I've heard all the jokes and suffered through all the "What are you going to do with an English Degree?" questions that, said with that presupposing tone, are incredibly stupid. FYI - when you ask one of us that question, we are smart enough to read between the lines and realize that what you're really asking us is: "What kind of job can you get, and does it make any money, and are you REALLY spending thousands of dollars for a degree that is...well...pointless?" Bless your heart.
Now, I realize that I went on to law school, but that didn't become apparent until high school. I've known since I was 10 years old that I wanted to study English. In fact, that English degree is something I'm very proud of - here's why:
1. This isn't an "easy" major. Check out this link below:
http://education.yahoo.net/articles/most_demanding_majors.htm
On this list of the most demanding majors for college students - Arts & Humanities are #4, just behind #1 Engineering, #2 Physical Sciences, and #3 Biological Sciences. So folks, what English majors' study may be VERY different from math and science, but it is still pretty demanding in terms of time, effort, and difficulty. We don't do labs, but we write 20 page papers. We don't spend an hour on a difficult Matrix theory problem, but we will spend that much time reading, taking notes, and analyzing a particular passage from a research paper.
2. What we learn is different, but not unmarketable.
Most, if not all humanities degrees require a language component. By this, I mean we have to learn a foreign language that we aren't already fluent in. One of the ideas behind this is: learning another language helps you better understand your own, but employers like it too. In fact, many require it - and with jobs becoming more and more globally based, US students should make an conscious effort to learn multiple languages.
English majors usually study the development of the English language. We learn Old English, Middle English, etc. PLUS another language like German, French, Spanish, or Mandarin. Then we read and read and read and then write and re-write and edit and keep going until BAM! Suddenly we're catching dangling participles, repeat words, lack of an introductory paragraph sentence, and a plethora of commas and adjectives. We are studying languages, deeper meaning in literature, themes that get to the heart of a societies' moral understanding, and how to engage a reader with nothing but squiggles on a page. So what do you think we can do with that?
I'll tell you. We call it communicating effectively. We can get our thoughts across in a well-worded, educated manner. We can go into advertising, marketing, and communications fields if we wanted to. We can teach all over the world. We can go into other professional fields like law. We can, quite frankly, do almost anything with an English degree. Because while your children are texting/Facebooking something like: "CU LTR i just dont c y people dont say wut they mean i mean you have no idee how RDUE that is!!!!", we still take the time to appreciate how not to seem/look like a monkey just learning to type via text. (Although, if a monkey figured out how to type the above sentence, I would be impressed.) We care about how we appear to others through communication.
And you know who else cares? Employers. They want someone who sounds intelligent. Someone who doesn't need to be told to end all sentences in periods or indent paragraphs for formal letters. And if they have to choose between the guy who can write worth a damn and us...well...they want us.
3. We are creative.
We really are! We are taught logic and analytical skills AND creative writing. We have to have an innovative mind. Our imaginations know no bounds. We pick up on subtleties and details. We are taught to look at issues on a global scale. We can write a paper on any number of topics stemming from a single book. Heck, I once wrote a twelve page paper on a single sonnet. I've also researched Native American Language usage in film on a global scale. So if you think we are unable to write, talk, or research anything other than Shakespeare or Faust - you are WRONG.
4. We are the future of your entertainment delights.
This may be the most important one of all. We are the future Joss Whedons, Steve Moffats, JK Rowlings, Dan Browns, editors at Simon & Schuster, Superbowl commercial makers, librarians, and that wacky middle school English teacher you swore was Warren Zevon incarnated.
That Avengers movie you saw last year and LOVED - well, it
had to be written by somebody. And Stan Lee had to create and write the
comic books before that. A whole lot of somebodies are writing your
favorite TV shows and novels. And not all of them are English majors,
but I'm willing to wager a fair few of them are. We can make you sob, chuckle, grin, and scream. And quite frankly, so me an engineering student who can do the same thing in three pages or less. I can make you sad in a six word story: For Sale: Baby Shoes - never worn. (Note, I did not come up with this, but someone else did. They are the infamous, Anonymous.)
So when people ask the inevitable question: "What are you going to do with an English degree?" Just say: I can do anything - just watch me.Then go do something amazing. :)
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