Category: McCoy Fall 2014

In the second chapter of Moran’s Interdisciplinarity, “Literature into Culture,” it is said that “Literary works are also interesting ideologically precisely because they often fulfill several functions with coexist or conflict with each other” (59). Moran goes on to discuss these functions – works of literature are often published for a profit and/or with a specific message to deliver, but at the same time may be perceived by society in a multitude of contexts because it is hard to predict what significance and meaning a text will have to different people. This idea, of pieces of literature serving multiple functions at the same time, is one that relates to a few of the works I’ve read in this semester alone. Continue reading “Literature’s Functions”

Within the first week of classes, we all contributed in creating an archive of questions that we had about the English major. We filled up an entire document with these questions — and I contributed a few myself — but there was one question I had that I still remember. I remember it because it’s the one question that I really wanted to see answered, although I can come up with a few clarifying ones when prompted. I’m sure it’s a question that many other members of our major have as well. It is: “Why are English majors viewed as prone to be pretentious?” And I think I’m ready to make a guess.

The answer is, simply, because we are. I understand that this is not a popular opinion, and I regret to inform anyone reading that this blog post will be lengthier than most so that I might clarify it. Continue reading “Why Are English Majors Pretentious?”

Stressing the importance and the interdisciplinary nature of everyday life, Moran explains that daily “cultural practices” often slip through the “surveillance networks” of society (59). He contends the myth of the “modern triumph of the ‘expert’ over the ‘philosopher,’” dismisses the importance of “compartmentalizing” academics, and speaks to the importance and depth of everyday events (60). Everyday events are inherently interdisciplinary, shaping us, our perceptions, and the way we see and view other disciplines.

In a high school philosophy class, my teacher has asked us, “If we know we’re going to die, why follow the rules? Why be moral?” Which, of course, spawns more questions and frustration than answers. Inevitably, the class devolves into an even more confounding and frustrating cesspool of questions, “What’s the point of being alive? Do we have any impact in the grand scheme of things? Does life have importance?”

Continue reading “Interdisciplinarity of Everyday Life”

I was reading Interdisciplinarity by Joe Moran when I noticed that Moran states that the attention “[F.R.] Leavis paid to popular culture was extremely grudgingly” (Moran 28). Continue reading “Limitations”

I was sitting in my favorite study spot in the ISC, toiling away at my studies, when a group of very loud girls decided to sit on the couches next to me. It was bad enough they were distracting me from my homework, but then they began talking about English majors. They began to rant about how they were all science majors living in a house with an English major, and how it was completely ridiculous because English is so obviously a waste of time. That it couldn’t be used to do anything in the world. Continue reading “Frustration”

Everyone’s been posting about their own experiences struggling with what it means to be an English major, so I figured it was time for me to jump on the bandwagon. Why did I choose this major over one of the many more practical ones which are “targeted at specific areas of the graduate market and service the economy with ‘human capital’ in concrete ways” (Moran 18)? Because I do not view myself as merely an asset to society, equipped with certain skills which I am obligated to hone because I have a duty to the economy. I’m not living for others, I am living for myself. And English means something to me. Creative writing is one of the primary ways in which I express myself. Discussing great literature makes me feel like a part of something bigger. Reading inspires me and helps me escape. I think there is a beauty in the way language works. I enjoy editing because it involves chipping away at imperfections in writing in order to uncover this beauty. I am trying to teach myself as much as possible about linguistics because it deals with the science behind this beauty.

I am worried about what the job market will hold for me post-graduation, but probably not as worried as I should be. Right now, I am just enjoying learning more about, and growing in, a subject which has come to mean a lot to me- English.

Jeremy Bentham once argued in An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789) that “the purpose of life is happiness, that any moral philosophy should be based on achieving ‘the greatest happiness for the greatest number’, and that degrees of happiness could be determined through a ‘felicific calculus’”. Continue reading “Felicific Calculus”

According to Interdisciplinarity by Joe Moran, “It was not until the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that English was fully accepted as a reputable area of study” Continue reading “Is Well-Respected Fully Accepted?”