What Can You Do With A BA in English?

[e_jo_m]

 

People often say that the value of the humanities is that it enriches your soul and teaches how to live your life; the usual argument against that is that it's difficult to see how such goals are accomplished by way of assigning essays regarding symbolism that might be in a boring novel written about rich people by a dead guy.

Well, I have a very expensive piece of paper on a frame behind my desk that says "Jo" and also "English" and also the name of a prestigious institution of higher learning. I don't totally regret it, even though I proooobably should have just applied to UCL law straight outta high school. Here are some benefits of being an English major that I've noticed.

One benefit. You go to an English class, the professor says, "Here are a bunch of social conditions in England" and then you read a novel set in the social conditions of England, and the professor talks about the author's background and how his upbringing probably affected the novel. So you've read an interesting novel, and your reading has been greatly enriched by having all this background knowledge about its setting, its purpose, and the process of its creation. Maybe not worth eight thousand dollars. But not a bad use of time.

Another benefit. "Oh, that's what it feels like to choose the right thing over the evil moral compass which you were raised to have." (Admittedly, 99% of people who read, eg, Huckleberry Finn then say "Good thing my political beliefs are flawless and I don't have to question them like residents of slaveholding societies should have questioned theirs!") Theoretically this can be better accomplished by nonfiction, but some of the best books in this department happen to be (heavily based on reality) fiction.

Another benefit. Someone writes an essay saying that, whether it's intentional or not, a certain novel works surprisingly well as a metaphor for becoming a blacksmith. They could afford the time to write this essay because they get paid to do it; their salary is in part funded by forcing total strangers to pay for it or go to jail. So there's an interesting take on an interesting book. Maybe not worth forcing people to pay for it on pain of imprisonment. But not a bad use of resources. And it's a miniscule fraction of the government's budget anyway.

Another benefit. "Wow, I never would have slogged through this book if I hadn't signed up to be forced to finish it!"