Category Archives: comps

It looks like I’ll be taking oral exams this Tuesday.? The graduate coordinator’s office emailed me this afternoon, and I’ve passed written comps. The standard thing to say at this point (it’s factually true) is thus: “They can never make … Continue reading →

Perhaps appropriately, I’ve just written my last comprehensive written exam at a small table at Panera Bread in Athens.? When ten o’clock came and went with no exam questions, I decided to take matters into my own hands and drive … Continue reading →

The last written exam will come down the pipe in an hour and a half. Of the three exams, this one covers the field with which I’m most familiar, but it’s a MASSIVE field. My longtime readers (both of you) … Continue reading →

Teague’s exam is in the can.? This one was thirteen double-spaced pages long (still in three hours), but on the long essay she asked me to discuss theology and literature, so what did she expect but a deluge? Tomorrow’s exam … Continue reading →

The exam that frightens me most starts at nine this morning.? There was no reading list, and Dr. Teague takes pride in that.? She told me to think about how I’d teach Renaissance Drama and how I’d schematize the plays … Continue reading →

This is definitely turning out to be a rite of passage.? Given the raw amount of text I cranked out, and given that I’m pretty sure it all pertained to the questions, I know rationally that my odds of passing … Continue reading →

I just transmitted my Renaissance Poetry and Prose exam to the graduate office.? I typed eleven double-spaced pages, covering a hundred years of literary texts, in three hours.? Although I’ve only left my computer desk’s chair to go to the … Continue reading →

I can do this. I’ve still got the lingering paranoia that I’m going to get a long essay on entirely unfamiliar material, but I’m pretty sure that’s just paranoia.? I’m working all day today at Bogart Library, but I’m taking … Continue reading →

Sidney. Spenser. Marlowe.? Donne. Herbert. Herrick. Crashaw. Cowley. Marvell. ’nuff said. I’m spending the work day getting ready to write an exam essay on the poets (other than Bill and John) that Freer is most likely to throw at me … Continue reading →

I decided, as the timeline grew, that character lists and plot synopses would have made the timeline of English Renaissance literature so unwieldy that it would be useless for studying. So I called the project to a close this morning, … Continue reading →

I just got done installing a portable hard drive and file backup utility on our family desktop.? I sometimes regret sinking money into this machine, but as long as the Internet doesn’t make any sudden leaps on us, it ought … Continue reading →

Mary wasn’t feeling great this morning, so I drove her to work, and thus I am studying today at Dacula Public Library.? I figured I’d take along Milton, just to brush up, and the morning has been great.? I reread … Continue reading →

I’m feeling good now.? I dusted off another theology and lit book yesterday, and I’m in the process of compiling a timeline of the things I’ve read now.? I’ve got three working days left this week and four next, and … Continue reading →