Monday, May 2, 2016

So, Why Do I Have to Take So Many English Courses?

Good question! I remember thinking the same thing when I took English 101 back in my freshman year (otherwise known as the Stone Age). However, the fact is that core English courses are required by nearly every school and major in the country, and for good reason. Without the writing and critical thinking skills developed in English Composition, I would argue that students are not only at an educational disadvantage, they are perhaps setting themselves up for failure in their eventual professional career(s).

The world we live in is driven by language, to a degree that’s hard to even appreciate until you really look closely. From the text messages and emails you send to the books or online sources you study, our world is filled with texts to read, summarize, analyze, and/or evaluate. These are skills that are mastered in English Composition- the ability to effectively pull out relevant information from a text, and just as importantly, to objectively evaluate the information around us.

As students, we often understand that the ability to read and write well are linked. What’s less often discussed is that writing well and thinking well are also linked. GMC’s English Composition courses focus on critical thinking habits that empower students not only to think for themselves, but to think well. Since all writing is a form of argument, students engage with a variety of persuasive texts in ENG 101, then literary texts in ENG 102. Finally, students in our Literature courses are introduced to a number of authors who wrote well and thought well- and as such, had the ability to reflect (and in some cases, actually influence) the culture around them, not just in their time but in the modern world in which we live.

In order to succeed in the “real world,” you don’t just need to know how to dot your “i”s or memorize paper formats, things that are often incorrectly attributed as the sole concern of English faculty everywhere. Rather, you have to know how to read between the lines: how to compose, persuade, understand, and most importantly, how to respond. As such, English courses deliver to students the skills necessary to interact with their world professionally, thoughtfully, and in their own words.


So, why do we have to take so many English courses? The better question is, why aren’t we taking more

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