Monday Major Madness: English

Each Monday, we highlight a certain major here at UA. Regardless of the particular major's sanity or lack thereof, we like to call it Monday Major Madness. Much like Monday Night Football, we know this makes your Monday better...



In today's installment of Monday Major Madness, Honors College student Anna Foley talks about her experience as an English major. 

1) Why did you choose your major?
When I came to UA, I had declared an International Relations major and can’t exactly remember why. Like many freshmen, I had no idea what I really wanted to study, but my pot luck roommate, Beth, clarified things for me. One night we were talking in our beds before falling asleep, and I asked her if she though I should be an English major. I had begun to lean this way after talking to other English majors on campus but still wasn’t sure. She gave me an adamant yes, and then continued on to give an impassioned speech about the power of literature. Her advice made me realize that I have always loved reading and discussing books.

2) What are your career plans?
I plan to attend law school after spending one or two years working or teaching abroad. Currently, my interest is in education and education reform, but how that will play out with a law degree, I am still uncertain. After interning at a law firm for a summer, I realized how much I could enjoy practicing many different kinds of law so I am open to my career heading many different directions.

3) What has been your favorite class (required for your major) so far?
It is difficult to choose one favorite class so I’ll talk about one of my many favorites: Dr. McElroy’s 17th Century Poetry class is fascinating and covers religious poets including my all time favorite, John Donne. I definitely recommend it! To put in a shameless plug for the UA English Department, there are numerous outstanding professors who make it a major that you cannot go wrong with (Weiss, Whiting, Pionki, McElroy, McNaughton, Ulmer, McWaters...just to name a few but there are definitely more)

4) How many hours per week do you spend working on major-related activities (homework, studying, etc.)?
The amount I spend each week varies. I do think English is one of the most challenging majors especially if you take it upon yourself to really delve into the material. I never feel like I have enough time to finish my reading (depending on the course you may have 300 pages a week to read), but I’ve learned to just complete as much of it as I can. It generally takes me about 10 hours for a 4-6 page paper, but other students may have a different opinion. The difficulty with English is there is always more to discover in the text and other ways to further develop the arguments in your papers. One of my teachers, Dr. Pionki, explained one day in class how English is a subject that never gets rid of any ideas. While science may prove a formula wrong and business may develop a more efficient marketing strategy, every idea in English has an innate value that can be built upon in some way. Throughout history, authors are playing off of each other, criticizing different world views, and analyzing the societies they live in. There is little room for black and white thinking in English, and this is one of the many reasons I think it is an excellent major. No other subject could challenge me in the same way.

5) Any additional information?
People often ask what I plan on doing with my major because it is not exactly a degree that gives you a defined career path after graduation. However, English teaches you to think critically and this will make you better at whatever field you go into: law, business, education, medicine, etc. If you are thinking about being an English major and need more convincing, please email me at akfoley@crimson.ua.edu!