I know, every major thinks they have the hardest coursework and/or hardest professors. I am not here to say English is the hardest. I just want people to understand that being an English major is not as easy as it may sound. Sure we don't have to spend hundreds of dollars on textbooks that will never be open and sure we don't have huge cumulative exams at the end of the semester but there are expectations for us that other majors do not have have.
1. So many novels
Looking at a required texts list for an English course can sometimes seem like you are just looking at an endless list of books. Sure, I have taken courses that only had four or five novels on the list but I have also taken classes where there are twenty books. To put it in perspective I am taking three English courses this semester and between those three I need to buy thirty different novels. Yes, you read that right THIRTY. But us English majors are lucky because most of the times you can get the novels used for two or three dollars.
2. Constantly reading
Because there are so many books we need to get through in the semester we can pretty much just never stop reading. For each class professors assign about one hundred to two hundred pages for homework each day so with three English courses that equates to me reading anywhere between three hundred and six hundred pages. Some classes even want entire books finished before the next class.
3. Longingly Staring at my bookshelf
While I have to read so many required books for classes the books i brought to read for fun get to sit on my bookshelf unread. Reading for fun does not really get to happen during the semester and is saved for vacations and breaks. As much as I want to read the books on my bookshelf there is no time between the thirty books for class I need to read.
4. Essays on essays on essays
Now I understand a lot of different majors deal with essays but I just think we English majors have it particularly hard. I have seen over the years that when we get assigned an essay in one class it won't be long until we are assigned an essay in every class. Never have I had only one essay due at once. They always are piled on together and due at the exact same time. This leads to long nights close reading four different novels at once hoping I'm not getting them confused.
With all these little complaints I understand we do still have it pretty good. There are not many exams or group projects in English courses. And I mean I became an English major because I adored reading and wanted to read as much as possible. It can just get stressful and overwhelming over time but everything always gets settled in the end and I come out each semester with a new understanding of a genre, author, or time-period. Now excuse me, I have to go read Agamemnon, William Blake and Little Women.
