I’m not sure that I could recount well all that I’ve learned from Intro to English Studies. What bars me isn’t simply the fact that it’s always a challenge to succinctly put to words what’s gained by education. Also, it’s because I consider this class to be more skill than knowledge oriented; that’s to say, I viewed this more like training for a performance than like collecting something to be put in reserve. The part of the class most focused on facts was the “theory camp,” which had us dabbling in different theories of literature. But even that was more experiential than informative, at least in my case, since I’d encountered these ideas in one form or another before in classes at CofC. What I gained was more skill with handling these ideas, rather than more understanding about such things as their motivations and methods. And then, once we turned our attentions almost solely to our individual projects, I continued to learn more in terms of skill than knowledge. I sharpened skills in researching, arguing, referencing sources, introducing quotes, transitioning between thoughts, between paragraphs, etc. I think what I most importantly gained from the course was an improved ability to do such things as these.
Having improved these skills will matter greatly for my future in college. I think that too many classes waste time fixating on information that the students won’t retain; most if not all of us will forget the date of Moby Dick’s publication within a week, so why strain to memorize it for a test? Publication dates won’t help a student with their other classes down the line, not the way that learning how to write and how to engage with different systems of thought and different scholars, critics, and thinkers will. So, I think that Intro to English Studies will mean a lot as I move forward, equipping me with abilities that will be useful in nearly any class.
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