Tuesday, January 26, 1999
Shakespeares-in-training
MAJORS: English may not be considered
one of the ‘tougher’ majors,
but English students say that MIlton
is just as challenging as Newton
By Michelle Navarro
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Science students may have to wear lab coats and commit the
glycolysis cycle to memory, but English students still don’t think
it’s a harder life than the one they lead.
Science students may have to thoroughly understand the
polymerase chain reaction, but English students still hold their
ground.
Science students may have to go through the deathly horror of
organic chemistry, but English students say they have to as well.
Except their organic chemistry is under a different name in their
department: Milton.
William Shakespeare, John Milton, John Keats, and William
Faulkner – these and more are the molecules of English. And, as
different as a water molecule is from a DNA molecule, so can each
of these authors be to each other.
Unfortunately, not everyone realizes this.
In the silent war over which major holds the roughest
undergraduate path, the thousands of students within the English
majors have taken a lot of put-downs.
"People look down on you," said Melissa Goetz, a fourth-year
English and political science student. "Whenever you tell people
you’re an English major, they’re like, ‘oh.’"
Goetz started off as a science student and admitted to having
the same feelings of superiority. But, now that she has gone
through the English major, she said they were unwarranted and
unjustified feelings.
"The faculty also have a slight sort of prejudice," said Chris
Mott, a professor in the English department. "But this is proven
false all the time in the equanimity in student anxiety. Students
have a great deal of anxiety in writing, in their grammar and such.
There is just as much rigorous thinking as in the hard
sciences."
Several students within this literary crowd also share that
belief. Unfortunately, because not many students outside the major
share it, those in English studies have to take a defensive stance
against claims that their major is "easy."
"I just think that South Campus majors who have this big
egotistic attitude should know that English is not that easy," said
Goetz. "There are a lot of science people who would not succeed as
an English major. It is equally, if not more, challenging. It just
taps into a different part of you."
That different part the subject taps into is the creative and
expressive side of a person – or for the scientists, the functions
of the right side of the brain.
"English is for someone who likes to read. You need to have a
critical mind, one that is making connections all the time," said
Kirsten Roe, a third-year English student. "I’ll read a book and a
week will go by and I’m still making connections. It goes on all
the time."
"Anyone can simply read a book and regurgitate the facts," Mott
said. "But it takes more to meditate and mull over the different
images and angles."
Theoretically one could "work and think things over infinitely,"
but when it comes down to it, everything all depends on how much
the student puts into it.
Mott, Goetz and Roe said it is important for English students to
stay open-minded to the different types of literature given.
But it is one trait that fourth-year English and political
science student Chris Saldivar had to learn after he was introduced
to John Milton’s "Paradise Lost" while taking the 10 series, a set
of core introductory classes.
"In the 10 series, we didn’t read the whole thing. I hated
‘Paradise Lost’ so I dreaded taking the Milton class later on,"
Saldivar said. "I was closed-minded to him because to me the book
made no sense. I felt it was totally above me. But the teacher that
I had for the Milton class did a good job and opened me up to
him."
Aside from digesting pages and pages of literature, or as Roe
calls it, "delving into the minds of characters," English students
need to know how to write – with exceptional clarity and insight,
that is.
"If you read but can’t express yourself, it’s no good," Goetz
said. "You have to be able to tie things together. In English, you
have to have more style, you have to be creative."
All students in the major must take the English 10 series, a
series considered by most as the most rigorous and homework packed
of all the courses.
"There’s a lot more volume of literature and papers. It’s twice
the time commitment as a regular class," Roe said. "They really try
to push you. With the first papers, they grade harder and that
tends to freak people out.
What people usually find after taking the series, though, is
that they are very well prepared for other classes."
Along with the heavy load of reading assignments, the series
introduces several genres and literature periods which gives
students the chance to discover what they are more interested
in.
"You find out quickly what you like and what you don’t like,"
Goetz said. "From there, you usually can pick related electives.
The major is pretty flexible, so you can pick what you like."
Just as other majors have their share of ambitious students, so
does this one. And, according to Roe, they usually sit in the first
three rows. Sounds familiar.
"There seems to be a cultural disjunct between the first three
rows and the back," she said. "Those in the front are usually more
ambitious and try to get more attention from the professor. They
are more cooperative and they believe whatever the professor tells
them.
"The people in the back are more irreverent. They are the
independent people that don’t easily buy into what the professor is
telling you," Roe added.
At the same time, Roe said the students in her major are very
sociable, which is something that just goes along with what English
is all about – communication.
Building a community with students is the goal of several
English-related activities. The annual marathon reading in April is
one example.
It is through events like these that efforts are made to turn
that student who simply sits in the back of the class unnoticed to
become an active member and English student.
The network students build allows them to gain a different
perspective on a book and even perhaps a link for future career
reference. A degree in English opens a gateway to numerous career
choices.
"They can do anything they want," Mott said proudly, as he
listed off law, education, journalism, publishing, editing,
creative writing, public relations and advertising as a few
examples.
The analytical tools with which these students dissect a work of
literature can be applied in a variety of lifestyles, but more
importantly it works into their daily conversations and lives.
"English majors can never watch movies in the same way," Roe
said. "Even if it’s ‘Armageddon,’ I see symbols everywhere. You are
always looking for something more than what you are being
told."
"I’m amazed at how many things are literary. Who else can watch
‘Star Wars’ and see Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ in it?" she added
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