18 Saun 688
Malcolm sat down in the lecture hall, his insides turning in excitable knots. This morning was the day of the test, and he had been absolutely dreading it. He sat at the front of the hall, deciding that too many people in front of him would be a distraction, and might also put him off it it seemed they knew an answer to a questions he was struggling with. He prepared his inkwell and dipped the pen into the dark, black liquid, testing the point against the edge of the page. “When I say so, you will turn your papers over and begin the test, anyone who looks at their papers before this time will be sent out and awarded a failed mark. You will have one break to complete the test, and if you finish early, I expect you to sit and wait in silence until the time is up. Eyes front at all times, there will be no time for questions or bathroom breaks, so I suggest you go now if you must.”
Malcolm had always hated the monotone sound of the professor's voice and the way he droned on and on. Sometimes he had to sit at the back of the lecture hall in case he fell asleep midway through the lecture on account of the boring tone. Thankfully he would be able to go a whole break without enduring the man's insufferable voice this morning. A few more minutes passed and the professor called the roll. Satisfied that everyone was present, he looked up from his list, adjusted his reading glasses, and ordered for the class to begin the test.
Malcolm flipped his page hurriedly and skimmed the first few questions, skipping some of the questions he knew would be harder to answer in favour of the short ones.
What is a vowel?
A speech sound.
List the common vowels
A, e, i, o, u, y.
In common, how many vowel sounds are there?
Sixteen.
In common, list a word that contains at least two Schwa Vowels, and explain.
Anticipatory. A schwa vowel sound is uh.
What is an Adjective?
A word used to describe.
What is a Preposition?
An individual or collection of words that indicate a location.
What is a Noun?
A person, place, or thing.
What is a Verb?
A word used to describe action.
What is a Pronoun?
A word used to replace a noun.
What is an Adverb?
A word used to modify a verb, adjective, or another adverb.
What is a Conjunction?
A word used to link other words or parts of a sentence together.
What is an Interjection? Give an example.
A word used to portray emotion. Wow!
What is a Clause? Give an example.
A sentence containing both subject and verb. It was late when he arrived.
What is a Phrase? Give an example.
A sentence without subject or verb. The girl in a red dress.
What is Vocabulary?
Words used in any given language.
The test went on like this for pages and pages, and by the time the professor called out for everyone to stop and put their pens down, Malcolm was stressing that he hadn't done enough. He had missed some of the bigger questions that were probably worth the most points, like describing the difference between a passive and active voice in text. The ink on the first page had scarcely had time to dry before he had started on the second, and some of his writing had been smuggled and ruined because of this.
As he walked up to the professor's desk, he blew on the wet ink, trying to save the rest of his work from meeting the same fate. His hands felt sweaty, and the paper was stained with his greasy prints. Malcolm took a deep breath, handed the papers over and turned to leave.
“Lord Krome?”
He turned to look at the professor. “Yes?”
“You forgot to put your name at the top of the page.”
Malcolm couldn't help but laugh, the sound strained and a little nervous. “My apologies,” he replied before correcting the error and leaving the lecture hall as fast as he could.
Outside the rest of the students had gathered to talk about what answers the had given in the test. Malcolm had made this mistake once before and was certain it's what had thrown him off for his first exam. Taking on the opinions of others filled his head with mindless thoughts, and pressure he didn't need, as if he had invited a hundred pairs of eyes into the room to watch him take the test. Now he knew the trick, show up late and leave as quickly as possible. The only thing he could do was study and give the test his all, after that it was in the hands of the fates.
On the way to the docks he tortured himself about the test and his inability to get round to answering one of the main essay questions, active versus passive voice. Even if it wasn't going to be any use to him now or in the upcoming exams he would face to receive his paper in language, he knew that it was important to learn the difference for the day he decided to take up teaching. Still, it was a few days journey by boat back to the estate in Burhan, plenty of time to go over his notes and build an argument for the next time he was faced with the question.
A drink at the bar on the lower decks did well to calm his nerves, and he took his notebook out of his pack and turned to the right page while it was all fresh in his mind, double checking to make sure any of the answers he had managed to get to were correct. If anything, his answers had probably been a little short, but that was just like Malcolm to get straight to the point.
