it’s funny to me that english majors have this weird, pretentious, literary connotation, like everything we say is super eloquent, deep, and… literary.
i mean, i only wish i could be as eloquent, as deep, and as literary as this, for me, elusive stereotype. i’m majoring in english, because 1) i dig leisure reading and 2) for teaching. i’m not psycho about the whole literature aspect, though i may or may not have my moments… so sue me. what i really want to do is teach the english language in mexico or some other spanish-speaking nation, aka nothing to do with literature. so when i walk into my discussion full of real english majors who drool over works by eliot and yeats, i am bitterly amused. YOU. YOU ARE THE REASON WHY THIS STEREOTYPE EXISTS. and you. you are the reason why i can’t live up to these impossible standards.
a typical discussion section -
TA: class, how does the single word, “poop,” in this 185 lined poem elucidate and contribute to the overarching meaning?
english major 1: i believe fecal matter represents a death of old ways. it depicts the inside of the body, or poem, that once began as nourishment and has now turned into waste.
english major 2: yes, i quite agree. also, by viewing the poem in this manner, we can extrapolate to apply this to said author’s life. he lived a tragic and lonely life, but found hope in rebirth, which is exemplified by feces, another concept for “out with the old.”
english majors 3, 4, 5, 6-14: oo la la!
me: hahhahahhaHAHHAHhahh the TA said poop
