The marks are in

[lareinenoire]

Picked up last term's essays. Suffice it to say the weather echoed my mild to moderate terror of this particular errand. It's been raining all day.

They were...lower than I wanted.

I passed both of them, thank God. If I hadn't, I'd probably be suffering a nervous breakdown right now. And, thanks to my very high mark from first term, my average has barely scraped past the minimum mark for the Ph.D. programme.

It's ironic that the essay I was more confident about was the one that came out with the lower mark. I was sure I'd written a nice, coherent piece, but apparently it contained rather large logistical gaps that I just hadn't seen. I managed to scrape the mark they gave me, on account of the vast amounts of research. Thank goodness it counted for something; I certainly spent enough time on it.

Of course, the silver lining on the cloud is that the essay that picked up the High Pass mark is the jumping-off point for my dissertation. And most of the problems pointed out by the examiner--i.e. lack of secondary sources, no real discussion of the parallels between Dumas' theatre and fiction, etc--are all things that will be dealt with in detail in the dissertation.

So I suppose it all evens out cosmically.

I think I'm going to drop my clothing into the washing machine and have a drink. Preferably something alcoholic. I don't care that it's the middle of the afternoon. Sometimes you just need alcohol.

Comments

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

Drink long and deep - you've earned it - you're on your PhD course and that's what matters.

Remember that in academe it's the stuff you've done most recently that counts - and since you know you have it in you to make the next mark so much better... well, there you are then.

Congratulations on having broken through that barrier. The rest will come in due time.

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

Thanks lots. The problem with the PhD is that I'm only conditionally accepted at the moment--they're waiting on the results of my M.Phil. dissertation (and the essays). I suppose all this means is that I need to produce a masterpiece of literary criticism in the next three weeks. ::weak smile::

[quistis218.livejournal.com]

I agree with you completely about the alcohol. I recommend Armenian cognac. It's the best.
Good luck with your work, btw.

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

Hmm...Armenian? Never had that. Just old-fashioned French cognac, which I'm quite fond of. I suspect I'll have to chase it down; you've piqued my curiosity.

[quistis218.livejournal.com]

According to my mom, it's the best.
:)

[rosamund.livejournal.com]

::sends hugs::

I'll be on tonight and there can be, in the immortal words of the Ideal Husband director:

"More Fluffy!"

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

Fluffiness will help. You're an angel.

[atropos333.livejournal.com]

Nuts to cognac. That's a special occasion drink. Bad grades call for whisky. Preferably bourbon. Under no circumstances is scotch acceptable.

Good 'ole fashion beat your spouse, date a relative, kick a dog, smoke unfiltered cigarettes, up yours to the world bourbon. It's what gets it done when the world is shitty.