If you love literature and dream of becoming the next bestseller novelist similar to the likes of J.K Rowling, Charles Dickens, Shakespeare, Stephen King, Danielle Steel, and many others. If you have chosen or are thinking about pursuing an English Degree you are on the right track. English revolves around reading, evaluating, and writing texts in the English Language.
If you love the written word, or are curious about the vast potential of literary expression and wish to specialize in this field of study to deepen your understanding of the language, an English Degree is the best option for you. Read on for more information about the course, possible career paths, and specialization.
English is all about studying, analyzing, and interpreting both contemporary and classical literature and film, writing and cohesively presenting analysis. It includes an opportunity to refine your organizational, grammatical and operational skills which are fundamental functions the language has played throughout human history.
Students in this course learn the art of professional writing and composition, the history of British and American literature, rhetorical, multicultural literature, and so on. Additionally, students will cover how to explain various perspectives and present information verbally.
Generally, English Degree courses are offered as general courses, covering languages, linguistics, and literature under a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Fine Arts degree programs. Find the best universities for an English Degree here.
Requirements for an English Degree differ depending on region and the institution you want to enroll in. Most universities will require a GCSE and A- level results.
Generally, a high school diploma or GED certificate is required to be admitted to this degree program.
What are the skills for English?
There are various English Degree programs that students can pursue through specializations. Some of the typical specialties include creative writing, media, and digital studies, contemporary literature among others. For those who opt to take a joint degree, youu2019ll acquire the necessary foundation of the English course along with specialized degrees.
The first year of your English course will focus on the overview and foundation of the course, before allowing students to delve deeper and specialize in specific areas. Here are some of the topics youu2019re most likely going to cover:
Here are some specializations:
British Literature
In this program, students will learn the economics of culture, multidisciplinary studies of various disciplines including science (psychoanalysis, Darwinism and evolutionary theories) and literature, theatre architecture, opera, the history of criticism and aesthetics, visual culture and visual arts, gender and feminism, genre, mass culture and so on of the 18th and 19th centuries.
American Literature
In this program, students cover literature that is exclusive to U.S. literary works such as genre studies in African-American literature, early American literacies, American realism, and naturalism, among others.
African American literature
In this program, students cover areas on neorealism, modernism, postmodernism in contemporary African-American novel, Black aesthetics, and the Harlem Renaissance, among others.
Creative Writing
In this program, students learn the art of creative writing from poetry to fiction to creative fiction as well as editing, education, among other creative types of writings.
Media and Digital Studies
Media and digital studies programs teach students about cultural history, computational theory, media theory, digital writing, rhetoric, and technology, among other topics.
Rhetoric and Composition
In this program, students learn the fundamentals of rhetorical history, pedagogy, criticism, theory, and so on.
Contemporary literature
In this program, students learn a diverse range of topics on modern literature including American literature and culture, Asian literature, African literature, world literature, and so on.
Theory and cultural studies
In this program, students cover various topics such as critical theory, feminist, postcolonial theory, postmodernist theory, post-structuralism theory, and so on. Cultural studies will focus on film studies, visual culture, science and technology and so on.
Visual culture
In this program, students learn how to establish relationships between pictures and text from the medieval to historical to contemporary texts.
Renaissance
This program focuses on examining canonical and non-canonical authors and texts and explores topics such as book history, authorship, cognition, embodiment, print culture, manuscript, intertextuality, and so on.
Medieval literature
In this program, students learn fundamental research skills through working on both canonical and non-canonical texts in various fields including paleography, textual editing, translation, and history of book.
Despite the common misconception that there are no jobs for graduates of English, thereu2019s actually a ton of opportunities in a diverse range of fields that you can venture into with an English major. Because of your excellent verbal and written communication skills, youu2019ll be a great asset to employers.
Those who major in English, with or without a joint degree may venture into various jobs across multiple industries, some of which include:
1. Social media manager
Social media managers are responsible for implementing, planning, monitoring, and managing social media strategy for a company or organization to increase brand awareness and improve marketing and sales efforts.
2. Technical writer
Technical writers, also referred to as technical communicators prepare journal articles, instruction manuals, and other supporting documents to communicate technical and complex information easily. Additionally, they also gather, create and distribute technical information to clients, designers and manufacturers.
3. Public relations specialist
Public relations specialists act as a point of communication between companies or organizations and the public. They are responsible for maintaining and establishing cooperative relationships with consumers, media outlets, local communities, and other interest groups.
4. Lawyers
Lawyers are responsible for representing clients in criminal and civil litigation as well as other legal proceedings, drafting legal documents, advising clients about legal transactions, and so on. Generally, lawyers may practice broadly in many fields of law or specialize in a single area such as sports laws, environmental law, criminal law, among others.
5. Grant writer
Grant writers are generally responsible for writing, researching and coordinating grant application processes, managing proposals, and maintaining donor databases. These professionals can work in social service organizations, universities, healthcare, among other fields.
6. Editor and content manager
Editor and content managers are responsible for writing, editing, proofreading and managing a team of writers, videographers, graphic designers, among other creatives. They are responsible for formulating content strategy and managing content across various platforms, including social media, email, among other platforms.
7. Human resource specialist
Human resource specialists are responsible for recruiting, training, supporting, and employee placement within an organization. Generally, they are also in charge of overseeing performance reviews, maintaining employee records, compensation, and benefits, employee relations, among others.
8. Teacher
Teachers are typically responsible for devising lesson plans and teaching these plans to entire classes, individual lessons or in small groups, track student progress, develop and reinforce class rules, create tests, prepare students for standardized tests, present studentsu2019 results to parents, manage student after school during holidays and so on. With an English major, you can teach English as a second language in schools locally and abroad or become a personal tutor.
9. Journalist
Journalists are generally responsible for gathering information, writing news pieces, presenting news, investigating and reporting on current events. In this field or any other media-related industry, English majors can venture into film, newspapers, television, news blogs, and more.
10. Publishing copy editor
Copy editors are responsible for proofreading and editing final drafts to ensure they are free from grammatical errors. These professionals can work in newspapers, magazines, and online publications as well as on a freelance basis.
11. Digital copywriter/ content writer
Digital copywriters are responsible for creating written content for web pages. These professionals can either be employed or work on a freelance basis. Their main job revolves around engaging and motivating the audience to perform a call to action, which can be to buy a product or service, share the content, or provide feedback.
12. Lexicographer
Lexicographers are generally responsible for searching specialist databases consisting of numerous languages from different sources such as literature, online journals, newspapers, blogs, transcripts of television or radio, discussion groups, among other sources for evidence of meanings and usages of phrases or terms. They are in charge of using the evidence gathered to evaluate existing entries, identify the potential for new entries and updating online dictionaries to meet these new changes.
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