Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Comps Week

Yesterday, I took the first part of my comprehensive exams. After reading and studying since February, it is a relief to have this part of my graduate program underway. Now, I just have to make it through parts 2 and 3 on Wednesday and Friday.

I felt pretty good about the questions I got yesterday. I had to answer three out of five, and fortunately, three were ones that I had approximately prepared for. I felt good about the questions while I was answering them - of course, afterward there is the temptation to second-guess - mostly worrying about whether I wrote enough. However, I am trying to minimize that impulse.

Favorite things from comps: Middlemarch by George Eliot and the poems by Gerald Manley Hopkins

Least favorite: Lukacs (did I even spell that right? anyway, he is incomprehensible)

Best strategy advice: start early, make a calendar, read a little bit each day, take notes immediately; also, having the notes of someone who had a similar list is great

Mistakes: taking notes in the book without transfering them to the notebook - you won't remember what the poem is about

Extra advice: don't labor over a text that is just too difficult or boring - you're eating into your time - read enough so that you have an idea of the content and style, then find a summary or someone's notes on it - chances are, you are not going to be asked about that specific text anyway

1 comment:

X said...

Yay! One down, two to go -- you'll be done before you know it! :)