/lit/ - Literature

i'm asking my profs for letters of recommendation. how does that work? do they write one for each school that i'm applying to or do they just write one and i copy it and send it out to each school?

basic question, i know, but still. also, how did you like your program? did you live dat /lit/ recluse life tho

what is the focus of your thesis?
Did you get into the grad school you were hoping for?
What do you plan on doing once you finish your thesis:teach? write novels? critic?
Thoughts on Harold bloom and his work?

sorry for the straight-to-point and general questions, interested in what you have to say

>>4171759
Definitely only one letter. You submit a list of universities you plan to apply to and they mail out the letters. You may have the option to see your professors' letters of rec, but you will do best to choose not to. So, no copying involved.

I like my program a lot. My work/life balance has been an issue. I moved here with my partner but we broke up after my first few years, and since then my social life has largely centered around my friends in the department and friends I've had from before my time here who live in other cities. It's not a recluse life whatsoever, but it lacks in variety. I think most people in my program feel the similarly.

>>4171778
>what is the focus of your thesis?

Decline to answer. Sorry. Specific enough to identify me.

>Did you get into the grad school you were hoping for?

I applied to twelve graduate schools. I got into four. I think I would have been equally happy at any of them, from my perspective now, but from my perspective then, I wanted most to go to Berkeley and I was not accepted.

>What do you plan on doing once you finish your thesis:teach? write novels? critic?

I will almost certainly be a professor, though of course doing so involves writing criticism. Limited interest in so-called "creative writing."

>Thoughts on Harold bloom and his work?

He had his moments but is ultimately not very interesting. He has shining spots of observation but even his best criticism (from the late 1970s and earlier -- he jumped the shark) is less solid than one wants.

Nothing doing?

PhD or MA?

Describe a couple of the smartest English grad students you know.

Semi related question if anyone could bother answering:

I flunked out of undergrad but I want to go back, finish, and eventually head to grad school for Literature. Right now, that means I have to start at one of the many community colleges around my way but I eventually want to transfer out. How do I go about preparing to transfer to a better school? And what should I do if I want that better school to be a fairly great one?

>>4171959
PhD, of course. No respectable school accepts terminal MA candidates, except Chicago.

>>4171975
Most of the smartest students are just regular folk. We have our share of weird obsessives and eccentrics but they are largely run of the mill students. The best people are socially in tune, light drinkers, but not heavy participants in the "department lifestyle" or particularly oddballl.

>>4171976
I know plenty of students who've come from fairly dismal undergrad situations. Transfer to a good school to finish your BA. Unfortunately, if you want to progress, you pretty much have to start with an MA program. If you're really all that, even mediocre MA programs can place at top schools, though. It's not ideal, obviously.

>>4172027
Do you/have you ever felt like you were entering a pyramid scheme? I've heard that term used as a common criticism of the humanities in general.

Was it difficult finding a niche in the discipline to focus on for your thesis?

And are you really screwed if you get an MA in the humanities, in terms of entering a PhD program?

>>4172041
>inb4 long drawn out post justifying himself because he's doing what he "loves" and how money doesn't matter and blah blah blah blah

>>4172041
>pyramid scheme
At this level, I don't quite think so. If you pay for graduate school, you are a part of a (sorta) pyramid scheme. I do feel some guilt about the way the discipline works overall, but I'm not in a position to do anything about it beyond discussing it like this. At my level of the pyramid, I'll probably be fine in the long run.

>niche
Not really? As one specializes, one finds many interesting gaps. I went into my program with very different interests than I have now. It's all about picking up one of the many live wires that are being tossed around in academia now. Easy enough to do, once you have the hang of it.

>MA to PhD
In my program, about half of the students entered straight from undergrad and half entered after MA programs. If you didn't go to a school with name recognition or you had under 3.0, an MA will on help you. An MA will help you anyway, but going into debt to pursue this shit is a bad idea overall.

>>4172067
Not in the slightest. If you don't have a bit of a mercenary attitude, you should become a pharmacist or something. Literature jobs are for people who realize it's a job first and literature second.

What are the job prospects like for English professors? It seems like many universities are drastically cutting funding for liberal arts programs.

>>4172104
Prospects are not great. I would not recommend paying for a degree. Universities tend to release their job placement records. Even at the best schools, right now only 30-40% are getting placed each year. If you're a real all star, you have a better chance, but even then, no guarantees.

>>4171753
How costly is the tuition and so on?

Would you recommend attending an Ivy League in the current economy?

SAT/GPA?

(I am being entirely serious) Why should we give a fuck about someone who goes to school that admits pretty much only straightlaced, snot-nosed do-gooders that are willing to work hard in a fundamentally broken system that's readily finding itself useless in a free information world?

Does Stallman know what kind of shame you bring upon your fellow humanity majors?

>>4172117

How important is the GRE?

>>4172135
>tuition
They pay me.

>ivy league
Depends on the Ivy, your other options, financial situation, etc.

>SAT/GPA
You mean, like, from high school? That's faded into the distant past.

>>4172143
I don't think my graduate education is replicable outside of an institution. I have mixed feelings about most of my undergraduates, but I also think you have a very ignorant perspective on them.

>>4172149
Not terribly. My impression that the general GRE is about hitting a cutoff. The subject GRE is weighted more heavily.

What passes for shenanigans to you ivy-types? Any fun stories with intelligent undertones/outcomes?

>>4173540
what was your undergrad gpa

>>4173575
Same things as for most people. There are quite a few heavy drinkers in the department. When a group of us are together, we usually get plastered and bullshit about literature. No specific fun stories that don't need too much context. My life isn't terribly exciting and I find certain types of fun easier with people who aren't my colleagues (though most of my closest friends here are in the department).

>>4173578
3.6ish, if I remember right.

>>4173607
>When a group of us are together, we usually get plastered and bullshit about literature.
Even if I never go to grad school, I suppose I need to add "partying with lit grad students" to my to-do list.

>>4173540
>They pay me.
RAship? TAship? Fellowship? Did you get along with admission?

I´m a European, and US schools want a guarantee that I´ll be able to pay for myself if admitted. Any idea how important these financial things are in considering an application?

And, can you give any advice for writing a letter of recommendation for oneself? More in the direction of what to do than what to avoid, if possible.

>>4173669
I should add that I do not intend to pay for myself: if I don´t get paid, I simply won´t accept the offer. As a prof of mine said, "no normal person pays for their PhD".

>>4173647
It scratches an itch you're unlikely to have scratched elsewhere. The social aspect is definitely a highlight.

>>4173669
>why they pay me
Fellowships and teaching. I get a few fellowship years. I've TAed in the past. Right now I'm teaching comp. Everyone in the program has essentially the same funding package. Money is more than enough to live on, but not great.

>financial
Really depends on the school. Most of the top schools offer full funding packages to everyone who's admitted. If the schools you're applying to don't, why are you applying there?

>self letter of rec
I don't really understand this. Do yo mean your personal statement?

>>4173713
>financial
The schools I´m applying to offer funding to all or "most of" admitted students, but they require the financial guarantee statement nevertheless. I think it might be some sort of legal requirement, but I don´t want to jeopardize my chances on it (i.e. I don´t want to have my application thrown away because I´m poor).

>self letter of rec
I mean that I´ve asked a prof to write me a LoR and he said "yeah, sure, but I´m busy, so write something and I´ll sign it".

>>4173808
>financial
I don't really know what to tell you. None of the institutions I applied to required such a thing, as far as I remember. If you're not required to respond affirmatively, you should just be honest and say you could not fund yourself.

>self letter of rec
Oh. I think that sort of arrangement stinks. Offer high and specific praise and suggest that you are one of the top students your professor has had in the past decade. Specificity is really the most important part.

>>4173831
The financial thing is a requirement only for international applicants, so no problem. And thanks for the info!

>>4173831
what's your opinion on grace jones

>>4173885
I've never been crazy about her music, but I think she's a particularly neat cultural icon.

Have you ever TA'ed? Why are so many TAs so crabby? And then they try and be all non-chalant about course material. I'm an undergrad right now, but I'm older (28y/o). TAs always seem half-asleep and uninterested in anything unless it pertains to the minutiae of their theses.

Also, where do you get the money?? Holy shit this is expensive. Any tips on getting grants or funding?

what is your favorite colo(u)r

>>4175714
*favourite

I've just begun my MA at an excellent school and I'm dissapointed with how much my course push very liberal ideas. I'm taking a Victorian Novels course which I didn't discover until the first meeting is actually a Victorian Women's writers course. My Bodily Transgressions course is actually Racial Passing.
I can't really ask my advisors since they are all liberal as fuck. Am I obligated to stick to the institutions very liberal themes for my thesis? If I present a thesis that represents an unpopular opinion at my university, is it less likely to be accepted?

Students of minority backgrounds are quick to dismiss "old dead white men." I still think the classics and Shakespeare, Milton, are a necessity to understanding the importance, influence and tradition of literature.

Maybe you agree with me; maybe you don't. If you agree: what would you tell a minority student of the humanities to show this relevance. If you disagree, why?

How much do you actually post here?

I have a hot prof. The first day of class she caught me looking at her (big) boobs while taking attendance. I have this inclination her first impression -- as she learned my name -- is of me looking at her chest.

How should I address or resolve this issue?

>>4175712
>crabby TAs
The level of interest graduate students have in teaching is quite variable. I am a fairly nonchalant teacher. I try to keep my classes fairly informal because I think that tends to be what younger undergrads need. I don't know anyone who's really crabby, but you have to keep in mind that most TAs are tossed out into the classroom with almost no training and feel awkward, especially at first.

>money
As I say above, they pay me.

>>4175714
I usually wear gray, so probably that.

>>4175722
Yes, almost everyone in the field is a leftist. It's impossible for me to tell you whether your thesis will be acceptable from such a vague description. If the work is good, they'll probably accept it.

HHow do you feel about the recent recipient of the Nobel Prize in LIterature

Who, in your opinion, is the most overrated author studied in English curricula?

>>4175723
I would say that the canon makes up the foundation of our intellectual life. The purpose of literary study is to participate in an intellectual conversation. Even if you ultimately decide that the great works of the past are irredeemably stained with bigotry, by knowing them intimately you'll be able to show that to others.

It's an obviously naive view, and I find that if you can get someone to approach canonical works with a somewhat open mind they tend to appreciate how rich they are.

>>4175725
Not much at all, though I did frequently for a few months several years ago.

>>4175731
Eh, you fucked up a bit. Be a good student, don't check her out, and that's the best you can do. Definitely don't say anything to her about it.

>>4175722
Not OP. But why would you take courses like that if liberals get you that steamed? If your going to throw around liberal and conservative politics stick stick to bare bones classes that don't get into those issues. Victorian Novels? Victorians are Foucault's whole entry point in History of Sexuality (I'm going to go ahead and guess: you're not a Foucault fan). If the professor has a history of that kind of work, don't register with their ass. Come oun, son! Until then just stick with your own close readings and direct textual interpretations etc. and fuck those other guys.

>>4175744
I've never read her.

>>4175747
I think Keats is hopelessly sententious. Wordsworth, Robert Browning, and Pound are other good candidates. I should say that I think all of these dudes have some fantastic poems, but they also have mountains of tedious work.

>>4175753
Do you pay attention to new literature at all or do you only read old stuff?

>>4175756
Largely read old stuff. It's not that I'm categorically uninterested in new lit, but it's convenient for my leisure reading to also be a professional asset. I do read some science fiction, but I don't really like the prevailing trends today, so I mostly stick to stuff from the sixties and seventies.

how many languages is it common for your colleagues to read? Are many monolingual?

>>4175773
Do you watch animes? What is your favorite anime?

How old are you?

>>4175752
I don't think it's possible to avoid certain ideas that the poster may think are "liberal."

>>4175775
Well, since our field of study is limited to texts in English, there's very few occasions when one actually has to read in other languages. I would say maybe half my colleagues are effectively monolingual. I read French and have very limited German and Latin.

compared to the literature school, how relatively well resourced and regarded is cultural studies in your faculty?

Do you like to judge books through today's lens or do you like to judge books by trying to jump into the time they were written? Or do you try to judge books by some other methodology?
What methodology do you use?!

do I detect a hint of defensiveness in that 'Well,'?

Have you read The Anatomy of Melancholy in full?

>>4175783
I don't watch any.

>>4175786
27.

>>4175795
What do you mean by cultural studies?

>>4175801
lol

>>4175810
Yes.

>>4175811
No, but I've waded into it many times. It's an amazing book but it's not really designed to be read cover to cover.

>>4175821
I'm a historian and we all jerk off to methodologies over in my department. I only understand things through methodologies. My current favorite methodology is Boarderlands and Legitimacy (especially legitimacy because it lets me use all sorts of post-structuralist jargon that makes me feel smart).
Don't you guys use em too?!

(as much as it seems like i'm joking, this is just how I talk and write non-academically)

Ok, not what's the focus of your masters thesis, but just a vague idea?
Maybe an idea of a colleague's masters thesis?

Do you have a twitter? Do you follow any famous writers on twitter? Joyce Carol Oates. Salman Rushdie. Bret Easton Ellis.

Tao Lin

>>4175821
>What do you mean by cultural studies?

Birmingham and Stuart Hall.

>>4175829
I have no clue what you mean.

>>4175836
I didn't do an MA thesis. Most MA/PhD programs close the MA section with oral exams.

>>4175838
I don't. I've been thinking about getting one, but just to follow funny people.

>>4175839
Not much of that here, though obviously the New Historicists (we have a few important ones) were heavily influenced by that work.

>>4175880
Ah, are you a Louis CK fan then? Or who do you consider funny?

>>4175887
I find him amusing and an excellent performer but most of his routines leave me cold.

On Twitter, I find meganamram, cat_beltane, and kimkierkegaard particularly funny, to name a few.

>>4175920
Oh. Do you like Nathan Fielder? He's got a really funny twitter.

>>4175880
Alright fuck-wit.
What methodology do you use to analyze literature? Is there one that you find particularly interesting?

>>4175946
If you don't know what I mean, you're shit has been called. Do you even know what methodology means? Do you know how using different methods when applying it to a subject create different results?

>>4175938
I'll check it out.

>>4175946
We have one called close reading that I find pretty useful

Guys, this guy is lying!!!!

He's impersonating the person that he wishes he was!

>>4175967
>We have one called close reading that I find pretty useful
I like you.

>>4175965
Do you know what people do in literary studies?

>>4175997
Read and criticize books.

>>4175997
They psychoanalytically deconstruct texts by way of post-colonial feminist Marxism, right?

>>4176003
http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_theory

Yes, there are methods you fucking twit.
"Close reading" is a tool to develop the analysis within the context of a method.

>>4176023
You're totally clueless.

>>4176023
And you buy into that horseshit? Remember, most literary theory techniques were developed in tandem with rising STEM funding. Meaning they're overly technical to compensate for the subjectivity.

>>4176023
Interesting how most of these popped up, or at least became popular, in the second half of the 20th century. Hmm...

Which works constitute the western canon in your opinion?

>>4176031
>>4176043
OP here. I don't think almost all of those so-called schools of literary studies have things to offer (except Darwinian literary studies, which is moronic nonsense from top to bottom). It's frankly ludicrous that any intelligent person would sit down and say to themselves, "Well, today I'm going to write a queer theory paper, and tomorrow I'll write a New Historicist paper." Of the so-called schools listed, only deconstruction, psychoanalysis, and structuralism offer anything like a methodology.

>>4176073
The fact that you weren't even familiar with what I was talking about until I posted a poorly done wiki about it is very telling that you are not who you claim to be.

>>4176073
>I don't think almost all of those so-called schools of literary studies have things to offer (except Darwinian literary studies, which is moronic nonsense from top to bottom).
Not entirely sure I understood your phrasing here. Did you mean to say that you do think they have things to offer? Or that they don't have a methodology?

>>4176082
...

>>4176086
Ah, I made a typo. I do think they have things to offer, but what they offer couldn't properly be called a methodology.

>>4176043
Just because the ones listed became recognizable and nameable in the 50's does not mean they are irrelevant at all.

Methodology is completely relevant because it helps categorize critics and it helps to create new critiques by providing a lens.
Believe it or not, if you are analyzing something, you are using a method to do so.

>>4176099
Cool.

Yeah, I don't think the thing to do with those guys is to take one particular theory and apply it and only it to everything. It's a toolbox. Use what works for a particular situation.

Forgive me if this has already been asked, but who are some of your favorite literary critics, or people whose work you try to emulate (probably not the right word but I think you follow me)?

>>4176099
Deconstruction is a methodology, you fucking nit-wit.

>>4176114
Tell that to Derrida!

>>4176114
that's exactly what he said.

>>4176112
This guy has it!!
Methods are tools.

OP has no tools, besides "close reading", which isn't really a method at all.

>>4176119
>what they have couldn't properly be called a methodology.

Can we just accept that OP is not who he says he is?

>>4176193
Who really cares? It's not like anyone's so excited taht we have some fucking Ivy League grad student posting here, I mean come on

>>4176202
Well I was just disappointed and had to sperg my feelings on the issue.

>>4176114
>Deconstruction is a methodology, you fucking nit-wit.

"Deconstruction is not a method and cannot
be transformed into one."
- Derrida, Letter to a Japanese Friend

>>4176214
Read over what I wrote again. "Of the so-called schools listed, only deconstruction, psychoanalysis, and structuralism offer anything like a methodology." I'm through engaging with you.

>>4176112
A few who've had a great influence on me that are of general interest: Leo Bersani, Bataille, Fredric Jameson, Sharon Cameron.

Bump because site is working