All I Can Do Is Try…

A mediocre element of this week
I took the final exam for A210 on Wednesday.  Part of me thought that I should be nervous, another part of me thought that I hadn’t done enough revision.  So, I get into this exam, in, of all places, Essex County Cricket Ground and when the exam beings I have a look through all of the nine available questions.  I chose the first one which was to write an essay on the language, themes and performance of an extract of The Rover.  Apparently that’s a standard question in every A210 exam, you either write on the provided extract of The Rover, or Othello.  As I hadn’t read Othello, I figured The Rover was my best bet.  I cannot say that I had read much of The Rover either, but at least I knew where in the play it came.

Then I chose question four for the bit about Prose.  It was something to do how characters developing into someone better is the most major element of the realist novel.  The two novels that I chose to use (although, the question stated I could get away with using only one as evidence) were Pride and Prejudice and Frankenstein.  I never did read Pride and Prejudice, instead I got a good overview and became very familiar with that.  As for Frankenstein, well I had read and rather liked it, and it provided me with a really good comparison to Pride and Prejudice.

The final question that I chose was number seven.  It was something about Poetry, and how the elements of content and form are as similar between the Romantics as they were different.  Having memorised very little in terms of any poetry, let alone Romantic stuff, I waded my way through that.  I ended up going mostly along the social lines of elevated language and poet arrogance, and comparing it to others who were not.  I learned the poem I Am by John Clare a number of years ago, that helped as he was in the book of Romantics.

Now I only have to wait for the next two and a half months to get the results.  Two and a half months.  It’ll be Christmas by the time I get it.  I don’t care so much about whether I pass.  I am just so desperate to get away from this job and this place that it’s inconsequential at the moment.  One of the more surprising things at this exam was the amount of other people there.  There were also Environmental Sciences and Maths students taking exams, and most of their candidates seemed to turn up.  There were approximately eight missing from A210 exam.  They were those who should have been there, had obviously said they would be there, and had made no other arrangements to do the exam elsewhere, but simply didn’t turn up.  You’ve paid over £600 for this course, surely you may as well see it through to the end?

Another mediocre thing that happened this week
U211 is in full swing, and I have half an essay due on Monday.  If my parents hadn’t have been here, and I hadn’t have needed to do the A210 exam then I would have it done and submitted by now.  In fact, I wrote most of it this morning while at work, and will submit it over the weekend.  The most mediocre element of this, is that my tutorials for U211 are on Saturday mornings.  Right…I’ll have to travel for about an hour after we move away.  Wonderful.  I hate submitting the first TMA for OU courses, it’s always the one I’m most dubious about, but having read some other people’s (yes, these ones are all put on the tutor group forum) attempts, it would appear that I have a better grasp of English than other people in my tutor group.  I quote, “from the research what I done”.  Yeah, I couldn’t believe that I was seeing that in a piece of academic writing either.  Oh yeah, my tutorials are going to be great fun.

Some good things that have happened this week.

OMG!  I CAN READ BOOKS AGAIN!
I kid you not.  I sat in that exam, and the way I got through all three hours of it was by telling myself that I would be able to read a fiction book after this.  If you get through these three hours, despite the agony of your hand, you can read that fiction book which arrived this morning. I got through all three hours of that exam despite the agony in my hand, and that evening I began to read The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.  Yeah, it’s a shame I had to get the reprinted version, but hey-ho, it’s the original text.  I like it so far.  The focalisation is great, it even feels like a movie as you read it because of the way the focus changes.  As the minutes of this exam ticked by I could feel this weight disappearing from my shoulders and just knew that I’d be able to read, and read soon.  I haven’t felt so relieved in such a long time.

And, while I was doing that exam, the 1998 TV movie version of the book was on TV.  The Father-in-Law kindly recorded it for me, and I may have to watch it very soon.  I asked him to record it for two reasons, not that I told him them.  One was that in general the 2009 movie hasn’t had great reviews, the second was that Vincent D’Onofrio’s in it. Shh!  He’s Mr. Blue.

It’s the weekend
Yep, that’s right.  It’s Friday afternoon, that means it’s the weekend.  After the tutorial tomorrow it will be even better.  I’m very much looking forward to a couple of days away from that hell hole.  I wish it were becoming permanent sooner.

Tags: A210, Books, Degree, Dickheads, English Language and Literature, Exam, I hate my job, John Godey, Open University, OU, The Taking of Pelham 123, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, U211, Work

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