Did you manage to read/write things you like during a Literature Degree?

[yudencow]

Hi,

I posted a thread here before about thinking on studying English Literature.

Honestly after looking at the list of books in the syllabus of each semester, I have to ask:

Do you have time to read books you just want to read that don't appear in the curriculum?

Do you have time to write stories and other things on your own between all the written assignments?

Thanks for the help.

[Nate]

the answer will likely be "no" from most literature majors. if you're looking for an education to cultivate your passion for literature, the best major is probably linguistics. you will learn the skills you need to appreciate the syntactical complexity of the greats like shakespeare

[ChicagoReader]

Honestly I didn't do a whole lot of my own reading during semesters because I generally had 5-6 books assigned from all my classes. But still, if you want to make time for those things you always can, it's not like there isn't ever a free moment of time, I just tended to enjoy most of the books that were on my curriculum. It helps tremendously to have great professors. For instance, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was one of my least favorite books after reading it in high school, but then I read it for a class my senior year in college and absolutely loved it, and even better, read Pudd'nhead Wilson which is now one of my favorites books. I don't think you need to take linguistics to appreciate syntax, any good professor can help with that, not to mention you can learn that stuff on your own just by reading. I also took writing workshops which forced me to write (always a good thing) so if anything, majoring in literature will help foster your writing.

[JBI]

Generally for literature degrees the best method is to do them in foreign languages. It leads to more career paths, and broadens your scope of the world. If you are to study English, perhaps in the US or Canada, or even the UK, the suggestion I would give is to get a double major.

A specialized study in English from a North American institution will give very little to you. If you doubled your major, to lets say, English and linguistics, or English and French, or English and Classics, or English and Italian, it would put you in a more competitive place upon your graduation.

Generally though, you are best pairing with something of interest to you - so if you want to study modern English literature, perhaps studying English and political science will put you in a better place - at the very least it will make you more competitive for government or administrative positions.

Likewise, if you wish to become a writer, perhaps studying something more practical would work - great authors write from experience, in terms of novels. Working a 9 to 5 at minimum wage is a better education than studying depictions of workers in fiction.
For higher level literary studies, if you intend to continue education, you should consider what you like, which time periods, etc.

So if you want to study Renaissance works, like Shakespeare. Contrary to the above poster, I would suggest classics, seconded by Romance languages would be a proper background. Surely if you go on to do serious ph.d. level work, or even a master's degree, such a linguistic requirement may seem important. If not, it will allow you to apply for more jobs with the language abilities you get.

In all honesty, if I could go back and change how I did my degree, now knowing what I know, I would have not taken a major in English, and instead focused on two languages. You will find that the majority of what you learn in English classes is relatively restricted, and if you are keen on your studies, you can teach most of it to yourself with the help of a major library, and asking questions.

My first two years of English courses were mediocre. I got of the 7 courses I took in English, 3 good ones. The rest were rather pointless. It seems that anybody educated in the University of California system has a sort of ingrained educational pattern that neither inspires, nor properly teaches anything applicable. The skills you learn to feel sorry for people in the world don't transfer to the work force - looking for and discussing the downtrodden black or native author is noble, but not applicable to making money.
The courses I found particularly worth taking were the ones of classical time periods - one on reading poetry, from a linguistic/rhetorical perspective, which surveyed English literature from Anglo-saxon to contemporary works. One class I did on Canadian Literature I found inspiring, as the professor was brought up in the British educational system, which is far more scholastic based, and far less politically based than the American system. The other ones were in English literature from 1500-1600 which generally focused on poetry and prose (including some French and Italian authors). I found that class to be incredibly useful and interesting.

That being said, I missed out on Chaucer, which is something I regret, and my first year course on literature (a survey course) was a big waste of time. I had a course on Modern novels. and another on post-modern novels, but those were both overtly political discussions of literature, and more or less what I expected reading any theoretical or secondary work on the subject. I felt I could merely read who they were quoting instead of show up to listen to them quote. I do not care about feeling bad for what Americans did to every minority who they encountered, as, quite simply, being a new Canadian (my parents being immigrants), I do not feel a sense of guilt, which is what they are teaching.

Now, if I did not wish to stray toward Asian works, I could have done something else, like English + Italian + French, which was the original goal. Generally that would have set me up, had I been inclined, to do a graduate degree in renaissance English works. I would have had the theoretical background from my English degree, and the linguistic background more or less from my secondary degree. I would be able to read good texts in all languages, and even outside of the class room I would be able to engage the world better.

That is generally the goal - doing 15 courses on English novels does not make anybody a specialist of anything applicable. Literary studies should always be about philology at the beginning level. It goes without saying that anybody can read good works at home on their spare time. Learning about new cultures, and learning new languages in contrast is a more applicable, and far more practical exercise while getting a degree. Traditionally learning was so, and it should be so again.

[yudencow]

Thank you all for commenting.

I am an Israeli, so most English Lit., surely from over 3 decades ago, is definitely new to me.

Nate, thanks for your input, I'll try to get some elective courses in syntax.

ChicagoReader, there is a single course, Introduction to English Culture, which has 5-6 books in a semester of 14 weeks. They just closed the writing workshop, but I hope they'll bring it back.

JBI, from simply going over authors I like and that I know, over 70% did study literature, so even if not mandatory, there is a pattern.I do want to double major in economy and use both skill sets to find a job in marketing for a start. I have no intention to do an MA in English. The notion that I could just read on my spare time the syllabus did cross my mind, but some jobs, even if scarce and will be hard for me to get will be even harder with a BA in English. I did see the course list, and some of the elective ones are just terrible exactly like you said. Do you think the Economy/English Lit. combo is good?

Cross your fingers, guys.

[JBI]

Usually economics is paired with something related to foreign markets, global studies, politics, or mathematics. Rarely English.

Generally English for the work force doesn't go anywhere. but then again, neither does political science.

[yudencow]

What do you think about Economy/Business Management?

[Lokasenna]

...if you think it's bad at undergrad level, just you wait until postgrad. I'm lucky if I can scrape together half an hour a week to write for pleasure these days...

[hannah_arendt]

In 2011 I did my M.A at polish department, now I am doing B.A in English Philology (teaching because I have to ). I still have time for writting and reading. I couldn`t do without it. Probably I won`t start M.A in English however I like it very much.

[ChicagoReader]

Thank you all for commenting.

I am an Israeli, so most English Lit., surely from over 3 decades ago, is definitely new to me.

Nate, thanks for your input, I'll try to get some elective courses in syntax.

ChicagoReader, there is a single course, Introduction to English Culture, which has 5-6 books in a semester of 14 weeks. They just closed the writing workshop, but I hope they'll bring it back.

JBI, from simply going over authors I like and that I know, over 70% did study literature, so even if not mandatory, there is a pattern.I do want to double major in economy and use both skill sets to find a job in marketing for a start. I have no intention to do an MA in English. The notion that I could just read on my spare time the syllabus did cross my mind, but some jobs, even if scarce and will be hard for me to get will be even harder with a BA in English. I did see the course list, and some of the elective ones are just terrible exactly like you said. Do you think the Economy/English Lit. combo is good?

Cross your fingers, guys.

Yeah, I meant I was reading 5-6 books at any given time, each class had the workload that you described. I definitely agree with JBI that a good amount of the classes are relatively worthless (spending one week, three fifty minute class periods on a book hardly covers it), and also, in retrospect, I also would decide on a double major with either something with economics or political science.

[kev67]

Thank you all for commenting.

Do you think the Economy/English Lit. combo is good?



I don't know how useful that combination would be for finding employment, but it sounds an interesting combination to study. Much of the Victorian and early 20th century literature I have been reading recently relates a lot to economics.

[chrisvia]

It seems you are asking if you will have spare time. This is tough to answer as someone who is not you, which probably accounts for why the thread quickly morphed into a discussion of useful major combinations.

To shed some light on the original question(s), I can tell you that I had very little extra time whilst pursuing my literature degree. I had not only to read the main reading list entries, but a lot of supplemental material. And even then, I had to use good judgment concerning which works to give a cursory read and which works to give a critical read.

As far as my own personal reading and writing, I kept running lists of books to read and ideas to expand upon once I finished my degree.

I say dig in deeply to your studies.

[mande2013]

I was a history/political science double major, so I never got around to taking an English course, although I did read a few short works of French literature via my French minor. I'm just kind of curious. Do things like Ulysses, Finnegans Wake, and In Search of Lost Time ever get taught on the undergraduate level? Likewise Gertrude Stein or Pound's Cantos? Or stuff like Being and Nothingness or any of Heidegger if you're majoring in philosophy?