Tuesday 7 October 2008

Who's afraid of the big bad essay?

You might be wondering what the hell it is I'm actually studying here in London. I have 4 subjects/modules this year:

1. Shakespeare. A full year of Shakespeare. Just Shakespeare. That should be time enough for studying in minute detail every single last napkin he ever cared to scribble on, every single one of his shopping lists and love letters. But here there is just a one-hour lecture per week, so we're concentrating on a few plays. It's potentially both interesting and boring. Yet, as of now, it's just plain scary.

Essays. The very word makes me want to do the Homer: yell, throw my hands in the air, run, slam the door, start the engine & vanish with a screech of burning tyres.

2. Modern American Fiction. Got it just in time, exchanging it for a much nastier and boring subject (Approaches to Text, shudder). Looks awfully promising. When I saw, at last, Science Fiction treated as literature, I knew I had to get this one. On the downside, assessment is also by scary essays (shudder, shudder)

3. Translation for Professional Purposes. Two way translation between English and Spanish, with specialized topics (legal, environmental, IT, etc). Very, very interesting, and quite easy for me on the Eng-Sp front. Sp-Eng might prove trickier. Still a walk in the park in comparison to the above.

4. Writing Fiction - Advanced. Creative Writing, that is. Yes. Ohh yes. Yes, yes, yes. I can't believe it's a subject as such, one that I can even get credits for. It's such a pleasure that it's difficult to believe, it feels quite out of place.

And as of now, apart from these courses, I'm attending tutorials and a course on essay writing. The big bad essay is coming. He'll huff, and he'll puff and he'll want to blow my house in. I'm gathering bricks as fast as I can.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, what about the would-be Christ super-short-story?
I wish it were great success already.
c'mon, don't be so modest!

Anonymous said...

That was me, with em from ma

MakurA said...

Pues la verdad es que las tres últimas asignaturas suenan bastante bien. Tronco si esto fuera un juego de estrategia y fueras a un campeonato, te pondrían puntos negativos en deportividad por optimizar tu ejército tanto, cabrón! xDDD

Por cierto, hablando de clases, yo ya he empezado las mías de ilustración. El profe me mete mazo de caña, y creo que voy a aprender un huevo (con lo que pago al mes ya me vale aprender mucho). Ya te contaré por mail cuando sea persona y saque tiempo para escribir con ganas xDDD

Un abrazote!

PS. Desde varios días atrás tengo la sensación de que los de Blogger han bajado el nivel de dificultad de la maquinita de escribir letras. Últimamente hasta acierto a la primera sin tener que poerme vizco! ^.^'

paumickey said...

I had already written yo a comment here, but somehow it has been erased!! :-(
I think ypu're subjects are great fun!!
In the end I've taken this year the subject with El Madkouri, it's not that bad but everyone knows more than I do...En fin...
Good luck with your essays!!

Scholarly said...

anonymous Ma: it was quite a success, even though I suck at reading what I write.

Maku: bien por tí. Dale duro a la ilustración. O a algo, dale duro a lo q sea, pero conviértete en un experto y friki de algo. Y escríbeme, carallo :P

Pau: pozí q lo son. El Madkouri? Y quí hase lí mujér iendo a trábajar, cuando tínia que cúidar del nínio? Good luck with that! ^_^