English Major Essay

In “Preparing for a Career”, Derek Bok, president of Harvard Law School and author, argues how universities, more specifically liberal arts colleges, should include training for a certain occupation with regular college classes to better prepare a student for the real world after college. Considering that Bok has earned his degrees at some of the most well-known universities like Stanford University and Harvard, he has a better understanding at what students are missing and what they need to be successful. However, on the other hand, not many professors and students see or agree with Bok’s point of view. They do not agree that students need the vocational training during their years in a liberal arts college, even though students need both; an education that helps them become critical thinkers and skilled communicators as well as skilled workers in a certain career. So why not help students with their career along with their regular core courses?

Being in college has taught me that what you majored in does not matter when it comes to finding a career, as long as you have the experience you will be fine. I tend to question myself all the time as to “Why am I attending college when most employers probably would not care about my Bachelors or Associates Degree.” My doubtfulness of college brought me to come across the article “No, It Doesn't Matter What You Majored In”, by Carlo Rotella. Carlo Rotella is a director of the Americans Studies Program and the author of several books. The author believes that “Prospective employers frequently don’t really care what you majored in” Page 468.

1. Describe the function of the following pieces of safety equipment and how each might be used: (10 points)

Adam Gopnik holds a Bachelor of Arts at McGill University and continued graduate work at the New York University Institute of Fine Arts. Gopnik is a writer for the New Yorker and in his article, “Why Teach English?” (2013), he warns of the steady declining enrolment in University English majors since the 1970’s. Gopnik points out that there is a growing consensus that the study of English is vanishing from American educational institutions in the similar way Latin did. He is not persuaded by the two popular beliefs in defence of why English majors exist: English majors make individuals better and English majors make societies better. Gopnik draws a conclusion that studying English is rewarding and not a waste of time, due to intrinsic pleasure

Divergent and analytical thinking are vital skills. Humanities and Liberal Arts majors encourage critical thinking, and a broad knowledge of diverse topics. For example, English majors work well with analysis, grammar, and writing. Those skills can be applied to politics, law and business. Liberal Arts and Humanities majors learn to form strong opinions, evaluate, reflect, and problem solve because they are given opportunity to experiment, create, and collaborate with others. The Liberal Arts and Humanities can also be a great foundation for students who are determined to become leaders. Students will acquire all sorts of abilities that are necessary for leadership success like critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and communication skills. These majors teach students how to think critically, and this is a key skill needed in all disciplines. A Liberal Arts degree does not equal total ignorance of how a computer or the economy works, nor does it mean that those students are missing out on critical knowledge. As a matter of fact, they have very important skills to offer. All the STEM in the world is useless without context. People need the ability to interpret data and incorporate humanity. It is important to have all aspects of education, STEM, liberal arts, and humanities. While STEM degrees may appear more translatable into a paycheck six months from now, some of the most successful people I have known were Liberal Arts majors. If you ask any employers what skills they would like to see in recent graduates, its communication skills, the ability to write well, and the ability to work well in groups. Liberal arts focused on reading, language and writing are equally important to society as STEM subjects are. Liberal Arts and Humanities graduates may not go on to jobs that are as profitable as engineering of physical science careers, but they fill jobs that are important to a

When I was younger I had a babysitter who was in high school. I looked up to her so much and wanted to be a big girl like her and go to high school. Little did I know that when I got that old I would want to be that little girl again. With senior year beginning I’ve been getting hounded with college emails and universities calling to invite me to visit. Having to make the decision of where I want to go to college, what I want to study, and how I’m gonna make all that happen while still being in high school and getting treated like a child is a bit overwhelming. I never realized how overwhelming and stressful senior year would be.

Passions drive people, and the townspeople in “The Lottery” and Paul in “The Rocking-Horse Winner” are no different. Each of the members of the unnamed town has a strong passion for tradition. The original black box used for the lottery is described as being, “lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born” (Jackson 251). This sentence gives the reader an understanding that the lottery is an ancient tradition that has become an integral part of the town’s lifestyle. Such a tradition can only be carried on for this length of time if the people are passionate about preserving the tradition. Paul had a passion to be wealthy as a way to prove to his mother that he was lucky. From a young age, he saw that his family always wanted more money to support a better lifestyle, yet

In fact, the matter goes beyond that reason. Why would someone choose a major that only focuses on conceptual ideas, and is not required in the job market unless it is for teaching the humanities? It seems like a never ending loop. One person can give a lecture to a hundred people, but not each one of them will be able to teach another hundred. While other majors that are demanded in the market are more vast and broad. An engineer can work in a company, on their own inventions, and even teach subjects related to their majors for instance. Brooks needed to see the matter from a realistic point of view, since the reason is, after all, economic in the first place. When he argues that a 19-years old freshman will see the humanities as a boring and useless major, he forgets – or misses to mention, that people go to universities to prepare themselves for the job market. And there is no point of going to the market with a certificate that will lead them nowhere. With that being said, Brooks also insists on quoting a history teacher, transmitting to the reader his own perspective of the reason he thinks is causing the

As the world becomes more specialized it raises the question, should undergraduate institutions change their curriculum requirements to better equip students? The goal of a liberal arts education is to enlighten individuals and prepare them for the complex and diverse world by requiring the study of literature, philosophy, mathematics, and sciences. As professional careers evolve into more specialized fields the argument that a liberal education is no longer needed rises. Some educators feel that future professionals would be better primed for the future by focusing specifically on subjects that deal with their intended field. However, a liberal arts education provides benefits that go beyond the classroom. The experience of studying a

This article “Students of Success” written by Lynn Cheney was very well written. Cheney’s point in this article is that students in liberal arts shouldn’t be over looked in the world of business. She explains that students in liberal arts have the opportunity to become anywhere from Management to the next president of the united states. People should understand that its not the field you major in but it’s the way you use your major. Cheney states that students who follow their hearts in choosing majors will mostly end up laboring at what they love.

Tamar Lewin, a national reporter for The New York Times, in her article titled, As Interest Fades in the Humanities, Colleges Worry, which was posted on October 30, 2013, sheds light on the fading interest in the humanities amongst student. This is especially true for those belonging to Stanford University. Many scholars alongside Lewin, are now asking why this trend is occurring. As stated in the article, Stanford is known for its reputation in technology, and as years pass, students are beginning to transition from the humanities to majors belonging in the sciences. She fears that this will in time mark the end of subjects such as history, philosophy, foreign languages, and a plethora of subjects that belong to the humanities, leading to student that lack critical thinking skills.

I too so that the fear of being useful was the best in describing the argument and defending the line of reasoning for the humanities and liberal arts. Your statement regarding the humanities and its focus on critical thinking and writing is very straight. Unfortunately the stem majors feel that the humanities and liberal arts courses will have a location in their coursework and thus they don't focus as much on that facet of the learning curve. Nowadays one may be able to do their job without having those technical skills, but as you alluded in order to move up the chain of command and to get leadership position as opposed to just being a worker you must have the critical skills do when you have the corporate ladder. these are the skills that

I majored in English in the Humanities and Social Sciences college at Rowan University. At the same time, I studied a number of courses in the discipline of secondary education. I enjoyed studying teaching but early in my undergraduate career I determined that teaching English at the high school level was not my desired life path. Rather, teaching English Literature as a professor was my life's purpose. As an undergraduate, I have taken a deluge of class varying from children's literature to Toni Morrison studies in an attempt to further understand literature. Concentrating on the ways in which modern literature apprehends the American experiences within the written word. At the point of graduation, I accomplished a

Language is a powerful communication tool the user holds to express their individual identity and ingroup solidarity. The use of Standard English helps to direct this, as it acts as the structure of communication, ingroup and between speech communities to effectively present a standard for mutual understanding. Outside of Standard English comes the use of slang, netspeak and textspeak, which helps to develop and enrich the language, as well as evolve with contemporary Australia and its fast paced lifestyle. Using the Standard all the time would be exclusive of the linguistic freedom formed by the world beyond Standard English with varying ethnolects, but is also a

“Too many students aren’t sure what job they could get after four, five, or even six years of studying a certain major and racking up education loans”(255). Singletary is given the fact that numerous students are confused on their own majors even though they have studied for years. And parts of the students even start realizing their majors might be in a hopeless employment situation after they graduate from that particular field. Therefore, before choosing a field of study, it is necessarily worthwhile for students and parents to check out the majors whether in the highest or the lowest unemployment. According to new statistics on unemployment for recent college graduates by The Huffington Post this June, majoring in social science and creative fields, such as anthropology, film, fine art, etc. have earned the top three of the unemployment rate. In contrast, engineering technologies, math, and computer science remain at the top of the employment chart. Alex Tabarrok mentions the harsh unemployment rate in his article, “…More than half of all humanities graduates end up in jobs that don’t require college degrees…”(250). The society has never shown mercy to students who are unlikely to be employed with the majors they have. Graduating without employment must be one of the biggest nightmares for most students; however, selecting an in demand major can surely decrease the chances of being