One last hoop

Today I have spent the majority of my morning reviewing notes for tomorrow's exam, and frankly, I'm sick of it. For the most part, I have really enjoyed the class: I have found the readings interesting (minus Pound and Ashberry), the class discussions have been well constructed and enlightening, and even the paper I wrote for last week wasn't too much of an undertaking. But now I'm reviewing probably 25 poems, in addition to several pages of notes I have constructed around the study guide, in an attempt say something relevant about whatever it is Dr. VW sees fit to ask. Ugh.

I hate that he's running it like comps. I've already taken comps once, and that was plenty. How can I be expected to cram a semester's worth of material in my head when I have so little direction on what to remember? Isn't it a little much to ask a student to make relevant connections without any texts to refer to--especially when the exam is centered on poetry (the details of which are much more difficult to remember than the plot of a novel)? Of course, we had to do that with comps, but we had three months to prepare first of all, and secondly, we weren't comparing poetry to poetry. And we knew which six poems to read!

I also hate that, because we've gone late so many times this semester, the "fix" is to give us more time to complete the exam. He said that this would not mean the exam will be more difficult, but if we have 45 minutes to revise our essays, I find that hard to believe. Especially since, when taking the four hour comp exams, three of those hours are to be dedicated to writing and one to revising. I finished writing my last essay with about five minutes left.

I hate that there wasn't a loophole for students who have a) already taken comps and b) do not plan to further their education. I've done it once, and I'm not going to do it again. So what's the point?

The point is, it's the last hoop I have to jump through before Saturday. I don't like it and I find it relatively useless, but it must be done. So I'm going to stop whining and get back to studying. Just don't expect me to be happy about it.