exam strategy
This "interweb", as the young kids call it, is an extremely useful procrastination tool. It's 1040 and I've not yet started revision thanks to sites like this
In other news, last night's anxiety dream involved sitting the tragedy paper, with my head crammed full of quotations, theories and clever ideas about tragic art stretching back to the fifth century BC, only to discover a page full of questions about such things as sustainable cod fisheries (The question started "We all like a bit of battered cod with our chips from time to time, but ...."). My voice went up an octave: "I can't answer this!!!! I can't fucking answer this!!!!! The Bastards!!" (and, yes, the multiple exclamation marks were indeed necessary).
Mad Irish Julie - would you like to entertain my readers with that wonderful answer from your linguistics exam?
posted by Murphy at
9:33 AM
2 Comments:
it was a long time ago, but i remember it like this:
i had to take a compulsory linguistics course in first year. however, i didn't have to pass it UNLESS i failed a first year subject. i really didn't enjoy linguistics. so, confident that i'd passed all my exams, i had a wee bit of fun in the linguistics exam. this is what i wrote for one of my answers. please bear in mind i've forgotten some of the details, as i wrote it in 1992.
Q: Define the term telegraphese.
A: The telegraphese is a little-known animal that resembles a koala bear. Their name derives from their natural habitat, the telegraph pole, on which they spend their lives and around which they wrap their legs. The telegraphese communicate with each other through short, staccato barks. A peaceable group, they have traditionally lived in a matrilinear, non-hierarchical, communal and above all joyous society. They are fond of choral music. Unfortunately their way of life has been threatened by societal changes in the late twentieth century, in particular the increased use of fertilisers, which have had an effect on their food supply, and the decreased sense of community spirit, which has made them feel slightly sad. The next few years will be crucial in determining their future survival and in particular the extent to which they are both prepared and able to adapt to that changing society."
of course, the ironic thing is that i ended up failing a subject, so had to repeat AND pass the linguistics subject. i'm afraid i've forgotten what telegraphese does mean, which i think kind of proves my point that this is a silly subject.
Thank you, Julie - that's even better than how I remembered it!
I think I'm going to adopt an authoritative-sounding persona for my practical criticism exam, you know, like the one I used for my freudian reading of the Beastie Boys' lyrics
http://educatingbecky.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html
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