/lit/ - Literature

They get really good at sucking dick.

>>17873929
Assuming a good course at a good uni, you should be taught the Trivium, not simply grammar/logic/rhetoric as subjects in themselves, but as they were classically intended, with grammar comprising the effective reception of information, logic comprising the ability to critically analyse that information, and rhetoric comprising the formulation of your own ideas in response.

By the end of your degree you should have a good understanding of the development of English Literature, some knowledge of its roots in classical drama, the course it took through the medieval, renaissance, enlightenment and long eighteenth century up to modernism and the present day.

The ability to critically analyse information from a wide range of sources, drawing together disparate elements to form a lucid, cogent argument, and a refined capacity for original thought produce some of the most versatile graduates.

FWIW, I am studying for a masters so I don't really count, but my acquaintances from undergrad are now:

>Journalist
>Newspaper Editor
>Civil Servant (UK)
>High School English Teacher
>Law conversion course to become a solicitor
>Completing an MFA in creative writing
>Graduate management consultant
>Graduate insurance something or other
>Copywriter with an ad agency
>Corporate speechwriter

I'm just delaying the inevitable because I love the subject, but after my masters I'll probably apply to civil service and a few other graduate schemes. In the UK, at least, most graduate schemes are open to any degree discipline above a certain grade.

Happy to answer any questions if you're interested, I assume you are considering doing a Literature degree. At times it was boring and shit but the same can be true of any degree, and the best parts were really very good.

Ellen Musk is cute

>>17873929
How to twist evidence/quotes to fit their conclusion

>>17874177
>By the end of your degree you should have a good understanding of the development of English Literature, some knowledge of its roots in classical drama, the course it took through the medieval, renaissance, enlightenment and long eighteenth century up to modernism and the present day.
Is there a programme where I can avoid the historical stuff and just get the rest?

>>17874445
It’s Elaine.

>>17874666
Not really. What's 'the rest'? Literature has always been closely linked to history.

>>17873929
A phd should prepare you to become the propaganda minister in an authoritarian state.

>>17874177
SAUCE ON PAINTING?

>>17874177
Is English a worthwhile major? I've been juggling this in my head for the last year or so. Last thing I went to school for was Cisco networking and IT. I like the material but it bores me too. I don't like the certification process, I hate memorizing so much information and terms.

>>17874846
For me, I've absolutely found it to be a worthwhile major. I went to uni late (age 21) and am now 25 doing my Master's. I wouldn't have spent all this time if I didn't think it was worthwhile. It depends what you want to get out of it, though.

Many jobs today require degrees that really shouldn't - to some employers, it just shows you're willing to apply yourself to something for at least 3 years, meet deadlines, and work hard. So a lot of graduate schemes accept people with any degree background.

I chose English because I love English, and always have. That makes it easier. Its also a very versatile degree, as I mentioned - you could go into journalism, publishing, advertising, teaching just as easily as business, government work, charity work, and the like. You specialise increasingly as time goes on, so in your third year you can study and write about any particular period.

>>17874810
Not sure friend.

>>17874666
Why would you want to? The synthesis of English with history, philosophy, culture, art and politics is what makes it so versatile and unique. My MA dissertation touches on Greek drama and philosophy, Augustine's theology, and Shakespeare's plays. You can study literally anything in the realm of 'literary studies' when you include history and the like.

>>17874846
It can be. I ended up as a state-employed journalist. If you want a jobs like these >>17874177 then make sure you apply yourself on your own time by researching and learning what you need to know, use the right keywords in your CV, and building a portfolio. So if you want to be an editor or journo make sure you understand APA, feature vs news story, etc... and make sure your understanding is reflected in job applications. People stay in starbucks jobs because they don't do this. You can also always go teach in SEA. That's easy enough.

>he wants a 'job'
ngmi

Bump

>>17874177
Based post and check’d. I’m a civil servant in the US rn, just graduated from college. It was surprisingly easy to find a job, but I had volunteered, done internships and worked during undergrad.

Anyone in law enforcement? I’m thinking of making the switch to get out of the office and dodge the law school bullet that’s been aimed at me since I picked Philosophy to study as a 18 year old.

>>17876464
I am ex police, but in the UK. Honestly I didn't find it intellectually stimulating enough. You'll be working with some people who barely scraped through high school, who have no desire to think deeply about things. Add that to the actual job, which mainly boils down to attending domestic calls where nobody wants to say anything, pulling people over for minor violations, and dealing with drunk /homeless people, and it just wasn't for me.

On the flip side, I have since incredible memories of my time there, and I have to believe I did some good. Honestly I'd recommend going to law school. No angst over not having reached your intellectual potential (and those will be there, even as a detective), much better pay, and you can still do some good.

>>17874932
>My MA dissertation touches on Greek drama and philosophy, Augustine's theology, and Shakespeare's plays
That's why I think that the humanities make you the most complete as well rounder human being
t. stemfag

>>17876672
But does it make you employable?

>>17876680
I did not mention employability, I just talked about general culture. Now if you're talking about stem degrees, well it's not so much better than the humanities desu

>>17876680
See
>>17874177

Cliché, but this line from dead poet's always stuck with me. Sums up much of my feeling on the matter.

Also this
>>17876672

>>17876738
Doh - forgot the line

>>17876756
Based. As much as I hate the movie for being surface level

>>17876762
Yeah, keating's pretty unrealistic. But it's true - medicine, law, STEM, business, it's all focused on sustaining life. But the actual business of living surely belongs to the connections we make, love we experience, ideas. Literature is ultimately a way of communicating an idea, an emotion. It develops greater understanding of others, thus greater understanding of ourselves and increased empathy. Beauty - in literature, music, art, so on - in love - surely that's why we're here. It's trite, it's late and I haven't articulated it well, but it's a deep conviction.

You learn the skills necessary to become a professor and teach other kids the same things. That's it. This is why the humanities are currently failing, because it has no material purpose in a society that is ruled by productivity.

>>17876832
Agreed! I used to believe that I was mostly rational but as years go by I am realizing that what drives me is emotion. Emotion in a true, deep, subsconscious level. Emotion cannot be transmuted into facts because it is intangible, hence why art is having a field day with it.

I'm also on a night bender

>>17876853
Imagine actually believing this. I feel sorry for you.

>>17876858
>>17876832
What gay self masturbatory nonsense you delude yourselves to with to justify your inability to learn STEM and see the true beauty of nature.

>>17876853
Whoa anon, don't drop all the blackpills at once

>>17876875
KEK I am a Pharma Chad, come at me BRUH. How deep has life cucked you to think in this kind of binary way?

>>17876875
You are a husk

>>17876876
Well it is true anon. I'm sorry to say but we are currently living in societies that overproduce people with Bachelor's and Master's degrees in the liberal arts, and the only thing this will precipitate is revolution and social instability because there are not enough well-paying jobs to give to them like there was 75 years ago.

>>17874177
>Bootlicking scrivener
>Middle management servant of the elites
>Welfare bureaucunt
>Retard/nonce paid to babysit pakis and niggers
>Power tripping bootlicker
>Complete fucking retard
>Probably at least has some agency over his work, not bad
>Soulless but at least it probably pays
>Retard scrivener
>Soulless scrivener
Wow... impressive

>>17876924
Hmmm, yeah I see what you mean. It's true that the Humanities took a hit recently. I don't know when the descent started to be honest though

>>17876929
Incredible amounts of venom and hatred in this post. Goethe was a civil servant, for goodness' sake. I'll pray for you, anon.

>>17876924
What about learning for learning's sake? For the love of knowledge? I graduated with a BA in literature and philosophy 3 years ago and my course wasn't very 'woke' at all. I got great exposure to the Western Canon and an excellent understanding of Literature, philosophy, politics, art, history, and the like. I feel it unironically made me a better person in a way that couldn't have been achieved by getting books from the library.

>>17876971
>Goethe was a civil servant
yeah two centuries ago you fucking queer
look at this guy, he puts some midwit tards getting paid to push papers around and sit in meetings to discuss white privilege next to fucking Goethe

>>17873929
Facsimile of style in various contexts

>>17876521
Thanks man I’ll take that to heart. I’ve been trying to stay in professions that relate to law in case I ever bite the bullet. I just have worries about the market for lawyers in the US

>>17877000
>What about learning for learning's sake?

What about it? You can do all this without spending a dime in college.

Face it man, people go to college because they want to escape being working class the rest of their life, but college itself is being proletarized now because of degree inflation, people with Master's degrees are working at Starbucks because there's like a 5% chance that you'll get a faculty position as an assistant professor at any university(and you will never get tenure).

A large part of the Woke phenomenon is actually because of this, an extremely pissed off group of liberal arts educated people articulate their hatred at not getting the privileged position they think they deserve by making society into an authoritarian hell for the rest of us.

>>17877084
Is not professor or Starbucks for masters students. I did an MA because I love the subject, rather than any particular employment goal, and I guarantee I wouldn't have received the same education by myself with library books. Really the suggestion that you could make me think you haven't even been to uni

>>17877109
Sounds like you're coping a lot there chief.

>>17877150
No cope at all, I was privileged to do postgraduate study in a subject I loved, and I found the experience incredibly rewarding. It's led to a job I find fulfilling and stimulating, with decent pay, which in turn led to me meeting my fiancé. To this day i remember the insights into philosophy and literature I received from real experts in their fields, the debates I took part in with other individuals all sharing the same passion, the excitement of developing my own unique, original arguments and noticing connections in the great Western literary tradition, and forming those into coherent arguments under the rigorous guidance of the aforementioned experts, resulting in a thesis which remains one of my protest achievements. It was unironically the time of my life and you should be ashamed of potentially dissuading any young people in this thread from taking part themselves in such an extraordinary experience.

>>17877084
t. flunked high school. Classic fox and grapes

>>17874932
>I went to uni late (age 21)
>now 25 doing my Master's
>delaying the inevitable because I love the subject
>dissertation touches on Greek drama and philosophy, Augustine's theology, and Shakespeare's plays.
careful who you marry and be weary of cripples my boy

>>17877189
>It's led to a job I find fulfilling and stimulating, with decent pay

In other words, you were one of the 5% of people who managed to claw your way to a well-paying job, but this doesn't change anything I've said in this entire thread.

As for the rest of your post, what the fuck am I supposed to say to this pathetic university propaganda? People have to pay 100K dollars just do to do a graduate degree these days and you think it's enough to just say "Muh Western Canon, I had a great time". Well newsflash moron, most people aren't born with a silver spoon up their asshole.

>>17877196
Even if that was true, which it is not, you're going to work a dead-end job soon enough, and the only thing you got from going to university was an inflated sense of self and 100K in debt.

>>17877226
>>17877216
>100k

Ahh, makes more sense. I'm in Europe. Yeah, your fees are horrific.

>>17877210
Underrated post. Wasnt stoner a medievalist?

>>17877380
It's still expensive in Europe unless you have parents that literally pay to support you while studying moron. Even here in Norway people rack up 50k dollars in student loans.

>>17877395
In the UK I completed my undergrad degree while I worked and came out with basically no student debt. I did well and got into a masters at a good uni, which was ~10k, but I paid it off within 3 years of graduating. US fees are crippling

>>17877216
Every thread on 4chan that talks about education and jobs ends up with someone like you screeching how impossibly unfair everything is. I don’t get it. I got a 2.99 (pretty bad gpa imo) in Philosophy at a flyover state school and got a decent job with prospects for advancement. I got the job one month after graduation at the start of an international pandemic, and I only applied to 5 or so jobs. Is it really that hard for you?

>>17877386
Yes, I believe he was, his dissertation was "The Influence of the Classical Tradition on the Medieval Lyric". This particular comparison to anon is reaching more than the others, but in my mind it's close enough and goes like this:
>Greek's + Augustine's theology
= Classics
>Shakespeare
= almost medieval

>>17874026
He asked about Lit majors, not engineering students

>>17877540
>Shakespeare
>Almost medieval

>>17876875
If this post were true we wouldn't have 50 threads a day by stem majors asking how to start reading books

>>17876870
Instead of writing a sentence that refutes him you write a low iq unnecessary sentence

>>17877540
Shakespeare is Renaissance

lit undergrad here

i decided on studying lit cuz it was either that or music and our bass player tried studying composition but he hated it and quit it to study lit so i decided to follow in his footsteps. while i dont think its giving me a concrete skill for a job, and while i do find most academic analysis to be misguided, these are some of the good things about it

>that one cute girl from class
>lots and lots of free time
>typing skills
>exposure to different types of lit that i definitely wouldnt have gone out to read myself
>chronological progression
>world history
>less depressing than any other degree program
>aesthetic pursuits are the highest of them all and are an end in themselves rather than a means
>its free

>>17874177
wtf that's literally me

>>17876929
I know, right? Being a NEET never sounded so good.

Why is it always Britbongs who can't stop themselves from gargling the discharge of the university system in these threads?

>>17873929
>literature major
Imagine spending years studying something people just do in their free time.

>>17876929
A+ for unvarnished brutal honesty, anon
Whats truly sad is that never once will these poor lackeys ever actually make use of their hard-won literary knowledge while pursuing their 'careers'. No-one at work will give a fuck what they studied. In five years they wont even remember their own thesis.

>>17879299
>its free
Uhm, whats the place ? Asking for a friend ofc

>>17873929
He cute

>>17876883
based

>>17873929
They learn to bog, mingle, and suck cock

>>17879829
Completely unsubstantiated. The Greeks held public service to be one of the most virtuous careers too, so your denigration of civil servants teachers etc shows your own ignorance. No idea what you'd classify as not being a 'lackey'.

>>17880144
Yes because of course public service in our era is identical to that of the Greeks

I did a literature degree because I love English literature and I wanted to teach English literature. Now I teach English literature. Pay is mediocre. Worth it because I love my job. My own MA unlocked private/independent schools (I'm in the UK) and I work at a great one, Latin mottos, smart uniforms, students sorted into houses. Students refer to teachers as 'sir' or 'miss' and all rise when we enter the classroom. I teach AS and A level (age 17-18) so my students have chosen to pursue the subject rather than being forced to. I have a good amount of control over my syllabus and feel my studies are directly linked to my teaching. I also run a creative writing club which I find rewarding. Faculty include plenty of ex graduate students and even PhD's who didn't land tenure track jobs. 6 weeks off over summer, 3 weeks over Christmas, various term breaks. My only regret is that my wife had to work a bit longer for us to afford our first house.

Super comfy, super stimulating, super enjoyable. Genuinely feel like I have the best job in the world. Haters can suck it

>>17880151
It's the principle/philosophy behind it, Greek and Roman government was corrupt and Rome in particular was degenerate at times. Plato and Aristotle still held that being a part of that system and striving to improve it was immensely noble, even if you were unsuccessful, because of the higher principle

>>17880167
Based. This is the route I want to go down. I'm still doing my BA but I've been tutoring for a few years and had work experience in schools. Honestly was nowhere near as bad as people ('people', mainly 4channers) make it out to be.

>>17877852
>>17877590
The key word is "almost", friends. I'm well aware that Shakespeare is Renaissance

>>17876929
NGMI

>>17880171
Nothing short of processes involving the words 'complete' 'discontinuous' 'regime change' could dignify the civil service under present conditions

>>17876929
tell us about your profession, anon

>>17880196
Maybe, but you're not going to fix it by being an armchair critic. In the UK at least, most civil service entrants go on as policy advisors, meaning they have a direct influence on an (admittedly tiny) area of policy and legislation. Changing 0.01% of the system is better than changing 0%, and the potential only increases as time goes on. I still maintain that teaching is one of the noblest professions

>>17880211
If you're thinking about policy, you're not thinking past the regime

>>17876929
I'd love to hear what kind of jobs you think are worthwhile. At least those 'scriveners' have a degree of creative freedom. Do you have any idea how constrained and stifling office/business jobs are? It's astounding you think management consultants have a greater degree of agency over their work than journalists and publishers

>>17880171
You are full of shit
Post quotes from Plato & Aristotle supporting what you say.

>>17880214
Civil service in the UK persists through regime changes. If UK foreign policy changed that drastically every 4 years the country couldn't sustain itself

>>17876929
>Probably at least has some agency over his work, not bad
Out of all of this retardation, thinking a graduate management consultant has any agency whatsoever over his work is the most retarded.

>>17880224
I said regime, not government. The civil service are more 'the regime' than the government is.

>>17880221
Plato himself chose death rather than escape out of respect for a state he acknowledged was flawed. Aristotle held the state to be natural to mankind and believed no individual could reach their telos outside of participating in political life. It's literally the point of Aristotle Politics. I don't have quotes memorised by heart, if you really don't believe me look at a spark notes summary, something tell me you couldn't handle anything more

>>17880228
This. Half of this thread are adults who have matured and made peace with life and the other half are clearly still in high school or undergraduates.

Lads, don't throw pearls before swine, just abandon the thread. There's no point, they'll all realise sooner or later

>>17880238
>Plato himself chose death rather than escape
ignorant brainlet detected

>>17880245
>realise
of course it's an *ngloid

>>17880221
Politics 1.1253a off the top of my head since I just used it in an assignment. As the other anon said, the politics is almost wholly about why man should involve himself in politics and why civic duty is highly conducive to the development of virtue and ultimately eudaimonia

>>17880245
For me the shift happened around the age of 23

>>17880295
Good try anon but you must be aware that civic duty for the Greeks was utterly unlike 'being a civil servant' now. For Aristotle it was participating in the democratic process, if you were rich then sponsoring public festivals and so forth.
I'd say that practically all civil servants nowadays are basically doing it for the money, not because they think it is noble. It can be very well-paid, especially if you are willing to be a complete mercenary about it. However it tends to be those who studied law who do best as a civil servant because they are more cynical about manipulating language and are often utterly amoral. You are serving politicians after all, saying and writing whatever it takes to make them look good. I did it myself for five years and thats the reality. It pays well and standards are low but the notion that you would ever once be required to use any knowledge you gained from a literature degree is laughable.
Probably the best you can hope for is to teach literature.

>>17880369
I disagree with you, but I don't see any way either of us will change the other's mind. Unless you need a vocational degree for a job like medicine, law, research scientist, engineer, you could do a lot worse than English literature and I wouldn't do anything differently. But you do you.

>>17880073
turkey

>>17880167
BASED

>>17880167
This post made me want to be a teacher

>>17880245
We're just too old to be here.

>>17880369
Aristotle (and Plato and Xenophon) were all anti-democratic, either monarchists or oligarch-ists. Also your complaints about "mercenary" civil servants were echoed in the Greek texts. Much of Socratic philosophy was an attempt to encourage selfless public service (which is the whole point of sophrosune). I'm an American so maybe my perspective is different but the civil service here is not very rat-race-y, compared to the private sector. Our civil service is insulated from electoral politics by the separation of powers. I have never had to do something unjust or unseemly for the sake of a politician. It's just weird, none of my experiences match up to what you're saying. I'm inclined to say you've never read the Greeks and you must life in some country where the political situation is much worse than the US.

>>17876929
Very curious to hear about what modern professions you think are worthwhile. If you're a NEET then your opinions are automatically discarded.

>There are but three beings worthy of respect: the priest, the warrior and the poet. To know, to kill and to create. The rest of mankind may be taxed and drudged, they are born for the stable, that is to say, to practise what they call professions.

>>17881221
I feel that more and more strongly. I'm attached to this place. I've been briefing 4chan most days for the last 11 years.

Eleven. Fucking. Years.

I could have invested all that time into learning a language or an instrument or something instead. Still, I don't completely regret it - /lit/ is a good place to learn the ropes of the subject. But it's really easy, once you know something substantial, to spot the pseuds. It's really easy to tell who doesn't have the life experience, whose worldviews aren't yet fully formed. I catch sight of myself sometimes, like when a screen turns black briefly in a video game and you glimpse yourself, and I become acutely aware that I may just be a 26 year old man engaging in debates with 16 year old trolls who still go to fucking High school.

Maybe I should just leave forever. But then where would I go to discuss literature? In every 100 threads there are a smattering of decent discussions. I'm not even a loser or a NEET, I have a fiancé, a good job, my own place, my own car. Graduate degree. I can't stop coming here, but over the last year - since I recovered from a chronic, debilitating illness, actually - I find so much of what's said vapid, immature, dilettante ish, and vividly see some pretentious know-it-all 16-18 year old typing smarmily away somewhere in the world, their opinion of themselves inflated because they've read some advanced books - read them, and failed to understand them.

Reminds me of this incredible scene from good will hunting:

https://youtu.be/oRG2jlQWCsY

>>17882396
Bruh if you're really 26 on 4chan I feel fuckin sorry for you. Typical boomer response ranting about the youth when this board and website are literally intended for teenagers. 17-20 is the sweet spot, anyone who is remotely successful wouldn't be here post 21

>>17873929
I'm increasingly under the impression that the design of academia has come to a point where it leeches the passions derived from curiosity relieving the students of joie de vivre and releasing it as body heat and stress hormones. This vampiric action is contrived to offer the students a defined role in society, and provide them with 'functional' knowledge so they can act as 'effective' functionaries in that role, and burdens them with a myriad of social concerns. They're also granted authority over the subject and its unduly taken for granted that anything whatever has crystallized into genuine understanding, this leads to perversion and egotism and upon any challenge to their dogma they immediately break down and behave in extremes. Any segue into their unknown is met with hostility and thus they have a distaste for questions and conversation outside of their scope of knowledge.

Succinctly, their curiosity is extinguished in exchange for a higher probability to serve as an 'effective' functionary in their choice role, this is done at the expense of their spirit, time investment, and assumption of a high degree of responsibility and authority on the subject.

>>17882658
Trying to come across as intelligent makes you look silly

>>17882658
Based post

>>17882658
>>17882757
Either samefag or you're just as retarded as the first poster. Lots of words to say very little, with absolutely no evidence given.

>>17873929
You learn how to be a bureaucrat, that's all. STEM is the same way, all university graduates in the US are trained to be bureaucrats and what they study doesn't really make much of a difference.

>>17882772
Wow sir you sure debunked him

>>17880167
Good on you, anon. Genuinely made me smile.

>>17880167
woah, so u mean in capitalism there are more life choices than just billionaire or walmart cashier? who knew!

>>17882755
>>17882772
>...perversion and egotism and upon any challenge to their dogma they immediately break down and behave in extremes.

I'll take this as evidence.

>>17877566
nothing wrong with a cheeky bro-job now and again
gotta relieve the coursework stress somehow!

>>17882919
Based on literally what? It's entirely subjective experience. I haven't seen that at all and don't believe it to be true. Not an argument

>>17882918
Honestly I come from upper middle class background and I'm afraid if I became a teacher or something I would lose that degree of respect from society. Wish I could shake myself of it but I can't, and I'll likely end up unhappy because of it.

>>17876929
>Bootlicking scrivener
Top class insult, I give it at least a 9/10

>>17882396
For every crumb of quality content on this site you have to wade through oceans of 16 year-olds whining about how corrupt the real world is and blah blah blah moral hysteria. It’s what moral hysteria always is: ill-adjusted copers making excuses.

>>17883029
impressively, it's an insult no less entertaining than the ensuing reams of self-justification by offended scriveners

>>17883015
It's a black box, as I said, it leads to perversion and that perversion is the foundation for delusions of satisfaction and what you see isn't necessarily what you get. That is to say, your professor is employed as equally as a pitchman as he is an educator. Additionally, I'm not telling you to subscribe to my views, simply communicating them and thus I need provide no evidence:

>/I'm/ increasingly under the /impression/

>>17880144
>denigration of teachers
public school teachers deserve to be mocked, humiliated, starved, sodomized and beheaded in minecraft
>t. public school teacher

>>17880167
>MA unlocked private/independent schools in UK
similar situation in the US
even if you go public you have far more leverage with a true Masters degree rather than the MeM.Ed
grift that's so popular.
Any school that can field a teacher capable of conferring college credit has every incentive to keep that teacher on board and contented.
There's also the private option, but I haven't explored that in great detail

>>17883829
I heard of this. In the UK you get an automatic masters as part of teacher training I think, so if you already have an 'actual' one you end up with two masters and look much more prestigious on the school staff list. Think higher qualified people go on at higher starting salaries too (in private schools at least, which set their own salaries)

>>17880167
>>17883829
>>17884081
What kind of pay are we ACTUALLY talking, because it seems like the type of school is make or break. I couldn't deal with an inner city comp full of kids fucking about, but a comfy Liberal arts type school with engaged students would be a dream. Especially with those holidays - summers off to work on my own projects.

The only thing I got was theory autism
There's no hope otherwise recognizing it and thinking about it in terms of whatever discourse here and elsewhere online and developing some sort of understanding of the world

>>17883829
>>17884270
I also want to know more about the supposed ma to private (high) school pipeline

>>17884270
>>17884325
I don't know about pay exactly, but I have a couple of friends who teach private schools. Generally, since they are much more selective, you don't have to deal with all the tyrones disrupting the class. Typically the parents will pay fees, and there will be entrance exams to assess intelligence - kids will have to achieve a certain threshold to be admitted.

A lot of the best of these schools tend to have some students board there.

If you have an MA in your subject, you already mark yourself as someone who knows more than the average Joe who does his BA and sods off. Private schools in particular like to curate their faculty, so they can claim superiority over public schools and justify their higher fees. This does actually result in more kowledgeable teachers. If you go to the staff list of a private school, there'll be plenty of MA and PhD qualifications in English and Humanities departments (and, increasingly, in STEM).

Culture wise, very close to what >>17880167 said. Mottos and Houses are the norm. Typically there's a heavy discipline element and the kids treat you with a level of deference and respect (at least to your face) that takes you off guard if you're used to the public school system. I did a work placement at a really good private school, but I only ended up with a BA, and after doing my teacher training got offered a position in a small town middle of the road type school. My salary is publicly designated, as opposed to private schools, who decide how much they pay each staff member with no cap.

Honestly if I could do it again I'd take my writing more seriously, go for an MFA, and teach writing at a university somewhere. Seems like the ultimate comfy.

>>17880171
So how are you improving the system in any meaningful way with your english degree

>>17873929
None really. But when I was in uni, I had a girl from my 20th Century lit class suck my dick after I pretended to like a book that she liked.

>>17885067
An English degree gives you the desire to change the system and the belief you can, since so many lives and so much of the world had been fundamentally changed by ideas and conversation through literature

>>17882396
Diary of a Country Priest is a very good movie. I love Bresson.

>>17876875
I'm only a stem major because I don't have the balls to major in English

>>17874732
Underrated post.

>>17876929
Can you just list a few jobs that you think are worthwhile? Genuinely curious.

>>17873929
skills? ma'm this is a wendys

>>17882396
Relatable. Except I got fired half a year ago, have no girlfriend and still live with my parents at 26. Almost 27.

>>17888365
Based

>>17885324
Great movie and a better novel. Highly recommend.

Leon Morin, Priest is another great film in a similar vein, as is Of Gods and Men, Calvary, and The Mission.

>>17886173
This. CS is sucking me dry. The days of limitless job opportunities are over. We're all going to struggle for jobs, so I sort of regret not doing a subject I loved (English or History).

>>17888365
Pretty much me. Down to the age. Though I am preparing to go back to Uni in September for medicine. Whats your plan?

>>17874177
Get a foreign language degree and you will learn all of that, have better job prospects, learn to appreciate foreign cultures and get the ability to read even terribly difficult foreign literature without translations.
I know people who studied German who now work for publishers and their entire job is to 1) read literature in German, 2) figure out what should be translated and 3) research the German book market (= read reviews and go to literature events).

>>17880205
Spartan! AOOO AOOO AOOOO!

>>17882333
Doctor, Philosopher, Mathematician, Horse trainer, Musician, Farmer

>>17877594
we dont?

>>17889245
>peddlers of snake oil, majority of whom won't tell you any more than a cursory google search
>worst example of the professional academic, publishing nonsense logic papers to justify own existence
>similar to the above, no practical applications, research in mathematics is soulless
>You've got to be joking. We have cars now
>hurr durr I make sounds pay me money
>getting up at 3.30am every day to till freezing solid soil and scrabble in the dirt, covered in mud and filth in a thankless job that nets you minimum wage in the end

See, you can do the exact same thing for any job you immense autist. The best job is one which brings some measure of fulfilment, intellectual stimulation, and financial security. If the person is passionate about the field that's a bonus. These criteria can be applied to any of the jobs in the thread.

You have miserable, divorced, suicidal doctors/lawyers/engineers, and happy teachers like >>17880167

>>17890406
so this is the power of a scrivener

>>17889018
Good on you, anon. Medicine is pretty /lit/. Check out Oliver Sacks, he was a neurologist and a great writer.

I guess that's the problem, I don't really have a plan. I just browse job postings whenever I have the energy (usually every couple months). Yeah, my future looks bleak.

>>17873929
>>17874445
>>17874671
Isn't Elon already a girl's name?

>>17874177

Everything you put down is hopelessly optimistic and in real life you would be so lucky to find even one in a thousand graduates with a literature degree even approaching your supposed fantasy education outcome.

>>17874177

In absolutely none of those jobs your friends got was a literature degree needed.

>>17876875
Yeah right nigger, good luck finding the formula for losing your virginity you faggot autist.

>>17892098
You're not getting it. No specific degree is needed for any job unless it's vocational like medicine or law. But most jobs require you to have a degree, in any subject, to be considered. The argument is that an English degree makes you a better human being, and better at doing *some* jobs which require imagination, logical thought, argumentation, textual analysis, research. Not that unlocks career paths other degrees might not.

>>17892089
I disagree, my circle in my MA course all felt it to be true and were incredibly grateful. Literature has kept some of us from suicide and touched us in ways it seems like others aren't touched. That's real, and I'll follow it to the end.

>>17880217
>>17882333
>>17888034
Disingenuous samefag

>>17892223
Nice try bellend

As someone who has studied in both the US and the UK, the reason there's such disagreement in this thread is because I found doing a masters in the UK to be vastly different to what it's like in the US.

In the US its more exam-based, memorisation, lectures where the Prof speaks and students take notes, 'one way of thinking' mentality. In the UK, you have waaaay more freedom to research basically whatever you want. Loads of intimate seminars where you can debate and discuss texts. You're assessed not on how well you've absorbed information, but how well you've assimilated that and responded with original argument.

Just worth mentioning, because a big part of the disagreement in this thread is actually because US and UK/European approaches are hugely different.

>>17876521
>I am ex police, but in the UK.
Did somebody ever pull a spoon on you?

>>17892586
Interesting, I got exactly the OPPOSITE experience during my time studying in the UK. I found the days leading up to exam day in England to be EXTREMELY dour, as students seemed mostly to rely on their exam scores, which I assume (wrongly, maybe) they learned from secondary school. I experienced a very rigid social culture over there, albeit what culture ISN'T when compared to the party school I went to in the States (Texas State). Not too many views were allowed to be expressed over there.
In the US, on the other hand, I found a bit more emphasis on truly understanding the material. Study groups were a lot less wooden (as were some of the people in them lol) and professors seemed a bit more down-to-earth and emphasized creative thought over the "banking method". I also appreciated the smaller class sizes at American universities, which is why I wonder how you found British schools to be more "intimate" (besides the fact that you're British).
Overall, the UK was a nice place, and I love the different experiences two people can have when traveling to each other's countries for study. Absolutely love the drinking age over there, if we Americans obeyed the law, our first two years of Uni would be EXTREMELY boring.