Single-author English classes are underrated. The survey classes, or ones that cover a large literary or historical period, are necessary, yet unsatisfying. As I read for my American Renaissance class this semester, I was constantly flipping between different authors and writing styles each class, which is confusing and tedious. Why would I want to read a Poe short story and then immediately forget it as I move on to read one by Melville? When I read, I want to be invested in the story and the creator, but survey English classes do not allow that to fully happen. We did read short biographical passages about the authors' lives, but knowing someone is more than reading a paragraph about their other works or early childhood. These classes worry about quantity over quality. After my American Renaissance class, I would go to my Ernest Hemingway class, which I preferred for its depth as opposed to its breadth.
Survey classes are similar to going on dates with multiple people and never forming a real relationship. You have the potential to really enjoy the author, but if you only read an excerpt or one story, it’s like a short date that gets cut off and leaves you unfulfilled.
If I could, I would only take single author classes to fulfill my English minor. I love the fact that you get to know the author so well by the end of the semester that he or she isn’t just a name on a book cover, but someone whom you know intimate details about. Single author classes are like being in a monogamous relationship. You spend every day learning about them, either through memoirs or stories they write. In my Oscar Wilde class, we were discouraged from assuming his fiction is autobiographical, but even with that stipulation, we could still figure out his values and tendencies.
I wish that more departments would embrace the single-creator topics. As an art history major, I would love to narrow the scope of a class to a single artist, especially a female artist. A class solely on Mary Cassatt would incorporate other artists who influenced her, but by the end of the semester the students could consider themselves mini-connoisseurs of Cassatt and her works.
I advocate for single author classes because, like anything in life, mastering takes time. You can’t master an author’s style or way of thinking just by reading one story. It takes reading multiple works and comparing them and recording the progressions or regressions that are made over time. Colleges, especially liberal arts colleges, teach us that we need to be well rounded. I agree that every student should know some information about a wide range of fields and topics, but I also don’t think we should discredit closer learning. Focusing on one author allows us to see him or her as a real person, which sometimes gets forgotten when we read a story completely out of context and in isolation. Literature is not created in a vacuum, and therefore it is important to see how authors are influenced by history and personal experiences. So no, I'm not trying to say that I'm dating Ernest Hemingway, but when I read his stories and novels, I know more than what appears on the pages.
