<p>i’m an english major, and was recently thinking that most of the classes i’ve taken so far could be replaced with individual study. i feel as though this might apply to all english-related classes other than writing courses. all of my literature classes so far have consisted of reading the text and then discussing it. while this is certainly useful, i’m sure anything discussed is already written and published somewhere. feedback on one’s own comments as well as a push to further expand it is the only thing i can think of that may be lost. material taught in classes dealing with mechanics seems readily available at bookstore. writing, and this is obviously the meat of the major, seems to be the exception. so i guess i’m wondering how much more valuable one school would be over the other for highly motivated individuals. if creative writing is the ultimate goal, it seems like success would come to those already talented, and i’m not sure how big of a difference the quality of faculty would make.</p>
<p>this, at least to me right now, is a rather useless question, as i’m already in college, but i was just musing on it, and thought i’d try to get some discussion…</p>
<p>Sciences can be a bit tougher to learn by self-studying, as can maths. That said, virtually every field can be self-taught; a good teacher just speeds the process along.</p>
<p>I don’t think “success would come to those already talented” in creative writing. I think success would come to those motivated. A lot of creative writing is about hard work and practice and experience and perseverance. So if creative writing is your main goal, I don’t see how the quality of your English department matters. You don’t directly learn or get to practice any creative writing in your regular English classes. The best training you can get for creative writing is from reading (and writing of course), i.e. from your experience when holding and reading a book, not in the classroom dissecting a book with your professor and classmates. Your English classes are helping you in the sense that if you were to take any other classes, you would not have as much time to read literature and to write (although critical writing is different from creative writing).</p>
<p>Though it might be more useful to widen your perspective and expand your knowledge by taking other classes, I’ve come to believe that, given the limited time we all have, the English major is still the most expedient and time-efficient path for a writer.</p>
<p>gil, i agree. ‘motivation’ can certainly be substituted in place of where i had ‘talent’. my main point was questioning whether or not the school itself (opposed to any other school) had a significant effect. there is a small series of creative writing classes at my university, and i think most other schools, although there is no ‘concentration’ in it, at least at my school. even within these classes, i think the individual is much more important than the school. you can teach mechanics, such as how to characters into rooms, etc., and get feedback (which is where the quality of the faculty would come into play), but i feel as though really good creative writing isn’t something that can be taught. thoughts?</p>