Any English majors on /lit/? Is it really as bad as everyone says it is?
Its as good as you want it to be
I switched to Marketing.
In what sense?
The job prospects aren't great compared to many other degrees, and it seems to be the type of degree where you will encounter a lot of people who aren't actually interested in the course or even reading, but just chose it because they were pushed to go to university and didn't know what else to pick (though this is true for basically every course, so i guess is more of a critique in general).
I'd only recommend doing one if you're already rich, or you live in a country that isn't going to put you into debt for taking it.
>>7722106
I was, ended up switching into finance due to the "progressive" nature of the English department at my school.
I remember one of the lower division pre-requisites being called "Introduction to American Literary Tradition" and a majority of the texts were either nonfiction or just shit. As you can probably guess the professor was a woman- with this came the usual bias towards female readers but holy shit we didn't look at ANY male writers until halfway through the course (and even then we only conducted a brief analysis of Whitman's poem "The Wound-dresser"- which was, I believe, the best piece of literature in the course). Other than that the only other decent writers were Sharon Olds and Joan didion. We even spent a week talking about some batshit insane female mortician who makes YouTube videos. Absolute drivel.
10% of our grade consisted of a three page paper which necessitated a field trip to Bass Pro Shops. I shit you not, she asked us to perform a "spatial analysis of the store vis-a-vis a consideration of the discursive violence that it directs towards women and people of color".
Tl;dr Tumblr has pervaded almost every crevice of academia
>>7722222
Forgot pic. Also, check em
>>7722222
lol i would almost love to get a retarded class like this but all my teachers have been cool as fuck and knowledgeable
>>7722222
>spatial analysis of the store vis-a-vis a consideration of the discursive violence that it directs towards women and people of color
In actual English, please.
Literature is fine. It's linguistics and anthropology you want to avoid.
>>7722106
I'm an English major, and I actually like it. I don't deny that many programs and classes are becoming cancerous, but my experience has actually been great. The closest thing I ever had to some of the stories people post on here was reading slightly more Native American texts in an American lit class that you'd expect.
I know a few professors who teach classes like world with a feminist slant on them, but they're open about it and tell you beforehand so you're not blindsided with it. I can't speak for any other program than the one I'm in, but all my professors have been interested in actual scholarship and exploring issues other than race/feminism.
>>7722291
Yeah, in my experience the slant isn't bad at all, and the kids who complain about it are your typical Le Enlightened Redpill guys who use "cuck" and "sjw" unironically.
>>7722222
Admiring your digits senpai but you probably just go to a shit school. Get good.
>>7722222
I did journalism but now wish I'd switched to finance, huh.
I've never regretted being an English major. The classes have been fulfilling and enjoyable, and the professors have been passionate. There's a broad range of topics surrounding English, and you'll have numerous options for the direction of your degree.
However, I'm also a Computer Science major; I don't trust my English major to make me money. And double majoring is really not that difficult. I would advocate that route if you have any other interest that would be more pecuniarily certain.
If you truly enjoy English--reading and studying literature, perhaps trying to write yourself among the authors of such literature--then go for it. This is the time to pursue such interests.
The only qualm I have with my English degree is the lack of passion and lackluster intellectual application of my peers. It gets better as you progress, but then you may run into the guy who insists on reminding everyone he knows a bit of Latin. Or the girl(?) who writes poetry about being non-heteronormative.
>>7722106
English Lit major/Philosophy minor here
100-200 level courses are bad to pretty good, prof's attitude can make or break the class because the students don't know shit.
300 level courses and up are usually specialized enough that everyone involved cares about what is being studied. The whole social justice movement is held in contempt by my upper level profs and discussion is 99% critical and academic.
It differs widely from school to school. Research the profs at schools you're interested in, and what sort of work they have published. The memers about "UGH SJWs" didn't do this, and probably tried to major in English at Oberlin or some stupid shit. If you choose well, it can be a great major. Prepare yourself to be creative with job searching after, or for grad school. I went the grad school route because I want to be a prof, and I knew what I was/am getting into jobwise.
>>7722106
Yes. No.
>>7723077
>singling out Oberlin
Couldn't make the cut, anon?
>>7722379
I feel it's more symptomatic of my schools location- California, rather than academic standing (of which my university is vaguely esteemed). I'm sure any shit school in the Midwest/South doesn't have an SJW agenda in their English department
>>7722277
>linguistics
Why
>>7722106
If all goes to plan i'm reading English at Durham next year... Pretty excited not gonna lie. It's an English uni so there won't be as much meme-y race politics and the course is world class there so it's not gonna be shit.
>>7722235
>I would love
no, you really wouldn't.
Switched from physics to lit back to Physics.
As always /pol/ was right.
>>7722222
CS guy here how's finance? Thinking of switching to that myself
getting scared cause all my friends say indians are taking over unless I'm really good at my job
depends what you want out of the course and where you go
top 10 uk uni here, was very good and did it before the uni fees went to 9k so debt isnt so bad
you could do a feminist/marxist/whateverist approach to almost anything put on the course, but it wasnt shoved down your throat, it was text first, historical context second, philosophical underpinnings last
of course i'm in a totally unrelated field now, having focused on understanding maths up to some grad level stuff and also speaking 3 languages
don't be a lazy fag and buy into the meme that what you do at uni defines you
>>7724675
>top 10 uk uni here
Unless you were in the top 4 then your fucked internationally.
>so debt isnt so bad
The debt hasn't changed even when it went up to 9k, It's still ridiculously low repayment, the whole student debt meme is shit British students picked up from American TV.
>>7724683
Yeah, student debt seems to only be a problem in america
>>7722222
>22222
Beautiful...
>>7724687
It isn't even a problem with America, what you hear online is almost completely different than what goes on in real life; the average student doesn't have more than $30k student loan debt, and they're in extremely favourable repayment scheme.
And if they still can't afford it they can serve in the military and get everything provided to them for free.
>>7722222
Are you american?
I don't think this is a thing in the actual western academia.
>>7724683
Top 4's ambiguous per course though
>STEM crisis myth
>>7724703
>It absolutely is.
Where? Not in europe at least, maybe in england some places.
>>7724721
Don't you read the news? just yesterday the ridiculous amounts of Anti-Semitism at all British universities made headlines again, that isn't "some places".
German universities are stripping politicians of their diplomas if they disagree with their politics.
>>7722106
Literature is a hobby and should be treated as such. I kinda feel History, which I did my bachelor in, is kinda similar. Then again I gained some critical knowledge of the world around me which I otherwise would definitely not have obtained.
Also have a nice job despite the connotation of history being shit tier. I am terrible at giving college advice.
>>7724683
>Unless you were in the top 4 then your fucked internationally.
nah not really, internationally especially many are happy when they simply hear 'british university', and 'top 4' is a silly concept, oxford and cambridge sure...but then what? lse?durham?imperial?ucl? etc... basically youre making shit up
>The debt hasn't changed even when it went up to 9k, It's still ridiculously low repayment, the whole student debt meme is shit British students picked up from American TV.
I don't think the debt is that bad now, but I will pay my debt off much quicker than people who are going now, thus it's a better situation.
If possible, make sure your major pertains to something specific. Not just general English
>>7724749
>the ridiculous amounts of Anti-Semitism
aka some people don't fully support zionism, people making mountains out of molehills and getting offended at nothing
>>7724945
don't fall for the uni ranking masterrace shite you see online, you can get a decent job as long as you arent an idiot and are willing to work hard
If we're still talking finance and business then what university you received your degree from is hugely important, companies like JPMorgan and Sachs don't hire outside of Oxford, Cmabridge, Harvard, Princeton etc.
They're even a bit iffy about hiring from universities like Yale; they're selective as fuck, you aren't getting anywhere if you graduated from shit like Cardiff.
But for jobs like teaching history to kids a degree from anywhere will do.
>>7722106
>mfw free Uni in my country and I can live comfortably as a copywriter/translator/technical writer
Feels good 2bh famiglia.
>>7724993
>But for jobs like teaching history to kids a degree from anywhere will do.
What I don't get with these threads is how people mock anything less than a gig with a Fortune 500 company. It's not like everyone wants a villa, ten cars and six kids. "Aim high" is fine advice, but fuck...
>>7723108
Oh bow wrong you would be
>>7725018
>Emigrate to 'Murica
>Get paid triple the amount for doing the same job
>>7725026
No, thanks. I'd rather deal with meme threats ("muh refugees", which doesn't concern me in the slightest, seeing as I'm a male with a steady income) than with a hyper-refined society where people are paranoid as fuck and follow unwritten social codes up the ass. I might not afford a yacht or a two-story house, but that's not exactly my dream, either.
>>7722222
Me too. I wanted to go to law school, so I was able to study what I wanted in undergrad. The philosophy department was awesome, the English department was full of third wave feminists. Every line in every book was about oppression of women, racism, or the patriarchy.
>>7723077
What are the good and bad English departments as far as social justice nonsense is concerned?
I go to an Ivy League school and major in English. You just have to know the professors and only take classes that align with your literary interests. If you hate feminism and queen theory, don't take the seminar on women authors. If you hate black lives matter, don't sign up for African American Lit. Instead, sign up for classes with the crusty old Medievalist or the weird guy teaching Modernism. English departments are very cliquey, with students with certain viewpoints congregating together with professors who share their philosophies. Just find profs you like who aren't SJWs. Any good school has a mix, the old guard isn't dead yet.
>>7725081
> English departments are very cliquey, with students with certain viewpoints congregating together with professors who share their philosophies.
What if i don't want to adhere to an ideology or a philosophy?
>>7725099
Then take whatever classes that interest you, just don't act shocked when you hear something you don't like.
>>7725081
this desu senpai. I didn't go to an ivy league but my school did have a few amazing professors that weren't SJWs. however it was frustrating because when tumblrinas went into the class and kept asking questions making everything into a social issue or how everything was related to the patriarchy, you could see the class split in views immediately on people who wanted to be there for the subject, and the people who were radical and imposing their ideology.
the professor was brilliant though and you could never find his particular viewpoint on anything, but he did mention he loved his job if it wasn't for dealing with the staff. so I'm sure there are internal politics that go on.
>>7724705
I'm not a STEM memer, but I'm curious as what they define as outside of STEM. My father got his degree in engineering, but actually only did engineering until 2002 or so. He's been in higher paying management positions where he oversees a bunch of engineers since then, but does none of the engineering himself anymore. Would this chart count him as in a non-STEM position?
>>7722222
>tl;dr tumblr has pervaded my very specific crevice of academia
>>7723108
It can really happen anywhere. I went to a Midwestern private school, and had no problem. But, another friend of mine went to another private uni a couple hundred miles away, and it was completely focused on applying revisionist readings to 500 year old texts. Just depends who teaches.
>>7724749
>made the news
Ah, found your problem. News sources push this shit because people read it.
>>7725010
People can live comfortably as those in the US. I could drop what I'm doing, move home, and be a tech writer and pull $50k a year, starting.
>muh connections
Top 4 Canadian uni, English and humanities in general is pretty nice here.
Canadian uni BaH English student here.
I have come to realize that I am not particularly good at anything else that I don't hate. I had the grades in Math and Chemistry to do something useful but I hated it too much to do it for a living.
I plan on going into some sort of publishing course following my degree. I have never been one to have a dream job so I have come to terms with the fact that my pay in life will not be high and I will possibly not have a job in my field.
I think as long as one in English realizes that, they will be happy in their degree. But you shouldn't expect to have a big job with it because you most likely won't.
This entire thread worries me as someone who is going to a top 5 English uni at the end of the year to study Literature.
>>7722106
if you're not going to a super religious school or a school with a significant conservative bent, it's going to be the nightmare that all liberal arts have become in which every course is taught by some activist professor pushing an agenda.
>>7725677
You mean like this? https://soundcloud.com/jjustkkidding/full
Even her previously indoctrinated students started questioning "poetess" at the 11 minute mark.
>>7725701
Good fucking lord 14:30
>>7722277
anthropology student starting in september here, am i fucked
>>7725701
That asspull about why spanish is different. Good lord.
>>7725831
Anthropology second year here. Yes, yes you are. If you're a white guy, don't speak during your seminars unless you really have to.
>>7722277
Digits checked
>>7725826
Hahaha. He just wanted to know why -ess was offensive and she literally couldn't explain why.
>>7722277
>implying sociology is not the absolute worst
>>7725701
jesus christ what is the point of indoctrinating students with your fallacious beliefs? i thought uni was supposed to teach you to think for yourself and not adapt some brain dead ideology.
>>7725842
oh for fucks sake i wanted to be some sort of darwinistic racist type of anthropologist
>>7725855
I don't understand why she couldn't, they've actually done legitimate research on this exact subject, doesn't she stay up to date on her academic subject?
>>7725868
I'm unaware of the reason why -ess is offensive. I'm in the same boat as the spanish guy, there's just words that occasionally have genders in english. Unfortunately because it's an inbred language not all words do. As well I'd argue that the words (such as prince/princess, etc) are just descriptive. They tell you it's someone in the royal family and their gender.
>>7725866
They'll get you to read lots of stuff like that then you have to write about how they were wrong.
>>7725879
Basically the idea is that objects referred to in a grammatical feminine gender people unconsciously assume to be cute, fragile, small etc.
This is explained by the patriarchy.
>>7725904
Which she had an argument for with the -ette suffix, but not with the -ess. -ess is still unaccounted for by this framework.To say nothing of the fact that women do tend to be biologically cuter, more fragile and smaller than men
>>7725911
Her and other UMD staffs opinion is that -ess it too similar to -ette to not be sexist.
I'm not even joking.
Just do an actual subject and read in your spare time Anon, it'll be much more worthwhile
>>7725930
I would literally just keep hammering home that she has no reason for assuming that. I don't care how much she yells at me about white male privilege, she has no evidence to back that claim.
>>7725899
damn. can i at least pretend to be an sjw and become liked
>>7725948
>I would literally get myself kicked off campus
>>7725904
Isn't that circular reasoning? -ess and -ette are cute/fragile/small because they're associated with femininity. It's not that -ess and -ette are those things in their own right. If you change the definition of femininity to something more rugged then the associations of those suffixes would also change.
>>7723108
I go to university in the south and they somehow managed to attract the most retarded social leftists(social because I don't really think they have any fiscal opinions beyond "gibmedats") from everywhere around.
>>7725958
>I go to university in the south
bwahahahaha pleb
>>7725953
>bipolar
Don't shame my mental illness college. :'(
>>7725948
>she has no evidence to back that claim
Apparently the chair of the UMD Linguistics department responded to this line of reasoning on Reddit with (paraphrased):
"It isn't our job to teach you, reeeeeeee, we have to make our white male students uncomfortable so they check their privilege. read [insert a random selection of books that have little to do with the subject on hand], also this study about electrolytes. Why are the STEM undergraduate ion this thread laughing and bullying us?"
>>7722106
In my (limited) experience, it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. The classes are regulated by the professors' agendas, there's usually about as many floaters (looking to fulfill a graduation req) as actual lit majors, the lit students are more interested in being perceived as "intellectuals" and "free-spirits" than actually reading, the foreign-language sections are wholly-interested in being some kind of pseudo-marxist-maoist communist cult and the few sincere people who have a genuine interest in literature and language are usually too shy or soft-spoken to get a word in edge-wise. I went to school in the south-western U.S. so your experience may vary.
>>7725963
s-shut up
not many places want you when you don't have a highschool transcript past the 9th grade
If not for my SAT I might have done trade school or something. I might still. Being an electrician seems comfy.
>>7725972
Maybe I should clarify: I went in as a Comparative/Double-language literature major, which means I needed to fulfill the req's of two degrees-worth of classes. I ended up dropping out (not because of this; I also had to complete my science and math-concentrated university's calculus GE req's), and I don't intend on going back. I'm thinking of moving to the East Coast, maybe the South.
>>7725975
I don't see why something being diminutive is a bad thing. That's just size-shaming.
>>7726012
Because womanlets can't handle their napoleon complexes. Honestly why tall women are better, they're much more chill.
>>7726025
yeah short chicks are always spazzes who like to jump up and down going "HEY!" hoping u notice their bouncing tits
give me a tall mellow chick i can look in the eye without hurting my neck
/STEM/ master race.
>>7726066
what major?
>>7726066
reading this thread makes me really glad i'm not an english major
This is the prime example of a cuck thread for cucked up Humanishits cuckbois. How dumb can one be to actually pay for a piece of paper that tells the world that you're a dumb guy who paid for a piece of paper that tells the wolrd that you've mastered a fucking hobby and paid big money for it? And for what? To work as an enlightened McDonald's clerk? Holy cow, it's delusions of grandeur mixed with plain stupidity, you jests!
Hah, I'm so glad I've dodged that shit and went straight into STEM and now I'm a fully fulfilled man with a great job and peer respect and US$ 120k in my paycheck.
I'll live a good life at you're expense.
>>7722268
bitches and niggers don't fish. anon was sent to find out why.
>>7722222
checking! Also I was lucky enough to be at a uni for one semester before I was forced to leave for medical issues, where social justice shit was not happening. My Russian cultural professor straight up trashed the whole world & all leftest ideas and it was great
Is STEM the only field in academics that isn't completely overgrown with the le progressive xD tumour?
>>7724623
>durham
>being an oxbridge reject
>>7729656
Even STEM is, in some schools, nowadays.
>muh women in stem
Lol
I'm glad none of my professors bring any "progressive" views they might have on the matter. We tend to stick to the truth and the textbooks, and other such outdated stuff.
>>7724683
>the whole student debt meme is shit British students picked up from American TV
The low repayment is besides the point, the fact is that the vast majority of students (~85% apparently) will never earn enough to pay back their debts. So they literally remain in debt all their lives. And in debt for what? An education that their parents got for free, which has only declined in quality in recent years as universities see students as cash-cows and don't care about their actual development until PhD level (that's been my observation during my BSc and MSc at two Russell Group unis). But we need degrees to get any sort of decent job nowadays, which is why we have so many people who shouldn't really be at university studying degrees they don't care about.
I'm not saying the US system isn't even more fucked, but I think our system is ridiculous. If I had my way I'd cut university places by about 75% (at least), and treat all university places as paid 9-5 jobs. Vocational courses can still exist for people who need a certain set of skills for a job, just keep that shit out of academia.
>>7727277
STEM is literally just complicated McDonald's work.
>>7726000
What school did you go to?
I'm thinking about going to school for comparative lit because I'm more interested in world literature and comparing different mediums. Anybody who has done comp lit care to chime in?
Liberal arts majors are for losers and fags.
excuse my ignorance but is an english major a "literature major" or just limited to works originally written in english?
>>7731245
english is for books written with english as their first language so its pretty much limited to North American and British authors. One of the main reasons I decided to do world literature instead
