[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/lit/ - Literature

View post   
File: 763 KB, 2029x1000, Duccio_maesta1021.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
6151755 No.6151755 [Reply] [Original]

Are literature courses worth taking in university when I could just read in my free time?

>> No.6151775

>>6151755
No, they really aren't honestly. As long as you have the discipline and actually read challenging things and think critically about them, you aren't missing much

>> No.6151801

>>6151755
I wish to be as young as you one more time

>> No.6151809

Yes; if the course is free or the loan conditions are favourable.

Yes; if you want to do it for the sake of learning or indulging in your passion without caring about a high paying job or general employability.

Yes; if you are just wage slaving in a shitty job already, as a degree, even a lit one will improve your prospects a bit.

Generally no if you don't fit the bill for one of the above.

>> No.6151811

>>6151775
most people aren't going to have the discipline

>> No.6152270

>>6151811
Why would doing a uni course change that?

>> No.6153983

>>6151801
Why?

>> No.6153994

>>6151755
Not really, you'll probably get a lot less enjoyment out of it and have to deal with reddittier fedoras

>> No.6154021
File: 229 KB, 977x919, englishmajor.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
6154021

>>6151755

>> No.6154047

>>6152270
deadlines of papers & exams, wasted money for dropping classes, peer pressure, &c

>> No.6155878

>>6151755
Honestly, if you're genuinely interested it's worth doing simply for the resources, that is, if you apply to a good university.
Journal articles are annoying to find without a library capable of research, and the more interesting texts can get quite expensive.

>>6153994
Most literature courses nowadays consist mainly of women, there's actually a lot less fedoras than you might imagine.

>> No.6155940

>>6151755
They're not if you have to pay for them.

>> No.6156036

>>6151755
A writing course will have more prospect for the future. Just read on your own.

>> No.6156075

second year English Major here.

>>6151775
This guy regrets not studying English and tells himself it's ok.

>>6151809
This guy knows his shit.

>>6153994
This guy is full of shit. English courses are just full of mostly normal people, quite a few girls. Most my friends from uni aren't from my class.

>>6156036
I have learned so much more from literature classes than I would in years of studying on my own whilst working a job.

>> No.6156099

>>6156075
This guy thinks the emperor's clothes are beautiful and will never be able to admit to being conned.

>> No.6156155

>>6156099

Who conned me? I chose English Literature because I knew I would never have the motivation to succeed in other courses. This way I love what I study and study what I love.

>> No.6156175

>>6156155
It isn't mandatory to go to college/university, you know.

>> No.6156190

Well, coming from a working class background, it was either go to university or wash dishes so it was an easy choice.

Are you just upset you didn't go to university? It's never too late to go.

>> No.6156195

>>6156190
>coming from a working class background, it was either go to university or wash dishes
Yes, because there is no way a working class person could learn a craft. That whole blue collar thing is off limits to the working class.

>> No.6156206

>>6156195

Are you forgetting I am a human being with independent thought and agency? Why the fuck would I want to 'learn a craft'. The majority of work in Britain is tertiary sector, not secondary and primary, which pay shit and require labour.

I don't understand what you're trying to say anon.

>> No.6156208

>>6156175
>muh Diogenes

>> No.6156622

>>6156206
I'm saying there are more options in life than going to university or working minimum wage menial labour.

>> No.6156661

>>6156208
>implying going on the dole isn't the sensible and sagely path to choose anno 2015

>> No.6156696

>>6156175
yes it is lol it's 2014 not 1970

>> No.6156730

>>6151755
OP: your instincts are correct.

do not study lit in university except as electives or as a minor.

just by asking this question you have self-selected as smart enough that a humanities major would be a tragic waste of your potential.

>> No.6157864

just take one literature class as an elective, and you'll get the gist of it

>> No.6158086

Speaking as an English lit major: no.

If I'd started by doing the prereq courses instead of finishing with them, I'd never have gone into English, but instead I went about it like a dumbass

>> No.6158125

You guys must go to some really shit schools/have really poor lit professors. There's nothing better than being in a seminar discussing literature with people who really know what they're talking about. The best discussions I've seen in my 3 years here on /lit/ don't even come close. I guess I just have a great literature department, even the non-seminar literature classes I'm in are filled with smart students that know how to engage a text, professors that facilitate interesting discussions, and it's totally not the SJW-feminist-all women atmosphere that seems to be thought of now.
If you go to the right school, op, and it's what you love, it's totally worth it.