Knee Deep in Finals

I'm finishing up my last semester of courses at the University of Maine at Farmington. Next semester, I'll be a student teacher, and while it will be a lot of work, it won't be the same as 16 credits of academic courses. So, I suppose that this week is the last finals week of my undergraduate career.

I just took my final for Political Psychology. Not too bad, I think I stomped the test. It was comprised of seven short answer questions that required a paragraph or two, and then two essay questions. Its nice to have gotten that one out of the way.

My only other timed test is tomorrow in my Romantic Era Literature course. That's going to be a tough test. It will cover all the readings since the mid-term exam, and I need to do a fair amount of review.

Aside from my two final exams, I've gout roughly 40 pages of writing due in various course. I've finished about half of that, and I'm starting my final 20 page paper for my 400 level Early European Lit course. I'm writing the paper on the imagery of weapons of war in The Song of Roland, and how certain portrayals of weapons illustrate a bias within the text. I am examining the Oliphant, Roland's famous horn made from an elephant tusk, as a symbol of the covenants that bond the feudal system. The Oliphant is a symbol of Roland's excess and eventually begins his death scene. While the Oliphant is a symbol of man's excess, feudal covenants, and mortality, Roland's sword Durendal is a symbol of immortality and the invincible covenant of man and Lord. It is interesting that the simple changing of case in from "lord" to "Lord" changes the meaning of the term drastically. I suppose that feudalism isn't far from religion.

So there you have it. I'm knee deep in... finals. Wish me luck.