Our English comprehension describes the mood before an eclipse arrives. A deserted yard, swirling sky and eerie stillness, a surreal sense of calm - somewhat similar to the atmosphere this morning. I had expected everybody to be as nervous as before the orals, yet everybody is remarkably calm. Our own eclipse is very gradual. We enter the exam hall an hour beforehand but remain in a bizarre state between light and darkness. We've started the Leaving and yet we haven't.
As the clock ticks interminably in the background, the answer books are handed out and conversation slowly ebbs. With minutes to go, the paper is handed out, upside down. Some stare rigidly at the clock, others clutch their pens nervously. Some try desperately to read upside down. Everything seems to be happening in slow motion. Every pace of the supervisor, every cough, every tapped foot, is audible. And then the immortal words: "You may turn over your exam papers now".
Thankfully, we are not plunged into total darkness. Though some thought the comprehension was too literary, the questions are very fair and indeed, standard. The essay topics are as broad as ever although Stress; a feature of modern day society probably was not a great choice for anybody frantically drumming his pen against the desk. The only unsettling moment is when a mouse scurries across my shoes.
Surprisingly, I'm finished early. It's as I leave the exam hall while everybody else is still scribbling away, the reality of the Leaving hits me. My brain is reeling; my heart is pounding; my legs feel like jelly. For a few moments, I feel terrified. And then, as everybody else emerges, I feel calm returning. Most seem happy, joyously proclaiming that within hours, they will never have to study poetry again.
Over lunch everybody is still speaking in quotations. We must seem very literate to passers-by in Sutton. In the hall in the afternoon, people are chattering away until moments before the exam. The handing out of scripts, which earlier seemed almost a ceremony, is now conducted perfunctorily. There is a collective sigh of relief when Austin Clarke's name is spotted - some people scarcely studied anybody else. Question E asks what is great about two poets you like - which is a really handy question, although "great" seems a little inadequate when talking about Shakespeare or Yeats.
Overall, the paper is very fair, especially the Macbeth question. The most difficult question is probably the Friel question. Most people managed to tackle it but I'm immediately intimidated and end up doing two poetry questions. This was not part of my exam plan.
