Comments on Bookphilia.com: Panic mode, activated

Congratulations! And I'm glad my suggestion was us...

2008-12-14T14:09:00.000-05:00

Congratulations! And I'm glad my suggestion was useful.

Romola is surprisingly good--I say surprisingly, only because it has kind of a bad rep. Romola herself is a great character, and the Tito / Baldassare plot is terrific, and very intense. OK, there are some pretty laboured attempts to translate Italian idiom into English ("You are as welcome as the cheese to the macaroni" is my favourite--an Italian friend tells me there is indeed such an expression in Italian but it "works better" in the original). But bad GE is still better than most other writers at their best.

Thanks for the good luck wishes and advice, everyo...

2008-12-10T14:49:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the good luck wishes and advice, everyone - everything went well and I passed AND I haven't been asked to make any changes save the typos (of which I discovered a horrifying amount in my final read-through).

Rohan: I actually got to use your suggested redirect technique! I owe your for your timely comment big time. I'm going to read Romola in your honour (and because a committee member suggested I would enjoy it).

Best of luck!--Terry

2008-12-10T10:43:00.000-05:00

Best of luck!

--Terry

tell them you think the question is misguided. or ...

2008-12-09T21:36:00.000-05:00

tell them you think the question is misguided. or better yet, presumptuous, as i did to my last prof.

also: good luck & godspeed!

Good luck. Remember that in most situations, acade...

2008-12-09T19:16:00.000-05:00

Good luck. Remember that in most situations, academics ask about what they, not what you know ("I haven't read Romola, but I have read Tristram Shandy, so can you say a little bit about your research in the context of 18th-century experimental fiction? Before you start, let me give you some context for my question, drawing on my own current research on Tristram Shandy ..."-- really, you can substitute pretty much anything for Tristram Shandy in my example, from Judith Butler's Gender Troubles to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight). So, what advice do I have? A thoughtful nod, followed by a calm redirect ("That's very interesting. In the specific context of my own research, what I have found most interesting is..." and back you go to your chosen book or theorist). This move doesn't always 'take,' but most observers know this game and will be glad you don't spend 10 minutes fumbling around trying to pretend you know something about their tedious and monomaniacal colleague's pet subject.

When that fails, I have always found witty deflection useful...

Also, at any thesis defense, the candidate is actually the most knowledgeable person in the room on the subject of the thesis. Take strength in that!