This week and last week were my finals week here at the Uni Tuebingen. I only had three finals total, and they were in English, but I did not really know what to expect from them, as they were my first tests ever while studying here in Germany.
Last week Hannah and I studied hard for our Wednesday exam on 17th Century Literature. I was the first one done, followed by Hannah shortly after, and we strolled out pretty confident.
This past Tuesday I had my Comparative Politics of Developing Countries final. Helina is in that class with me, so we procrastinated as long as we could with studying, but eventually met on the Monday before for our study session. The test was not too bad, but with only 20 points available as half of our grade, it was pretty stressful. I don't think I did as well on that exam as I would have liked.
Today was my last exam on American Poetry of the 1950s and 60s. It was an oral exam, so I thought I could use a little help in preparation. So today I went over to Hannah's before my test and she helped me study a bit. After a while, the time came for me to head to my doom... oh wait I mean exam.
I got there with enough time so that I could quickly look over a few things in the hallway before the exam. As I walked past, I could see that my Professor was in her office. Good sign. But as I was sitting in the hallway in the minutes before, a woman came up and went into her office, and they started talking. I did not want to interrupt, so I just sat there. The Professor stepped out of her office after a few minutes to look to see if I was there. She saw me looking at my papers, so said that if I needed to take the three minutes or so that were left before the official time of the exam, that I should take them. She then said to just knock on her door when I was ready.
After I put my papers away, I hesitated to knock on the door. I didn't want to interrupt her talking with whoever was in the room, but I also had a final to take. I stood there kind of awkwardly for a minute, and then knocked. As it turns out the lady in the room with my Professor was going to take minutes of the exam. As if I wasn't terrified enough. Now I had to worry about what the other person in the room was writing the entire time. The test was split into two sections. The first was about the course material, and was ten minutes long. The second was based on a reading list that I had compiled, and should have read in my own time. Part two of the exam was ten minutes as well.
So on top of all the other course material, and facts, and authors that I had to learn, I also had to read:
3 novels
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (1949)
4 short stories
The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe (1843)
Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving (1819)
To Build a Fire by Jack London (1908)
A Haunted House by Virginia Woolf (1921)
3 plays
The Crucible by Arthur Miller (1952)
Hamlet by Shakespeare (1599-1602?)
Angels in America by Tony Kushner (1993)
8 poems
Let America be America Again by Langston Hughes (1935)
William Shakespeare Sonnet 18 (1609)
A Song about Myself by John Keats (1895)
I Carry Your Heart with Me by E.E. Cummings (1920)
And the Moon and the Stars and the World by Charles Bukowski (1969)
A Poison Tree by William Blake (1794)
Fire and Ice by Robert Frost (1920)
Heart’s Needle by W.D. Snodgrass (1959)
Writing a New Nation: Literary Bohemianism and the Re-Conceiving of America by Erik Mortenson (2004)
Concerning the Influence of America on the Mind: Western Settlements,'English Writers,' and the Case of US Culture by James Chandler (1998)
So back to part one. She asked me a lot of questions about formal things and terminology that I did not know, as this was my first poetry class, and the other German students in my class take a terminology class as a prerequisite to this class. That must have marked me down a bit. A lot of the time I felt like she had to lead me to the answers, and that I was mainly either guessing or BS-ing. Which was frustrating, because despite my BS-ing, I was actually well prepared for this final!
Part two came along, which she transitioned into by asking me questions about one of the scholarly articles, which I did not read as closely as I should have, as the other texts were way more interesting and easy to read. She thought that I was just blanking on the information, so she graciously moved on to the next topic. And here's the part that makes me most upset. She did not ask me about any of the books or the plays, but instead had me look at the form of Let America be America Again, which I could not give terminology for. She could have asked anything else about that poem, like social background, or inspiration, or anything! But no.. she asks me about personification and other terms that I haven't used since high school.
After the exam the Professor asked me to wait in the hall while they deliberated my grade. They called me back in and told me that I had earned a 1.5, which would translate somewhere around an A-.
My Professor was really nice and wished me well. When I left, though, I was frustrated, because I know I could have done better. I called Hannah up, and to cheer me up we watched The Lion King. Because there's nothing quite like a good old Disney movie to remind me of the play that I read that I didn't get to talk about during my oral exam (that's right.. Hamlet). Just joking! Really I had a good time, and it was nice to relax after the stress of the past two weeks.
The stress has been getting to me so much that I have been having scary and weird dreams that have been waking me up at night. The other night I had a dream that a shark was trying to eat me and everyone I loved. It wouldn't attack the people I didn't know, just the people I know and loved. What a cruel shark. It didn't even have frickin' laser beams on it's head.
Another crazy dream that I had, was that I was playing soccer in a big stadium, when all of a sudden all of the people I was playing against started to kill everyone! I don't know where I come up with this stuff. (Although, it may be that I've been watching too many spy related movies/shows). My subconscious must have been really taking a hit with these finals.
And finally, last night. Last night I had the dream that lighting was striking everyone in the room, and I had to out-run it. I woke up to find that there was a construction truck on my street, and the flashing light of the truck was flashing in my room. Woke me up, and didn't sleep well after that.
I am hoping that loved ones will stop being attacked by sharks and lighting and soccer playing killers, because I need some sleep! If only I were a dream analyst! Hopefully, with finals being over I will get a bit more sleep!
And now, officially, I am on my two month break, which hopefully means more exciting posts and lots more pictures! In less than two weeks, I had to Paris with the ladies! But before that I am going to take a few more trips around Germany, as there is still a lot I need to see!
Until next time!
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