Missed my chance to be an English major -- now what?

[starsallaround]

I'm finishing up my last semester at college. Due to societal pressure to study a "practical" major, I studied psychology.

However, I have since realized that I've been ignoring my one true passion: literature. Unfortunately, I never got to pursue it much during college, except for two upper-level English courses (which I LOVED).

I have since decided to become an English teacher, so I can spend the rest of my life reading and sharing my love of books with others :) However, I feel woefully unprepared, coursework-wise.

How can I become better at those "English major" skills (particularly, analyzing literature)? Unfortunately, I am unable to take many English courses because I am going straight into a Masters of Education program to get my credential. So, without courses, how can I try and make up what I would have learned during a traditional English major? Right now I've just been reading a lot of books on my own, and looking up literary criticism, but it's a bit lonely and I also miss having someone critique my papers.

I welcome any and all suggestions -- thank you!

[osho]

You can keep up with your passion notwithstanding what profession you are in and passions and obligations are two different things. As long as you have a passion for something you can keep on reading and writing. Reading books of literature does not demand of you any particular setting and you can read anytime whether you are on your travel

[Hal]

I'm finishing up my last semester at college. Due to societal pressure to study a "practical" major, I studied psychology.

However, I have since realized that I've been ignoring my one true passion: literature. Unfortunately, I never got to pursue it much during college, except for two upper-level English courses (which I LOVED).

I have since decided to become an English teacher, so I can spend the rest of my life reading and sharing my love of books with others :) However, I feel woefully unprepared, coursework-wise.

How can I become better at those "English major" skills (particularly, analyzing literature)? Unfortunately, I am unable to take many English courses because I am going straight into a Masters of Education program to get my credential. So, without courses, how can I try and make up what I would have learned during a traditional English major? Right now I've just been reading a lot of books on my own, and looking up literary criticism, but it's a bit lonely and I also miss having someone critique my papers.

I welcome any and all suggestions -- thank you!

have you considered pursing an MA in English instead? You'd probably need to take a few more upper level English courses. But I think it's possible to get into MA English programs even if your undergrad major was not in the Humanities.

[mal4mac]

What about becoming a primary school teacher? With a qualification in psychology, and a love of literature, that indicates you might have the breadth of knowledge and interest suitable for teaching "everything". You can impart your love of literature *and* your knowledge (and love?) of science.

[chrisvia]

I have a BS in Computer Science and an MA in Literature (coincidentally, I focused on psychoanalytic literary theory). I currently work in IT as a business process analyst by day and do adjunct teaching in the English department of a local college at night. In my spare time, I read and write voraciously. The point is, you didn't miss out on anything by not choosing the conventional path. (Cue Frost's poem of the road less traveled.)

As for the English skills necessary, these come with time and are fueled by the passion to learn. Don't give up when you realise you don't know of things like parataxis, subtaxis, subordinate clauses, or gerunds; don't get discouraged when you realise there is an abundance of essays, articles, letters, poems, short stories, novels, and so on that you need to acquaint yourself with; just use your passion to assimilate these things along the way. Enjoy the journey. Sure, you may not have the foundation that someone who spent their baccalaureate on English has, but you might just be better off for it, as most I know end up letting the degree go to waste because they get burned out. In a way, like myself, you've already chosen the road less traveled.

[Nick Capozzoli]

No need to go back to school to get an English degree if you want to write. I did study English in college, and even got a BA in the subject and enrolled in a PhD program, but more than halfway through that I decided to "drop out" with an MA and go to med school (this was relatively easy because I also got another bachelor's degree in Biology). I did like the idea of becoming an English Prof and writing "on the side," but I figured that it was going to be a struggle to get a good teaching job and despite how appealing the lifestyle of a college Prof might be, I'd be financially more secure working as a physician. I haven't regretted that decision.

[JBI]

English literature, for the vast majority of us, should be a hobby not an occupation, as it is for the majority of us. It does not pay the bills, and never will. If you are going to focus on it as a career (meaning research and education, or just education) it will not be the same as a casual reader. You will find that it requires a background discipline. So for instance, linguistics, meaning your approach to it for research will be from a linguistic perspective, history, meaning you are basically a cataloger who is arranging things into an historical scheme, aesthetics, meaning you are approaching the text from a philosophical level (this is linked with hermeneutic theories), politics, meaning you are reading political contexts into literature (mixed with history, and non-historical rubbish).

The higher you climb the "research" ladder, the more you realize you are controlled by the institution you are studying or working in, and their prescriptive methodologies. If you are particularly good, you will be able to break out of this mold, and become the "teacher" and indoctrinate those who follow you the same way you had to go through your own indoctrination.

This is not bad or good, but for the most part depending on how your own feelings mix with your supervisors and teachers, it can either be hideously boring (like studying grammar mistakes in manuscripts, and editing the thing down) to engaging in historical and intellectual debate on development of poetic styles. It depends on one's own particular interests, but I would wager the vast majority of high end research is both useless and hideously boring.

That being said, I would discourage anybody from being an "english" major, instead of a literature major. The difference being that the latter has experience outside of a single body of literature, whereas the former is rather restricted.

This all being said, there is nothing wrong with enjoying literature while not doing a job related to literature. Generally the literary "jobs" are not related to enjoying literature anyway.

The best thing one can really do for oneself is get some language under their belt while they study, that will open a new world which is wonderful and as complex as the one you come from. If all else fails, it won't hurt to come out 4 years down the road bilingual, or multilingual.

[ennison]

You don't need to become a teacher of English to be a reader. Indeed you may read a great deal more in many other professions.

[NedSiegel]

You can keep up with your passion notwithstanding what profession you are in and passions and obligations are two different things. As long as you have a passion for something you can keep on reading and writing. Reading books of literature does not demand of you any particular setting and you can read anytime whether you are on your travel

Correct. You don't need a degree to pursue your passion. Think of it as you were spared a life of below-average income and much academic stress that would have greatly tested your passion.

[PeterL]

I'm finishing up my last semester at college. Due to societal pressure to study a "practical" major, I studied psychology.

However, I have since realized that I've been ignoring my one true passion: literature. Unfortunately, I never got to pursue it much during college, except for two upper-level English courses (which I LOVED).

I have since decided to become an English teacher, so I can spend the rest of my life reading and sharing my love of books with others :) However, I feel woefully unprepared, coursework-wise.

How can I become better at those "English major" skills (particularly, analyzing literature)? Unfortunately, I am unable to take many English courses because I am going straight into a Masters of Education program to get my credential. So, without courses, how can I try and make up what I would have learned during a traditional English major? Right now I've just been reading a lot of books on my own, and looking up literary criticism, but it's a bit lonely and I also miss having someone critique my papers.

I welcome any and all suggestions -- thank you!

The easiestsolution would be for you to return for a second BA. The second easiest would be for you to get into a graduate program. If neithther of those work, then you might want o move to Tibet and become a Lama and neve speak another word of English.