Student of Literature

 “A STUDENT OF LITERATURE HAS A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE THAN OTHERS THAT ONLY HE CAN DEFINE.”

Every student is different in everything. Here I will talk about my experiences as a literature student. I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to study English Literature at Surrey. The study of literature is rewarding but challenging. English classes can be challenging because of a demanding workload, complicated texts, and writing essays. If you put in thoughtful and diligent work both in and out of the classroom, however, you might really enjoy these classes.

Studying literature means you’re also studying pretty much every subject under the sun. In each text you study, there will be elements of history, sociology, art, music, natural science and even math. While this means you get to learn some really interesting things, it can leave you feeling like you’re running out of room to store information in your brain.

Students who study only English Language, with its emphasis on reading and writing skills, sometimes fail to see the point of studying English literature, especially if they have no plans to study English or Translation at university. But English literature can introduce students to a range of aspects, not only of the English language but also of English culture. There are aspects of English culture that are encapsulated by English literature. Of course, this is quite obvious when studying the works of  Shakespeare or of writers, poets and playwrights of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It is, however, also true when studying other works of English literature. Students can learn about allusions and references to different aspects of English culture. They can also learn the context and meanings of famous quotes and phrases.

Studying Literature does not confine the students to the traditions of England but includes the possibility of introducing them to traditions which inform English Literature, such as the study of Ancient Greek drama, and to literature in other contexts, such as American literature. It also provides the students with an alternative to the pervasiveness of “television culture” with its immediacy and, often, its shallowness.

An enjoyment and appreciation of Literature will give students the ability to develop this into an interest in books and reading as they move away from their studies and into their adult lives. They will have the confidence to approach and tackle new forms of books and writing, since they were exposed to a range of literature during their school days.

When studying Literature, students can learn not only language aspects such as vocabulary items but also that language can be used for specific and aesthetic purposes. Familiarity with the concepts of beat, metre and rhythm can improve their own writing as students are able to appreciate and apply these ideas. Finally, the study of Literature can provide students with a fresh and creative angle with which to approach their studies in particular and their lives in general.

Actually it is very difficult to let you know the joy a literature student has. It is the same joy you get when you learn something new if you are a science buff or a history buff or so Literature student is supposed to be a person who is open to any possibility. They understand that there is no constant right or wrong in this world. Everything depends on your viewpoint. A literature student must not judge something/somebody as good or bad. We need to see and recognise all aspects of a person's personality. They undergo the life and experiences of innumerable characters of the books to be read. It is like living the lives of thousands within a life time. I feel no other field of study has the scope of studying life in its fullness. But not all students of literature enjoy it or possess the qualities mentioned above.

One of the main reasons people wrongly assume English literature students have it easy is because we don’t complain about our work. Most of us are studying the subject because it was our favourite at school. We’re the creative types who aspired to be novelists throughout our childhood. For that reason, translating Chaucer’s Old English into something comprehensible isn’t a chore; it’s an interesting and rewarding challenge.

How to be a good literature student:

• Take detailed notes:  During class, write down the most important points emphasized by your teacher or professor. 
• Listen and respond to other students:  If your class is discussion-based, pay attention when other students are speaking. Look at the student who is speaking and practice active listening skills, including nodding at the person, absorbing what the person is saying, and turning towards the person with open body language. Ask questions to make sure you understand what the person means.  You should respond thoughtfully to your classmates’ ideas and opinions, whether you agree or disagree. Everyone will enjoy the class more if the students are respectful and interested.
• Engage with your teacher or professor:  Express your thoughts and opinions in class, and ask questions. Demonstrate to your teacher or professor that you want to succeed by going to his or her office hours and talking further about the readings.
• Ask good questions: You have to ask questions in class. When asking a question in front of the class, speak clearly and loudly. Look the person you're talking to in the eye.
• Do your reading before class:  Go to class prepared. Look at your class syllabus and write down which texts you should read before each class. 
• Use outside tools to help you understand the assignments further:  Keep a dictionary near where you study, and write down the names and definitions of unfamiliar words you come across.
• Talk about the assigned texts with people in your class:  May be you have a good friend in the class with whom you can chat over coffee or you want to organize a weekly study group.

Being a literature student hurts. After a while you lose your ability to simply judge people. You think more about what could have happened and what made them the way they are. You will find yourself giving excuses to criminals and psychopaths, probably one day you will say that you might have been in their shoes and if it did happen you will do the same thing they did. You will start seeing some scenes of your life as pieces of a novel you never read. You will see some people as poems, others as demons and ghosts. You will see yourself in Frankenstein’s monster, Heathcliff and probably Bronte’s Catherine as well. 

You will envy Coleridge for his vivid imagination and you will hate realists for what they did to your head. You will love romantics even if you do not believe in what they say. You will hate movies for limiting your imagination then you will love them when they outdo the books and plays they represent. You will cry over the death of virtual characters. You will fall in love with authors and poets you will never meet and characters that do not even exist. A year after, you will be addicted to the feeling you get when you buy a new book or hear about a novel you have never heard about before. At first you will hate metaphysical poems and you will think they are deep and complicated that you cannot get them, and then they will be your favourite poems. You will envy all those who have not read the books you read because they still have the pleasure of experiencing those feelings for the first time. You will have a bunch of reasons why you do not trust history and million reasons for hating politics. You will laugh out of despair and disappointments and you will cry out of love and passion. Being a literature student is like living through others and losing your-own-self so that you can enjoy the journey back to your being.

Being a literature student is destructive. It enables you to read between the lines, to see things differently and to see God in people. It makes you love passionately all what can destroy you. You will tolerate pain and at times you might feel an urge to redeem your soul through suffer. You will learn to perceive songs differently and to understand your parents more. You will pass a lot of phases; from hating an author’s guts to seeing your life’s track similar to a one you once read about. You will see others suffering from things you thought you were the only one suffering from. You will wish you could tattoo all your favourite quotes on your body so that you can never forget them. You will be able to see through people and you will enjoy reading their eyes and lies. Being a literature student is no fun, it is not “cool”, it is no joke and it is not some-kind of a bonus. Being a literature student is devastating and consuming on so many levels. You might end up reading out loud a stupid, deep poem in an empty street, or falling in love with a villain, or even worse; observing your-own-self and life as you are some-kind of a freaking protagonist.

Being a literature student is a disaster. Making peace with sadness and depression is just the start. You will love black and other dark colours. You will tolerate funerals and drama queens. You will be consumed entirely in whatever you do, because literature teaches its students to give their all and to fall in love with their lives’ details and to give excuses for those who fail to defend themselves. It teaches them never to underestimate the quiet and to always look for the hidden passions. Loving literature is something and being a student of literature is something else; it is like the difference between watching a movie and making one. The comparison is unfair and invalid. Do yourself a favour and let literature consume you. It will hurt, it will hurt like a living hell but at a point, I promise, you would not mind the pain. It will change your life on various levels. Read a piece and find someone different from you and your ideologies and discuss it over. At first you will suffer holding yourself from killing them, or shooting their brains out, but at the end of it you will find yourself rereading the lines and wondering how on earth you two could be so different yet so possible and true because the beauty of art, my dear, lies in its diversity. Everyone can see the beauty of it but the ways they see it are quite different

Being a literature student is beautiful. You learn to cherish the soul and respect the body. You see feelings in colours and see colours in people. You will understand people with different sexual orientations; you will not hate them for it. You will hate the society and you will seek for Utopia but you know it is unattainable and that will make things easier. The thing about literature is that it makes you seek for perfection and realize that it is not so fascinating at the same time. Perfection is good but it is not a human nature; love cannot be so perfect because it is consuming and most times it hurts like a living hell. Our desires are not perfect as revenge and hatred are desires that do not really fall for a utopian perfection. You will use books as escapism to all the misfortune you meet in life. You will know you need no one to feel complete but at the same time to you will feel so hallow from the inside and you will seek for a companion to share your passion for poetry with. You will use verses of John Donne to describe your lover. You will regret not knowing to draw beauty the way you see it. Literature students are by definition realists and depressed. Criticism will help you take a step back and watch the story goes on.

 At first, you will hate it then you will get the point of it. Things like messy punctuation and missing apostrophes will piss you off more than someone’s stepping on your foot. You will learn that truth is never really true and that there is always a missing story never told. You will understand the idea of perspectives and how different things can be if you looked at them from a different angle. You will love dearly and hate with passion. Literature professors are also quite different; they seem so deep and experienced and some of them are really honest. You will love winter for its power to wash away all the heartbreak that the summer caused. You will find darkness more relaxing and comforting than spotlights. You will argue with your friends on the quality and beauty of movies and you will fight over the shades of colours. You will arrange hundreds of book clubs that never actually work. You will know when someone is sincere and when they are just attention-whoring. Literature is the greatest thing mankind ever achieved. Unlike science, technology, and religion literature never led to war or devastation, on the contrary, literature is always man’s way out of all his mischief and the depression he puts himself in. literature should have its own festival some time in winter, people.

According to me, the life of an English literature student is very different from others as not only it is about their studies but a very different and marvellous approach can be seen in their representation of the personality. They have a different mindset and also differ in their pronunciation. They start thinking literary like they are in a different world. Even a time their way of talking or style of writing changes or differ to others. A literary student always and better understand the wide view of poets and their poetry that others can never think off. We as a normal human just stick to as what is worthwhile and we read literature as a subject or as our entertainment purpose very often. But a student of literature must be knowing or understanding the means of it or why do those great poets wrote such poetries or what is the need of it in today's world. May be I also don't know because I am also a student of professional degree but yes I do love literature so I thought of putting my views.