got to use the phrases "brothel slime" and "feculent rain." The second section (17th century) was fantastic. Dr. B. just seems to ask the same kinds of questions every year, so I was pretty well prepared for this one. The third section made me swear even more. This was the drama section ... DRAMA ... my main bag. The questions were HORRENDOUS. Just ... horrendous. I later showed the questions to Ren. majors who had taken the exam in past semesters and even THEY thought they were horrendous. Two of them weren't bad (Shakespeare's Friars and comparing two playwrights' depictions of magic) but the other three ... good GRAVY. One asked about the historical importance of the Children of St. Paul's. I had to go with that one, becuase I'd at least heard of childrens' companies, whereas the other two questions were not happening. One was "What eveidence, if any, do we have that early modern audiences considered the plays topical." WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN??? I have no clue. Neither did the past majors. The other one was "Explain the significance of 'Enter Above.' " Uhhh ... it ... signifies that someone enters the stage from above? Yeah. The afternoon test was pretty grueling, but at least I had a good handle on the questions. 16th c was about determining the genre of the Faerie Queene, 17th was natural philosophy, and Dr. K. totally redeemed himself from that nefarious morning exam horror for throwing me the softball of all softballs, Revenge Tragedy. On the whole, I can easily say that it was the worst writing I've done since I thought I could write poetry in high school. But I passed!!! Wheeeeeeee! Now all I have to do is learn how to read Old English by Tuesday!! I do have some funny stories about my new batch of students, but they'll have to wait. Cynewulf is calling ... |
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