SPECIAL: MORE FUCKING ENGLISH MAJORS

"I actually like some of Whitman’s work, I just think he was a total douche who needed to quit with all of the 'I’m going to be the writer for all of America' stuff. As a writer, I know that’s a ridiculously stupid and naive attitude to have, and I really wish someone could have punched him and told him to stop being an ass and write another book!"


"Being an English major I took a semester long Shakespeare course ... reading plays, hence Shakespeare, is something I truly loathe."


"Shakespeare... why is it nobody reads him for fun? Well, anyway, I find this, his most famous play, to be amusing in that, while most people know the story, they may not know the following facts that make the play absurd (yes, yes, different cultures, different customs, different times. I know. I was an English major, too, but really?!)"


"I have a BA in Literature ('Would you like fries with that?'). I took a course in Romantic lit, and mentioned in class that I didn't care for Wordsworth. The prof replied that if I hadn't read a lot of a poet's work (which I hadn't), I wasn't in a position to make that judgment. That still doesn't make much sense to me, but anyway..."


"When I was in college I used to outrage other English majors when I honestly answered their questions about poetry preferences. 'How can you major in English and hate both Romantic and Victorian poetry?!' I don't know, I was and I could."


"I have a lot more going for me in life than grammar. I use it as much as I can, generally, but sometimes I just don't feel like it."


"For the writer trying to get out of the writing rut... oh god, I live there sometimes. The only thing that really, truly pulls me up out of it is reading a good story, and there are two I can highly recommend. Neil Gaiman's 'American Gods' and Anne Rice's 'The Witching Hour' (which I'm currently reading now). They both have a talent for writing, of course, but more importantly, they have a talent for storytelling, and that kickstarts me. Hope that helps. :)"


"I love it when lyrics are studied as literature. Because, really, they’re poems, and some songs should be valued just as much as Wordsworth and Eliot."


"At my school (Emerson College) you're required to take two lit 'pre-reqs' to move on to the more interesting and original courses. I signed up for Brit Lit right away thinking we would study contemporary writing -- not so. I struggled through that class not only because of the content, but because I didn't get along with the professor, either. Having to listen to a professor wax poetic about John Donne is not my idea of educating nor interesting."


"I'm feeling a little silly right now but could you tell me the word for when two people work together and there work ends up being exactly the same.

I know it's pronounced like 'cuhlood' but I can't spell it!

Please help!"


"Thought I would pipe in with my list of life-changing or just-really-good books:

Life of Pi (Yann Martel) - a cross between an adventure story and spiritual musings; LIFE CHANGER
The Giver (Lois Lowry) - YA dystopian novel
Enders Game (Orson Scott Card) - gonna back up Olive in this one
The Eyre Affair (Jasper Fforde) - crime/fantasy/sci-fi/general nonsensical brilliance
Lord of the Rings Trilogy (JRR Tolkien) - worth every page of elvish (which I may have skipped :D)
In a Sunburned Country (Bill Bryson) - Nonfiction, travel/humor/Australia
Mythology (Edith Hamilton) - because a background in myths always helps
The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) - because it is summer, and you deserve a mental break
Oscar Wilde's plays - verbal juggling at it's best
American Gods (Neil Gaiman) - fantasy/mythology/modern epic, big but entrancing
Good Omens (Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet) - the Apocalypse at its funniest
Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Conan Doyle) - any and all (a note on diving into the Holmes cannon: if you want to dedicate yourself to reading them all, read in publication order, but if you want to start out with a sort of test drive, start with the short story collaboration)

All of these are books that mean a lot to me, and that I reread constantly."


"Also, as far as the art of penmanship is concerned, I tend to agree! I love dip pens and fountain pens and the beautiful script that can be made with them!"


"I just spent five or six hours reading up on the biblical and freudian symbolism in an anime (Neon Genesis Evangelion - a masterpiece ... right up until the ending. Dx), because the anime was fucking awesome, and the symbolism added some depth to the work.

I love, love, love stories -- not just books. Whatever media I can find them in, a good story is a good story!

(My list of masterpieces are Watchmen (Graphic Novel), His Dark Materials, Ender's Game, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Moon (Indie movie), District 9 (Movie), and Forrest Gump. It's a very short list.)."


"This is for the non-lover of Shakespeare. One of my teachers in college used to tease me when we'd get to the poetry section of whichever class we're in that semester... I hate poetry. A lot. Every once in a while, I'll surprise myself by liking a specific author or poem. As a whole though, I don't actually enjoy poetry and I always feel like I'm betraying my major. You don't have to like everything that every other major likes just to be a 'good' English Major."


"Regarding grammar:
If it's not properly used everywhere, then it shouldn't be used anywhere at all.

I.e. even on the internet, texts, e-mail, whatever, grammar should be exemplified and made a priority. What's the point of using grammar if you're alienating it to certain 'scholarly' aspects of the language? Besides, it's not like it's particularly difficult.

Language is language despite the vessel and when we grow lax and delude ourselves that this meme is any different from a dissertation, then we've lost our linguistic hold on reality. And frankly, as English majors - that's all we've got."