big day coming

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 11:44 am

MA exam tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Will I ever again face being called upon to discuss the relationship of André Breton's Nadja to the Romantic conception of the woman? Or the medieval antecedents to Rabelaisian humor? Good God, I hope not.

laughingcrow · Post by **laughingcrow** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 12:09 pm

Good luck...make sure you get a good nights sleep and take at least three spare pens!

SoLikeCandy · Post by **SoLikeCandy** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 12:37 pm

May the Goddess of Essay Questions watch over you and keep you.

Poppet · Post by **Poppet** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 12:59 pm

bon chance! viel gluck!

best wishes on the exam!

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 1:09 pm

wear clean underwear.

you never know.

HungupStrungup · Post by **HungupStrungup** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 1:14 pm

mood swung wrote:wear clean underwear.

you never know.

And I was going to suggest no underwear, and for the same reason. Who knew?

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 1:46 pm

miss buenos aires wrote:MA exam tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Will I ever again face being called upon to discuss the relationship of André Breton's Nadja to the Romantic conception of the woman? Or the medieval antecedents to Rabelaisian humor? Good God, I hope not.

Funny, someone just asked me about this in a job interview. Had nothing to say, but I'm sure Miss BA would've aced that too!

Good luck!

oily slick · Post by **oily slick** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 2:09 pm

i never thought those rabels were that funny a bunch, really.

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 2:40 pm

Good luck.

Drink a lot, but only after.

Gillibeanz · Post by **Gillibeanz** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 3:30 pm

Have been away for a few days so I didnt get the chance to wish you luck. I hope it went well for you Miss BA.

Goody2Shoes · Post by **Goody2Shoes** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 3:47 pm

Whatever you decide about the underwear issue, don't forget to wear your thinking cap!! I give you an A just for being able to spell "Rabelaisian". Good luck!

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 5:36 pm

Ensuing silence means either it sucked, or you kicked ass and have been drunk since. We wait patiently. Typically French to have you doing exams on Saturday. I can remember thinking as a kid that they were mental to send kids to school on Saturday. Hope it went well in Gargantuan proportions.

Post by **spooky girlfriend** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 11:06 am

Yes, Miss BA - we're dying to know how it went.

We do hope it was a total success!

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 12:19 pm

The silence was due only to my newly limited Internet access, as I have been talking about it to the steadily dwindling population of "anyone who will listen." I did get a good night's sleep beforehand, and I did get drunk afterwards, though I did cut myself off at the eighth drink (generally the line for me).

Long Essay-Oh God, did this one ever suck. The lesser of two evils involved writing about a novel I hadn't read, so to camouflage my ignorance, I tried to be equally vague about all the books I was writing on. I had to compare the 19th-century realist novel (which happens to be among my favorite things ever) to the Nouveau Roman (which happens to be among my least favorite things ever). So after a paragraph each on the narrators in Balzac and Zola, I was like, "The narrator plays a much different role in Duras's Le ravissement de Lol V. Stein, as he really doesn't know what he's talking about, and is completely unreliable as a narrator. And it's kind of the same in Beckett's Molloy. More or less. Probably."

Textual Analysis-Also 19th century, and Verlaine, who's so deliciously straightforward compared to his boyfriend. When Verlaine's sad, you know it. When he says that poetry should be like music, he explains why and how, and demonstrates it in the actual poem ("De la musique avant toute chose/ Et pour cela, préfère l'Impair"). I ran out of time, but I think I did alright.

Short Essay-I had the good fortune to have read all the works in this section. Medieval Lais, Rousseau's Confessions, Nerval's Sylvie and Beckett's En attendant Godot. I did manage to contradict myself at least once in each essay, but I was bound and determined to prove that I'd read everything, so there are tons of details, relevant and not.

So, for better or for worse, it's over. If you ever need to know anything about French literature, don't hesitate to ask. And even though no one's asked, I will tell you: if you only read two classics of French literature, read Madame Bovary and The Human Condition. They're the best.

Post by **spooky girlfriend** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 1:06 pm

Well, Miss BA - it is finally over. But I often feel that these tests aren't actually accurate depictions of your overall knowledge of higher educational experience anyway.

Good cover though to be a bit vague on all the novels - half of taking a test is knowing HOW to take a test. Your post here reminded me of Rousseau's Confessions - had it in college and hadn't thought of it in years.

Congratulations on completing what sounds like an exhausting exam and if I come up with any french lit questions I'll be sure to let you know.

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 2:02 pm

Well, Spooky, should you ever wish to discuss the processes of the self-portrait in that fine work, look me up.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 5:44 pm

Well done, Miss Limited Access. So is Beckett considered French and a regular part of the syllabus? Sounds like it. Nothing like spreading yourself around - he's part of the French literary cannon, and the Irish and therefore also included on the syllabus for 'British' lit, which generally means 'British Isles' lit. In the same way that Conrad is both Polish and 'British'. I avidly read almost all of Beckett's prose as a student, loved it, almost more than the plays, and would love to be able to read him in French and compare. So where to now? Back to the US? More France? Elsewhere?

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 5:10 am

Miss BA - phew - I'll bet you're glad it's all over. When do you get your results?

As far as "Will I ever again face being called upon to discuss the relationship of André Breton's Nadja to the Romantic conception of the woman? Or the medieval antecedents to Rabelaisian humor? Good God, I hope not. "

I wouldn't bet on it - some of these guys will keep you on your toes. Not me though - way out of my league!

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 10:13 am

Otis: My father, who never quite gave up on the idea of me becoming a writer, started this idea of me becoming the next Beckett when I went to France. You know, write in French, write in English, translate my works back and forth, become internationally renowned and enter the canons of both my native and adopted literatures. Hasn't happened. It's worth reading Beckett in both languages, though, and comparing: the effects he goes for often subtly differ depending on the language.

I get my results soon, like in the next few days. I'll let you know how it all turns out--but it doesn't realy matter whether I get the degree or not, because I got a job at UNICEF! Yay! I get to speak French and help people, which is all a girl could ask for.

HungupStrungup · Post by **HungupStrungup** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 10:28 am

miss buenos aires wrote:I got a job at UNICEF! Yay! I get to speak French and help people, which is all a girl could ask for.

Congratulations! Will you be working at the UN, or 3rd Ave., or at another of their offices?

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 11:08 am

Promise not to stalk me? UNICEF has its own building.

Poppet · Post by **Poppet** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 1:41 pm

oooohhhh!!! massive congratulations to Miss BA!!!!!!!!!!

i'll reply to your letter sometime soonish. school has reared its freakish little head again, and demands attention.

HungupStrungup · Post by **HungupStrungup** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 1:55 pm

miss buenos aires wrote:Promise not to stalk me? UNICEF has its own building.

I adhere to a strict "No Stalking" policy.

Post by **spooky girlfriend** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 3:41 pm

Yeah for you, Miss BA!

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 5:21 pm

Well done, good place to work.

Imagination dead imagine...

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