Why an English Major?
You may often be asked why you are studying (majoring or minoring) or even why you’re taking courses in English. As we are approaching the last few weeks of the course, how might you explain why studying texts and their meaning has become important? So, why English?
When my senior year of high was nearing its end, people in my life began inquiring about my college plans. And when I would first tell them that I was planning to major in English, their immediate reaction was to ask, ‘oh, so you want to teach?’
*sigh* My answer was always roughly the same, ‘no ma’am/sir; I don’t want to teach.’
(It was a valid assumption, though, particularly given that my declaration of my wanting to be an English major was generally juxtaposed with my going to Winthrop, a university known historically for its teacher education. But still, no, no plans of teaching English.)
Anyway, this answer, of course, would be met with a pause of confusion, followed by a follow-up question, ‘oh, well, what do you want to do with an English degree then?’ And I didn’t really know what to tell them; I’m still, now nearly in my fourth year of college, a bit unsure, if I’m honest.
As a matter of fact, I’m not the biggest fan of many things typical of studying English/being an English major. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love reading. . .when it’s for fun. But, writing (usually) stresses me out. I have a personal vendetta against analyzing literature, always internally questioning whether an author really meant for this thing to symbolize this thing or that other thing to convey some profound message. Books, to me, should be read for entertainment or relaxation even, but not to be picked apart page by page or line by line.
With that said, books have messages and lessons within them — be them intentionally there thanks to the author, implied accidentally, or perhaps even embedded into a text’s structure — I get that. And at the end of the day, I genuinely love just how tremendously powerful (reading) books (and other texts) can be. And so I do see and understand how studying texts and their meaning is a rather important study.
Books can teach us about the world and others who(se experiences) are not like us. Literature can inspire; it can make us feel safe and understood. Books can provide readers with life lessons to get carried around for the rest of their lives; books can create communities. Other texts like newspaper articles, for instance, can do some of these things as well, though most often inform and make us think critically to come to our own conclusions.
The possibilities within the power of reading are astronomical. And while this all sounds gloriously magical and grand, it is necessary to understand, though, that good and not-so-good lessons can abound within literature. And that’s why, at least one collective amount of reasons, I think, it can be important to study texts and their meanings — because it’s eye-opening.
Personally, while I know I said I am still sometimes unsure about my exact goals, I chose to major in English because I want to be some form of editor. (Be that copy-editing, be that for a news publication or a book publishing company, that is where a lot of my unsureness lies. The latter, editing books, I think, is probably my preference because I do love the idea of readings books as a part of my job.)
Studying English in college is, then, giving me numerous skills and experiences that may very well be useful for me in future career endeavors. For two: I’m enhancing my analytical skills — and I’m learning just how powerful the words of texts I may be editing one day will be, in that they can hold all sorts of intentional or unintentional messages, life lessons, and meanings.
