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Literature classes.

JM Aggie08

JM Aggie08

Diamond Member
Why is it that almost EVERY professor finds phallic imagery in every piece we are assigned? What's with the dick obsession? :hmm:
 
I have always been under the impression that lit majors make symbolism up so that they can create a niche for their made up profession.

Phallic imagery is something that is easy to construct and attention grabbing, and it can mean almost anything.
 
My roommate says that lit professors find way more interpretations in a single sentence than the author intended in the entire book.
 
RESmonkey said:
My roommate says that lit professors find way more interpretations in a single sentence than the author intended in the entire book.
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Of course they do, they wouldn't have a job (as was mentioned above) otherwise.

It wouldn't matter if an author implicitly stated that his/her entire book was to be taken 100% literally some English-lit professor would carve it up and arbitrarily decide it means something else, something hidden that only through his/her advanced knowledge could it be discovered. Just another form of quackery (for the most part).
 
there are only two types of people in the world:
people who love dick and people who are afraid of dick.
 
Take a Literature class assigned to the Womens Studies department in your University. Oh what fun that will be.

Especially if your Prof is a lesbian.

I was one of two dudes in that class and our class got into some very interesting conversations as most everything we read was overtly sexual.
 
HannibalX said:
Of course they do, they wouldn't have a job (as was mentioned above) otherwise.

It wouldn't matter if an author implicitly stated that his/her entire book was to be taken 100% literally some English-lit professor would carve it up and arbitrarily decide it means something else, something hidden that only through his/her advanced knowledge could it be discovered. Just another form of quackery (for the most part).
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you people must hate reading/writing? get fondled by a professor in college, maybe?
 
I love literature classes, if I could find a job that paid like my major but involved reading and writing all day..I'd jump!

P.S. American Literature = Penis Capital of the World.
 
Fmr12B said:
Take a Literature class assigned to the Womens Studies department in your University. Oh what fun that will be.

Especially if your Prof is a lesbian.

I was one of two dudes in that class and our class got into some very interesting conversations as most everything we read was overtly sexual.
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Along with religion, womens studies is one of the last sanctuaries of stupidity in the world today. Everyone knows this.
 
shortylickens said:
I must know your opinion on African American studies.
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It's basically courses in entitleism. Stupid, but not nearly as stupid as womens studies, and not even in the same universe of stupid as religion. Oh, and by religion I don't mean the study of religion, I mean those fools who actually take it seriously.
 
zinfamous said:
you people must hate reading/writing? get fondled by a professor in college, maybe?
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I love reading for pleasure,but I severely dislike reading to analyze/critique/find symbolism. Literature classes are nothing but a waste of time, IMO, and they certainly don't promote anyone to read any more.

I also dislike writing in general, but that is its own story.
 
fatpat268 said:
I love reading for pleasure,but I severely dislike reading to analyze/critique/find symbolism. Literature classes are nothing but a waste of time, IMO, and they certainly don't promote anyone to read any more.

I also dislike writing in general, but that is its own story.
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They aren't trying to promote people to read more, they are there to analyze and critique.
 
fatpat268 said:
I love reading for pleasure,but I severely dislike reading to analyze/critique/find symbolism. Literature classes are nothing but a waste of time, IMO, and they certainly don't promote anyone to read any more.

I also dislike writing in general, but that is its own story.
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I think critical analysis is a wonderful thing. it helps you to judge the quality of your sources, and what you read.

Sure, no one's going to sit you down and make you analyze John Grisham or Stephen King's latest crapfest, as it's generally shallow to begin with.

There are authors that absolutely must be approached from a critical view. You can't really tackle Ulysses expecting a mindless, wasteful romp. There is a very intentional structure and subtext, many levels of which. Joyce even authorized one of his buddies to lay out the road map.

Some work invites analysis, some doesn't. The skills one learns in doing such analysis can be applied elsewhere, though.
 
zinfamous said:
I think critical analysis is a wonderful thing. it helps you to judge the quality of your sources, and what you read.

Sure, no one's going to sit you down and make you analyze John Grisham or Stephen King's latest crapfest, as it's generally shallow to begin with.

There are authors that absolutely must be approached from a critical view. You can't really tackle Ulysses expecting a mindless, wasteful romp. There is a very intentional structure and subtext, many levels of which. Joyce even authorized one of his buddies to lay out the road map.

Some work invites analysis, some doesn't. The skills one learns in doing such analysis can be applied elsewhere, though.
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You're right, but a lot of the things I've read in American and British Literature years ago didn't really promote such critical analysis. Honestly, 95% of the things I wrote about in literature class was pure BS that I was able to support by some creative writing.

I don't feel like I need a class to help me be able to analyze pieces of work... reading alone increases those skills. Literature classes simply bore me to tears. As I said earlier, I read for pleasure, and I also read to edumacate myself. So the primary stuff that I read is non-fiction and popular modern fiction. Classical literature doesn't interest me in the least, and frankly doesn't offer anything substantiative to me while I read them.

But of course, I also think arts and music classes are a waste of time as well.
 
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