# Should I Major in English Even If...



## AngelSushi (Oct 19, 2009)

...I'm not good at analyzing literature?

In the past year and a half that I've been in college, I've realized that a lot of students around me get a lot more out of literature than I do. I like books, but I've realized that my enjoyment is on a shallow level. I suppose my lack of appreciation for literary nuances has to do with my high school English classes; they were more about understanding the basic meaning of texts rather than going deeper and interpreting them. But I did like my English classes, and I always thought I would be an English major, so now that I'm faced with this dilemma, I don't know what other major I would pick.

To be honest, I enjoy the writing aspect of English more than anything else, and though my school does offer a Creative Writing major, I'd be way too scared to major in it. The reason I'd like to become better at analyzing literature is to get rid of the low self-esteem I feel when I hear my classmates wax poetic on some element of the book that I totally missed. I'd like to be able to do that, too. I feel really inadequate in comparison.

Another concern is grad school (if--and that's a very big if--I decide to apply). I'm afraid that if I major in English, my major gpa will be lower than my cumulative gpa, and that might not reflect well on my application. 

What do you guys think?


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## gopherinferno (Apr 7, 2009)

Unless you're at a really challenging university, most literature classes basically tell you what to think about the material. As long as you listen to the professor and carefully read everything, you'll do fine. If you have an interest it's probably a good thing. 

I'm an English major and I learned 95% of what I know about analyzing literature when I started college. There aren't necessarily any "right" answers.


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## AngelSushi (Oct 19, 2009)

It's hard for me to gauge how much I enjoy analyzing literature because right now I'm taking a comparative literature class, which has involved learning more about literary theory--a subject that I find very difficult and partially the reason why I'm reconsidering majoring in English--than analyzing literature. I've been told, however, that Comparative Literature isn't necessarily representative of the English major. I'll be taking a course next semester that supposedly prepares students for advanced literature study, so I'm hoping that will help. I also might try to go to someone in the Learning Assistance department and see if they have advice for me. If it still doesn't work out, I suppose I could major in East Asian Studies, although I really don't have interest in any jobs related to that field...it just seems interesting.


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## mixolydian (May 23, 2009)

I recently completed my major in English and I came out of school not having studied English literature which was pretty much the standard for most university students doing English. I can totally relate to feeling intimidated by other students because there are plenty who seem to have read every piece of literature ever published, however, I think you'll find that most other students will be on the same or similar level to you in terms of their knowledge and ability. I really enjoyed my English course and it was the only part of my degree that I genuinely liked so if its something you enjoy doing don't drop it based on your fears. It's also something that will help a lot in other units and aspects of life, it improved my writing immensely and definitely encourages you to be more critical and analytical. Anyways, good luck with it if you do decide to go forward with it.


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