Trouble getting Gnome to function with drop down menus

I recently installed Gnome on my Lenovo Thinkpad T540p. I am using Debian 10 as my OS. When I boot up all I get is a black screen and the word "Activities" in the upper lefthand corner of the screen. When I click on it I get a series of icons which indicate the various program options. How do I get a normal drop down menu that shows things like "settings," "accessories," etc.? It's very strange...I've never encountered this before. It works, but it's not showing me sufficient options. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thank you in advance.