/lit/ - Literature

i'm studying Drama and English Literature OP, with hopes to become a stage actor

>>1468400

Really? Because I'm actually taking an acting class this semester and my teacher is a double major in lit and drama, I'm hoping that both could help me out. I also have an interest in philosophy or vocal.. whatever its called

>>1468381
>studying literature by yourselves cause thats what most real people do
get fucking real, halfwit, most "real people" can't even tell the difference between a book and a text. And neither can you, I should think.

>>1468381

:/ It was a joke, by real people I meant like... intelligent people who enjoy reading books without actually becoming a lit major in order to be forced to read books

I just switched to English, hoping to become a teacher. Everyone always told me I should be a teacher, since I make lesson plans in my spare time and always held fake classes with my siblings, trying to teach them Spanish or something.

Not sure what the job market is like on teachers, though I know they don't make hueg amounts. I have no expensive aspirations in life though, and I already own a house from an inheritance, so.

I'm taking 3 literature classes and one language class this semester. Hoping I didn't overload myself on the reading.

>>1468407
>Deep&Edgy trying to pretend his blown thousands at Uni are worth it.

>>1468421
I get a rather lucrative grant.

>>1468415

Yeah I mean its a lot of reading, but it kinda takes you away from sitting on the computer all day or watching tv.

There are plenty of jobs for teachers, supposedly. But, if you go to grad school and become a college professor, that's where all the big bucks are.

>>1468428
I wish that was believable.

>>1468421

At least he learned how to form a coherent sentence.

>>1468433
Oh, well I don't even watch TV. I admit I'm on the computer a lot though.

If it wasn't for the obviously useless degree and the constant doom of becoming a teacher attached to it, I would've enrolled.

Read books in your free time, learn to write in your free time. Influential rockstars, writers, singers, -heck- even historians and philosophers became the best at what they did on their own.

School yourself, otherwise others will tell you what to learn. They have degrees in everything these days, even in mudpies.

P.S. This doesn't apply to more scientific areas. Although some consider literature, languages, history and philosophy a science.

P.P.S. Don't be mad, I'm up the shit-creek myself. I studied history. While immensly interesting, I think learning it on yourself would've worked as well.

>>1468433
>if you go to grad school and become a college professor, that's where all the big bucks are.
>English professor
>big bucks
Good luck struggling, traveling, and kissing ass for the faintest glimpse of the will-o-the-wisp of academic tenure for 10-15 years, and that's assuming you can find the jobs in the first place. And THAT'S assuming you can make it through the rigmarole of grad school and achieving your doctorate.
OP, go this route if it's a passion you seriously think you can sustain through rigorous amounts of personal and intellectual challenges. Do not follow this advice with much expectation of monetary reward unless you are sure of your brilliance and/or you can get published.
I'm not meaning to discourage you, and I'm not yet one more engineerfag telling you "Herp derp it's stupid and you'll never make money! Go get a library card!" I'm just saying, check your motives when you say make plans like, "I'm going to devote the next 10-12, possibly more, years of my life to studying and developing literally thousands of opinions and concepts on one subject with numerous theories and applications."
I think science and humanities are interdependent. Just an opinion I pulled right out of my ass one day, but it's what I believe. But they take and offer two very different sets of values and rewards.

>>1468406
>>1468406

yeah my main focus is on the acting with the english being a kind've personal choice to help me.

love em both

>>1468482
>>Influential rockstars, writers, singers, -heck- even historians and philosophers became the best at what they did on their own.

shakespeare, joyce, kant, aristotle, dante, etc

kerouac, rockstars

lrn 2 differentiate

History Major here. I'm planning to take a lot a lit classes in the future, just no time/chance to get in them yet.

>>1468482
> -heck- even historians and philosophers became the best at what they did on their own.
Nope. Pretty much everyone who is good at some intellectual pursuit became so by surrounding themselves in the environment of the times. If you're serious about an intellectual pursuit you need to either be friends with professors/people going to grad school and talk with them constantly or actually be a grad student. It's the same with math, science, etc.

>>1468482

I'd also like to point out a lot of them 'learned it on their own' because either there was no schooling for it. Just a smattering of publications on it, or the school was out of reach somehow (fiscally, geographically).

>>1468527
I am anon and I approve this message.

It's very true of math.

>>1468549
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srinivasa_Ramanujan

>>1468482
Also, there is no credit given to someone who learned it themselves. Which sounds better, "I graduated from XXXX university with a degree in philosophy/history/literature."
or
"I read a lot of books and did a lot of research on the topics, I have a pretty good understanding of XXXX"

the second, your just joe shmoe who sounds like a douchebag.

Hey, /lit/, how does one live on a student budget?

I'm going to college right now (sophomore at a community college), but I still live with my parents (inb4 manchild/basement dweller herp derp), and I have a letter on the way to a hiring agency in hopes they can refer me to a way to make ends meet.
I just want to be able to find a cheap apartment and two roommates before/during the time I'm in my last two years of earning my BA. Minimum rent in my city is about 400 for a prefab student hovel.

Any advice?

I teach English Comp at a small university in the midwestern US as part of my MA program. And let me tell you. I don't make shit. I do get my MA tuition-free through.

Keep on studying, OP.

>>1468560
Everyone uses that example. That's because it's the only example. It's also from 1888. Find more than one modern example (modern meaning 1980 and beyond). You can't.

And it's just ridiculous to expect someone to actually replicate the results of an incredibly incredibly special individual with particular circumstances.

>>1468482
Becoming a teacher doesn't sound too bad.
It's kind of like acting: you get to wow people with your silliness and sense of humor, you get to control an entire room full of people and think up new ways to keep their attention, dramatically describe things to people, etc.

Being a teacher is kind of like being a birthday clown, except no one is afraid you're going to rape their kids.

>>1468585
How the fuck do you cover living expenses?

Hello OP,

I am finishing my PhD in Lit and teach it. My degree will actually be a hindrance because the job market for uni positions is the worst it has been for a long time.

/shrug

>>1468649
You could always get by working for your state's department of education.

>>1468435
>Probably American, and fantasises over his government actually giving people money to better themselves

>>1468672
i wish my government gave me enough money to actually fucking live somewhere while i studied my education

instead i have to be a homeless student

>>1468663

I do not live in a country that has 'states', but thanks for the suggestion. I am still confident enough to believe that I can find a place somewhere. I am also one of the few PhD students I know who is not so desperate to be in this profession that I would accept adjunct work for the rest of my life. If I can't find a decent uni job a couple years after I finish, I will just do something else. I have enjoyed my time.