logicbutton (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
logicbutton) wrote2004-05-10 07:33 pm
logicbutton) wrote2004-05-10 07:33 pm
(no subject)
I'm done with six pages of my German paper! Yay! This thing is actually moving along now, although I've been taking long breaks to eat and collect myself. It has to be one of the most ridiculous papers I've ever written. Normally, when I'm writing a paper in English and take a break, I glance over the last paragraph to remember what point I'm currently trying to prove. This doesn't work quite as well with German. So I'm pretty sure it sounds more like a string of vaguely related sentences ending with book quotes. The quotes themselves may or may not prove anything; I feel like I might be making some either wild or extremely obvious assumptions here.
Faust: "The devil is an egoist/and would not just for heaven's sake/turn into a philanthropist (1651-53)."
Me: Ooh, ooh! That means, um, that Faust has definitely got Mephisto's number, because Mephisto's motives are BAD! Because he's the DEVIL! But on the other hand, Mephisto said earlier that all the bad stuff he tries to do works out for the better, so he is COMPLEX! And that must fit into the point I'm trying to prove somehow, because it's in my THESIS STATEMENT. Or, wait, is it? What is my thesis statement, anyway? I think I'll check my e-mail.
And the next twenty minutes are spent checking my e-mail. Eventually I decide to get back to the paper, at which point I have to figure out (again) what I want to say, and another twenty minutes are spent trying to write the idea in German. It's been a fun exam week.
ETA: Nach ungefaehr zehn Millionen, sorry, after about ten million distractions, I've gotten to the last page! I can see the end of the tunnel! Woohoo! My brain is soooo fried right now
Son of the ETA: Gaaaah all I need is a 14-line conclusion and I'll be done! Why can't I think of anything to say? I hate conclusions. Can't readers draw their own damn conclusions?
Grandson of the ETA: I'm DOOOOOONE! Score! Life is good again.
Well, okay, life just doesn't suck quite so hard again.
Faust: "The devil is an egoist/and would not just for heaven's sake/turn into a philanthropist (1651-53)."
Me: Ooh, ooh! That means, um, that Faust has definitely got Mephisto's number, because Mephisto's motives are BAD! Because he's the DEVIL! But on the other hand, Mephisto said earlier that all the bad stuff he tries to do works out for the better, so he is COMPLEX! And that must fit into the point I'm trying to prove somehow, because it's in my THESIS STATEMENT. Or, wait, is it? What is my thesis statement, anyway? I think I'll check my e-mail.
And the next twenty minutes are spent checking my e-mail. Eventually I decide to get back to the paper, at which point I have to figure out (again) what I want to say, and another twenty minutes are spent trying to write the idea in German. It's been a fun exam week.
ETA: Nach ungefaehr zehn Millionen, sorry, after about ten million distractions, I've gotten to the last page! I can see the end of the tunnel! Woohoo! My brain is soooo fried right now
Son of the ETA: Gaaaah all I need is a 14-line conclusion and I'll be done! Why can't I think of anything to say? I hate conclusions. Can't readers draw their own damn conclusions?
Grandson of the ETA: I'm DOOOOOONE! Score! Life is good again.
Well, okay, life just doesn't suck quite so hard again.