Three is a magic number

Point number three is to talk about my school stuff. And I don't mean my teaching stuff...this is Amanda-as-Student here.

During the third year of a PhD program, particularly in English, most students are taking their exams and going "ABD," which is shorthand for "All But Dissertation." It indicates the stage at which the student has completed all coursework and exam requirements, and explains that the student has all but the dissertation completed in order to complete the PhD.

I'm on the verge of going ABD. I can't wait to call myself ABD. Since I completed my coursework last semester, I've been chomping at the bit to be ABD. Sometimes I slip and say something like, "Oh well now that I'm ABD...." If I ever say it in front of Robert, he corrects me so that I don't get ahead of myself, hehe. I'm almost ABD. The only thing in my way are my exams.

Because of my surgery this summer, we had to push my exams back to Spring rather than having them this Fall, which would have been "on schedule." I'm still on time and will graduate in 2010, but now I have a little less time to work on my dissertation. We're aiming for January/February for my exams. I will take three: early English drama to 1642 (my major area), Shakespeare (a minor area), and general world drama (my second minor area). My major area exam will be 4 hours long, and my two minors will be 3 hours long each. They are all in essay format, and they will span a period of three days. After my written exams I will take oral exams. The orals are a little intimidating because the typical format is for the examiners to ask the student questions the student either failed on the written exam or did not explain well enough on the written exam. On the one hand, it's an opportunity for the student to have a second chance. On the other hand, it's a second opportunity for the student to fall flat. Most committees are not interested in failing their students, so I just have to keep that in mind so that I don't paralyze myself with fear.

At this point, I haven't read as much as I really should have. So, I'm coming up with a new reading schedule right now to help myself out. It generally goes like this:

September: General world drama
This list consists entirely of plays. I can read a number of plays in a single day, so I should be able to devote a single month to this list.

October: Shakespeare
I've already read all the Shakespeare plays I'll be examined on. Now I have to go through and read the secondary (theoretical) material. I should be able to get through at least two books a day, depending on length. (There's a Bevington in there that's fairly sizeable, so I'll probably have to break that one up over a two-day period.)

November: Early English drama to 1642
I've read most of the plays on this list and none of the secondary material. I'll need to read very quickly and efficiently for this list because there is a great deal of material on it (we're talking close to 100 individual pieces).

December: Catch-up/Review
This month I'll go back over my notes and finish reading anything I haven't finished yet.

I should be examining either in January or February. I'll submit my dissertation prospectus in March to keep myself on track. Dissertations don't really take that long to write, but what is difficult is staying on track. I've known most ABDs to compose their dissertation in a matter of a couple of months, despite that it took them a few years to get to the writing stage. I don't have a few years any more. I will be graduating in one of the ceremonies in 2010.