People go to college for many reasons, with the idea of a lot of different careers. Some of those students can't imagine their peers spending all their time reading and writing for their classes, thinking they are masochists who are confused because of their willingness to inflict such "pain" into their lives. These students will think that obtaining an English degree is nonsense and ask questions like "Why does Shakespeare matter?" Unfortunately for them, the English degree seeker will politely put down his copy of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and say to the questioner, "Why does Shakespeare matter? Let me count the ways" and proceed to describe the Bard's relevance to modern culture.
It is no surprise that prospective students in the English degree program are expected to be excellent writers. In order to become a better writer, besides practicing, there are two ways in which students can quickly learn to please their professors. These ways are to learn the different rules of grammar and their proper application, as well as developing a verbiage that is rich in high complexity vocabulary.
Degree programs in English are stuffed with course work that is designed to stimulate the mind into learning about the many different types of literature and their application to the modern world. Students may be interested in taking a wide range of courses in order to better understand the many vagaries of literature. English courses can be distilled into four categories: Poetry, Shakespeare, British literature and American literature.
Poetry is the oldest form of writing that is known in the Western world. In order for something to be considered poetry it must be written in verse form and contain figurative language. These two ingredients marinate together and form the many different forms of poetry. Some types of poetry studied are epic poems, realist poems and romantic poems.
William Shakespeare's contributions to English literature stand so far above the rest of the pack that he merits courses devoted entirely to the study of his work. There are many different plays students will be interested in reading. Some of Shakespeare's most famous work that is studied in these classes is "Richard III", "King Lear", "Hamlet", "Othello" and "The Merchant of Venice".
British literature is the term for literature that is either prose or poetry and originates in the British Isles. These courses cover material all the way from "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" to "The Second Coming". There are many famous British authors who are worth reading, and students will be exposed to authors such as Joseph Conrad, William Butler Yeats, John Keats, William Wordsworth and John Milton.
American literature is similar to British literature in that it is the prose and poetry that tells the story of the American culture. The biggest difference is that American literary history is full of great diversity of people as well as topics. Some of the more famous American authors are Harriet Beecher Stowe, Langston Hughes, W.E.B. Du Bois and Richard Wright.
An English degree is an excellent degree track for people who are willing to put in the time and effort to learn many different and interesting concepts. Students may find that online classes give the flexibility to participate in all the reading they'll need to do without making their lives crazy with early morning classes. Love of language, learning, and reading will serve these students well in school and at work.
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