/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.15675827]

Has anyone here gotten/getting a degree in English? What are you doing now/planning to do?

[Anonymous No.15675836]

>>15675827
yeah man just got mine the other day

[Anonymous No.15675838]

https://youtu.be/CK6ksA0QyE4

[Anonymous No.15675862]

>>15675827
Yeah I got a Lower Certificate

[Anonymous No.15675949]

>>15675827
hoboneet around until I either earn a living from my writing or die in a ditch

[Anonymous No.15676211]

write for a living or die from alcoholism.

What else is there?

[Anonymous No.15676970]

>>15676211
I can't stomach the taste of liquor

[Anonymous No.15676988]

I have a BA in English. I’m a dishwasher at a restaurant. I’ll answer any questions you may have.

[Anonymous No.15677635]

>>15676988
Did you do internships? Should I do internships?

[Anonymous No.15677662]

>>15676211
Stealing, which is a fantastic job

[Anonymous No.15677706]

I have one and I have been drifting from call center to call center since graduating. I'm starting a post bachelor program in September. It's not a masters but requires a degree. Just don't do English unless you want to go for the PhD and be a prof. Of my friends who graduated from the same program: one works at Starbucks, one pushes carts at Costco, one does retail at Hollister, and another waits tables. Just don't do it. You can learn the material on your own time. You could do what I'm doing, but it really doesn't require an English major.

[Anonymous No.15677734]

Liberal Arts is essentially just a Ponzi scheme - the only way to actually profit from it is to drag new students in, so they pay you so you could pay off your own debts.

[Anonymous No.15677750]

>>15675827
I'm getting my degree result next month. Really hoping for a first, just depends how I did on the exam.

I wanted to teach at university level and managed to get a paper on Byron published as an undergraduate which would help I think. I was planning on doing a Master's and then a PhD, which would land me a job at a good private school of academia didn't work out.

On the other hand, my writing's going well, I've had a couple of short stories and poems published and I'm working through my first novel, so I'm tempted to try for an MFA. Seems like a bigger risk though.

[Anonymous No.15678231]

I've got a BA (English & History) and a Bachelor of Education. I'm a high school teacher.

[Anonymous No.15678278]

How hard is it to get a job as an editor?

[Anonymous No.15678334]

planning on writing for a lviing while drinking for inspiration, surely nothing could wrong with this idea? I honestly don't see myself doing a job that doesn't let me create in some capacity, I'd fucking wither.

[Anonymous No.15678359]

>>15675827
I have one. The university I went to doesn't offer medicine or law. I didn't have any real support from my parents as to a career so I majored in a fucking area that doesn't really help me in any fucking way. Fuck.

[Anonymous No.15678387]

>>15675827
I do. I now work as a freelance editor.

[Anonymous No.15678412]

>>15678359
>>15677706
>>15676988

Why would you spend all that time and effort getting the degree only to just drift in life like that? You could easily teach, go into academia, enter journalism or publishing, even advertising or film/TV. If you are creative you could pursue an MFA, or else do a law conversion.

The problem is you lack drive.

[Anonymous No.15678642]

I'm getting my degree in English. Plan on getting my teaching certificate to save some money for a few years, then going for PhD.

[Anonymous No.15678739]

>>15675827
Graduated last year. Doing an M.A in philosophy now, Ph.D after that. Teaching at a university is the ultimate goal but with the way things are going re. Academia it's a giant crapshoot.

[Anonymous No.15678762]

>>15678739
>tfw dropped philosophy in 2nd year and carried on my degree with History and English and have regretted not keeping philosophy for History every day since.

Would love to teach Philosophy at university.

[Anonymous No.15678791]

>>15675827
Speak English

[Anonymous No.15678821]

I double majored in English and philosophy and worked in software sales for three years then decided to go back to school and become a CPA. I now work at a big four accounting firm

[Anonymous No.15679193]

>>15675827
I got a scholarship to Northwestern University's writing program and I dropped it that same summer to become a STEMfag.
Didn't matter anyway since I dropped out of college after my freshmen year.

[Anonymous No.15679325]

>>15677750
Sounds like you've got your foot in the door for either choice. A published paper at a masters level was a big deal when I was studying, let alone undergraduate.

Care share your experiences getting published?

[Anonymous No.15679376]

>>15678412
>teach, go into academia, enter journalism or publishing, even advertising or film/TV. If you are creative you could pursue an MFA, or else do a law conversion
The problem with any of those is that they are all in the service of someone higher up, you are placed in a regulated spot and made to turn like any other cog, and you end up selling your time and the best years of your life and mind for some illusion of independence that you think money affords you. The best way to live is to live free of Mammon’s leash, even if that means you die penniless, alone, drunk, and in a ditch.

[Anonymous No.15679390]

i double majored in english lit & linguistics some yrs ago. now i work in translation CN-EN.

[Anonymous No.15679657]

>>15679325
Sure, would you like to know my experience of publishing the paper, or publishing fiction?

[Anonymous No.15680982]

>>15679657
Can you show you're Byron paper? Not the same guy by the way. I just finished my undergrad for English, definitely got a 2:1 but should have got much higher but anyway. Any tips on how to write essays and stories? I find myself good at writing but I can't wirte to great lengths to save my life, might be published in the /lit/ quarterly for a 1000 word story that frankly I struggled to even get to that because I thought I'd be rambling.

[Anonymous No.15681431]

I thought about getting a PhD, realized how shitty the job market was for English professors and how much stress it would cause. Instead I decided to get my teaching certification. Now I teach at one of the best high schools in my state. While it’s slightly more of a struggle to elevate conversation to a higher level with high school students compared to college students, I find that it’s incredibly satisfying. I like the teaching over the scholarship anyway. I get to read and discuss literature for my job and show others how to do the same, so I enjoy that. The pay is crappy and there’s always some bullshit politics going on, but most of the time when I just get to be in the classroom with my students helping them to elevate their thinking... it’s just really nice.

[Anonymous No.15681563]

>>15678412
>publishing/journalism
>easily
Not everyone here lives with mommy and daddy and can afford to spend all their free time chasing every single opportunity. Just because someone is drifting doesn't mean they aren't trying to do something about it.

[Anonymous No.15681821]

>>15680982
I just posted a long reply to this but apparently it hasn't come through. In short I won't post the Byron paper as it is easily found online with my own details. However, it was nothing particularly inspired, I have an interest in the Romantics so picked Byron, found journals that would be receptive, identified a niche area I had a modicum of interest in, and developed an ~8000 word research paper. The entire process took around 4 months between second and third year.

As far as writing fiction, it's completely different to writing an academic paper naturally. Read more- the short stories of Joyce, Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Flaubert, O'Connor, Maupassant, Hemingway. But also read fiction in general- I can honestly say I tend to read at least one book a week and often two if they're not doorstoppers. Diversify your reading with critical essays and poems. Read a bit of literary theory, maybe. But the most important thing will always be to WRITE.

[Anonymous No.15681893]

>>15681821
Thanks man, I'll have a search for that paper. I read a lot, Joyce is my forte really, being Irish myself I've studied him back to front and always find it amazing how he could write for so long about such small details. I'm planning on reading all of kafka soon as well, I hope to get some inspiration.

[Anonymous No.15682086]

>>15681893
Not that guy, but I recommend reading this:

https://fragilekeys.com/2019/11/23/staying-alive-michel-houellebecq/

In short, you will have to suffer in order to produce good writing. If you had a bad childhood, you are already one step ahead. This isn't some romantic ideation of poverty or feigned depression. You will know it when you see it. Read as widely as possible. Speak less and reflect more. Sink into yourself. Obsess about subject after subject for the sake of it. You will go down wrong routes, reach many dead ends, look back countless times and wonder what you were thinking, but retain something inside of you which has always been there. Do not try to please anybody. Do not try to fit into any category or market. Refuse all efforts to market yourself as a safe, ideologically friendly "ally". You are likely to find yourself alone, sometimes even despised, but you must continue. People in general are quite wise to knowing when writing is sub-par, imitative, or designed to appeal. Do not treat your readers as though they are peasants waiting to be recruited into a cult, do not pander. Get to know reality.

[Anonymous No.15682119]

>>15679376
>The best way to live is to live free of Mammon’s leash, even if that means you die penniless, alone, drunk, and in a ditch.
100% pure human annihiliating all bugs right here.

[Anonymous No.15682136]

>>15681431
This is exactly what I wanna do, pay doesn’t matter as long as I can live off it. Any advice? Should I drop my plan of continuing CS and switch to English?

[Anonymous No.15682434]

>>15678739
>>15678762
My hope is that sometime in the next 5 years there will be a huge shift in academia
I was hoping that covid would kill off a bunch of old geezer professors who don't do anything

[Anonymous No.15682447]

>>15679376
>The problem with any of those is that they are all in the service of someone higher up, you are placed in a regulated spot and made to turn like any other cog, and you end up selling your time and the best years of your life and mind for some illusion of independence that you think money affords you
Is that any different than pushing carts at costco? At least you could argue you'd get paid more money

[Anonymous No.15682448]

>>15679376
> Implying pursuing independent research and teaching your life's passion in hours largely set by yourself is serving mammon
> Implying completing a top MFA course and becoming a full-time writer/artist is serving mammon

[Anonymous No.15682503]

>>15682434
They will just do "diversity" hires after this summer. The blm movement is pernicious and very effective at securing these kinds of jobs.

[Anonymous No.15682533]

>>15675827
got mine last year, been unemployed ever since. ive been applying to technical writer jobs. had 1 interview in the last year. ill probably keep trying for a bit longer and if nothing pops up ill neck myself or drink myself to the grave. the upside to the NEET life is that I can read as much as I want.

[Anonymous No.15682539]

>>15682503
Yeah probably, academia is fucked, I'm even scared about what my classes will be like next semester after all this shit

[Anonymous No.15682545]

>>15675827
Graduated Oxford last year

Still unemployed, since Covid has made finding a job utterly impossible, let alone working at one. My overall goal is to move to the country (the North or Scotland, far from civilisation), work just enough to support myself and to live, and continue to read deeply, write, and educate myself in the worthwhile works of humanity. I've no interest in the deeply corrupted state of academia at the moment, nor in a 'career' in London or the City, nor in modern society as a whole for that matter

[Anonymous No.15682618]

I majored in History and Classics. am applying to law schools now. ive wanted to be a lawyer since i was teenager, so i wasnt terribly stressed about my major in college. was initially an english major, but hated the people and gradually glided to History instead

[Anonymous No.15682694]

>>15675827
English degree here. Focus on literary criticism and composition with minor in philosophy.
Got a job immediately after college at a mortgage company writing/responding to letters from customers regarding the servicing of their loan.

Excelled at that. My mortgage company was merged with a big name bank in 2008, been there ever since.
Currently, I do data analytics and feedback for Customer Experience. Great pay and benefits but lots of diversity and inclusion stuff to deal with.

[Anonymous No.15682836]

>>15675827
In the process of getting my degree in English. I live in a non-English speaking country which I hope will help my employment? I'd love to work in academia but contracts are shite here, I've been writing for a magazine for the past two years and did an internship where I did editing too. So I might opt for publishing/journalism or translation instead.

[Anonymous No.15682920]

What do anglos mean by studying the "Classics". Is it just classical philology in both Latin and Greek? Do you have to know these languages beforehand or do you learn them while you're studying (since learning Latin/Greek in high school is dying out)?

[Anonymous No.15682924]

>>15676988
Dude same lmao. Everyone should watch American Beauty.

[Anonymous No.15682936]

>>15678278
Nearly impossible w/o prior connections. Keep in mind, most interns at major publishing houses are looking to hire white women. Ivy League gets obvious preference.

[Anonymous No.15682943]

>>15675827
>Has anyone here gotten/getting a degree in English?
+MFA in Creative Writing

>What are you doing now/planning to do?
Dig ditches or starve.

[Anonymous No.15682962]

>>15678412
t. someone who has never had to survive on their own. You can pay rent, work 8hrs a day with a minimally demanding job, and have the rest of your time (+off days and whatever benefits) to pursue your own projects w/o the grind of careerism or all the unnecessarily emotionally draining shit that comes with advancing your income bracket. There is enough scaffolding in society for reasonably educated people to excel at getting away with fulfilling the least of their societal obligations. Poverty isn’t an extreme threat if you’re already from a certain economic background.

[Anonymous No.15682963]

>>15682943
Published?

[Anonymous No.15682973]

>>15678412
>go into academia, enter journalism or publishing, even advertising or film/TV
Wanna know how I can tell you’ve never been on the job market?

[Anonymous No.15682985]

>>15682963
I mean, you could call it that. I technically have an ISBN. But the work is neither successful nor good.

[Anonymous No.15683002]

>>15682503
I suspect you’re right. People have been foretelling the downfall of the academy for two centuries now, so imagine that + whatever unsavory nuances come with burgerland capitalism.

[Anonymous No.15683014]

>>15682973
I have been you retard. With an English BA you can do a fully funded masters in my country in journalism, advertising, publishing etc. If you haven't been a monumental faggot and skipped out on work experience opportunities in conjunction with the masters you should have no problem. People just don't want to apply themselves

[Anonymous No.15683022]

>>15682434
>>15682503
Harvard literally announced they aren't doing SAT or other test scores next year lmao. and UC are trying to abolish the Cali law about not considering race

[Anonymous No.15683041]

>>15683014
>in my country
Where’s that anon? Burgerland is saturated with nepotism and checkbox self-marketing competition. I can’t think of a single person from my program who got a job out of school on the merits of their work.

[Anonymous No.15683051]

I have a BA in Political Science with a minor in English. Why I got this is guesswork, as even a fucking psychology degree would be worth more.

[Anonymous No.15683060]

>>15683014
>work experience opportunities in conjunction with the masters
Ah, yes, the ever available work opportunities as a PA for a notable studio in conjunction with your MA from BU: the true path to success in TV. You realize how many contingencies that involves?

[Anonymous No.15683152]

>>15682985
Keep on going man.

[Anonymous No.15683427]

>>15682136
Are you retarded? English is worthless, stick with CS and get paid fat stacks. Paying college administration dweebs thousands to read books, Christ.

You can read books in your spare time lmao
I grew up poor so nothing is more invigorating to me than my paychecks. But money makes life much easier, my friend, don't ever regard pay as "not mattering"

[Anonymous No.15683530]

I have a degree

[Anonymous No.15683604]

>>15682920
>(since learning Latin/Greek in high school is dying out)?
It's not dying out, it's dead.

[Anonymous No.15683670]

>>15679376
>The problem with

Oh god would you shut the fuck up

[Anonymous No.15683719]

What classed did y'all English majors take?

[Anonymous No.15683920]

I have a PhD in English. I'm unemployed.

[Anonymous No.15684022]

I love you guys's determination to to what you want to do... this commitment makes me not feel so alone in wanting to become a philosopher despite knowing ill never probably succeed in anything, and yet i still yearn to do it. All this effort to get a job? It is not a job i seek, but answers. I enjoy talking and writing about ethics, but nobody gives a shit, nobody values such things. They want pretty faces and cheaters and liars and assholes... truly self-aware and well-meaning people almost never make it... they get thrown away: In taxis, in grocery stores stacking shelves, sitting in a booth as security guards, alone, not listened to, not taken into account, and nobody cares. And writers sit in earnest and write, waiting to produce something great, something real, and for that realness to reach somebody. Many yearn to make a lot just to give it away, or to help in some.other way, but the high-paying jobs go mostly to the soulless, the uncaring who likes business or other things because there is something in those things for HIM to gain. The dichotomy is between the people who are in it because it is the right thing to do, and those who are self-interested. People who perform mental labor for others or for a purpose beyond themselves, either written down, spoken, or just in their head, often get nowhere. Or if they do they only get recognized post-mortem. Should an earnest person just give it up, or keep going, even just for the sake of striving to understand or to help? Should one give up such ethical and earnest pursuit and bend the knee before the unknowing masses and sell stuff, lie to sell nonsense, and in turn cause suffering and degradation? I want to spend my time thinking on what is right, and act on that belief, and i don't want to do things to survive, to amass capital to a capitalist or to.myself. Such a person has already lost his soul. But how is one not to lose his soul, and it is mostly not his fault if he does. To spend time on ethics and beauty is not rewarded from the school years on. You may not wander at the sky and enjoy flowers and animals but memorize principles and do calculations over boring textbooks. The beauty of quiet reflection and of poetry, music, curiosity, self-sacrifice etc. are lost because you are thrown into a system of brutality and indifference. Thus, picking up snails off the road and moving them to safety is not something people like doing. They crash them as they walk and drive from one corrupt job to another, meanwhile giving little thought to empathy to animals and other marginalized groups, like children suffering in schools, people in taxi cabs, in booths, philosophers and writers and poets thinking about the correct way to live... they are also the slug, stepped on, uncared for, lost in a system of indifference...