An Analysis Continued - Part 2 An English Major

On to the big question that is on everyone’s mind. What am I doing with my English degree? Working as an administrative assistant, duh! No for real, it’s what I’m doing. But, I’m not going to get stuck here. I actually edit documents for the company I work for, so I am, in a sense, using my degree. I have to say, I don’t think people really what English degree course requires. And I think that’s why people make the assumption I want to become a teacher. They’re thinking about grammar, punctuation and dissecting sentences. No, that’s the English class everyone is required to take. Everybody attending a traditional American university takes English 101. An actual English degree is really more about reading literature, classics from every genre, from America to Europe, to Asia, from 1800 to more modern works. I even had to read plays. One of my text books was nothing but play after play by play-writes from all over the world.

An English degree also requires a lot of writing. I had to take two writing courses, separate from my major courses. I had to take technical writing, which I enjoyed and another that slips me memory at the moment.  I had to take an advance grammar and vocabulary course too, which was mostly writing. No more sentence diagrams! It was pure writing beyond the basics of a 101 course. I really learned to write with meaning, and to be detailed. I learned to avoid archaic phases and these courses really teach you to get bold with how you write; not to be afraid to start a sentence with and. And yes, I do it! I my best writing is research papers. The information is already there all I had to do was type my own thoughts in between. And when I don’t think much about the topic, I just put some BS in to fill the gaps.

A quick lesson on BS

BS is the delicate art of making it seem like you really understood Shakespeare’s Richard III or any other topic, by honing in on your advanced grammar skills. You elongate your sentences with a few fancy words and place a direct quote or paraphrase in the middle and you’ve got some sweet smelling bullsh*t to turn in. You can’t do it for the whole analysis; the key is it only works when delicately and strategically placed.

With all honesty, writing is something that I love and something I do well. I can always brush up and really clean my skills to be the best of the best. I believe in improvement and updating. Some things I have learned about grammar and writing may change within a few short years, so naturally, I would need to make that adjustment to remain truly good at what I love.

So why am I writing all of this? Just because I feel it’s something I need to do. It’s part of being a writer. It can’t be explained. Sometimes, a writer needs to write, sort of like a detox. I had all of this bottled up but now I’m free to think and assess other things. And maybe, I’ve given my reader something to think about and consider as well.