Who absolutely HATES English Literature?

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I do, because a) it is a very abstract and woolly subject; b) it is an extremely difficult subject; c) my teacher insists that I keep reading the books over and over again to get the best grade; and d) it doesn't interest me at all. What's worse is that our school makes all of us do it at GCSE (which is ridiculous - English Literature is not compulsory in most schools), and that my teacher can be a complete and utter gobshite at times (pardon for the language, but I'm just giving an accurate description). It's also not going to help me later in life, and it's completely disadvantaged that someone with Asperger's (me) has to do it.

I have to read two books:

John Steinbeck's "Of mice and men"
and
AQA Anthology (a textbook consisting of poetry, from poets such as Carol Ann Duffy and Simon Armitage).
I HAVE to keep reading both of them, which really annoys me.

I'm really looking forward to September when I start my A-Levels in Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Geography. As a matter of fact, if my English teacher ever asks me, "What are you going to do with your books?" I would say, "I've decided to use them in a scientific experiment, with a Bunsen burner, some dilute sulphuric acid, and a shredder."

Who absolutely despises English? I can't wait to finally drop it!

Lets see if you can trick your teacher into dropping a piece of potassium into that acid of yours.

I always hated English Literature for the exact same reason... of being such an abstract subject. I did well in Science and Math courses...where you have to find a clear cut solution. Besides, with mathematics, it actually teaches you "how to think." There
is always more than one way to obtain a solution.

That sounds like light reading material, Of mice and men, is more of a short story, just be glad your not reading Shakespeare. English Literature should include Shakespeare, maybe some Edgar Allan Poe, Ernest Hemingway or Jack Kerouak on the Road,
you are just going to have to learn to like it, I would tell the teacher to chuck the AQA Anthology, it looks like you would learn to hate poetry reading that, thats why I recommended On the Road its a great book

I've never been really fond of English class...when I was in grade school (before high school), we had to do this horrible program called Accelerated Reader, where we had to read additional books in addition to what we already had to read in class, had to gain a certain number of "points" from reading books, and so forth...

And was there really any point to closed-book tests on works of fiction? But yeah, that certainly won't help you later in life...

I hated English because none of it made sense, especially all the poems that I thought were about one thing but turned out to be about many completely unrelated things. It didn't help that my teacher just handed out stacks of notes and told us to read the novel and AQA Anthology over and over again. I ended up scraping a C and D at English Literature and English Language GCSE, respectively and I despised it so much I chose not to re-take it in sixth form to get my grades up.

I did actually think of saying that as well! Perhaps it should be changed to rubidium! Muahahahahaha!

But just because I hate English Literature, it doesn't mean that I'm not succeeding in it. I am confident for an A grade in both GCSE English and English Literature, although my teacher is constantly pushing me to get an A*.

sounds like me
so why do they talk a language and try to make it anything more than it is
if you can get your point across, i don't care how it's spelled or what punctuation you use
it's just communicating. it's a faster form of hieroglyphics really. the letters are symbols instead of pictures
"notice the expression of setting the scene for a delightful......"
no
the guy is talking about picking a flower, big deal
haha, stuff like that

If you are asked a question, along the lines of, "Why did the writer choose to use this metaphorical statement?" there is always a single logical answer to this.

The answer would be:

Because the writer felt it was appropriate.

End of story.

English is an absolutely gorgeous, engrossing, and sublime subject!*


*Just not as it is currently delivered in both the public and post secondary school system.


Try to read books outside of a classroom context. I can guarantee you will enjoy the experience. If you want some additional insight on a particular book, read the introduction and end notes.

I thought Of Mice and Men was actually a GREAT book, the movie was good too. I just didn't like that really stupid old literature crap, like this one stupid thing we had to read, "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." I didn't even bother finishing that... pure torture.

What really bugs me is that our school makes English Literature compulsory. English Literature is a specialist subject, which not everybody likes. It is the sort of subject that people take if they want to further their understanding and knowledge. If it is made compulsory at our school, why don't they make Geography, History or French compulsory?

I also think that those who teach English Literature are full of <insert nasty word here, beginning with 'sh'>. Especially my teacher, who talks a lot of crap. She says that it's human nature to generalise; revision guides are for people who can't pass the exams (although she gave them to the class - ); we need to keep reading over the poems and books to perform better in the exam and people aren't designed to be solitary. Utter crap! That's why my father and I despise her - she's so illogical and tries to be dramatic all the time.

Here is one example from a booster lesson I had with her. She asked me, "Did you re-read the book like I asked you to last time?".
I said, "Well, I've cut out quotes from it and stuck them on my wall."
She replied, "That's not answering my question."
She also told me that I constrain myself too much in the essays by planning in this way:

P1 - Theme
P2 - Subject Matter
P3 - Literary Devices
and so on.

It's only logical though! My b***h of a teacher is so illogical and thinks in about as much depth as a baking tray.

Oh well, only 2 months of it left...

omg guys english literature is my FAVOURITE subject. i love it. i love books and i love writing and i liked of mice and men!
ive going on to study english literature for a-level at college, along with history, sociology, psycology and im going to study eng literature at uni.

xx

I'm doing the complete opposite! I can't imagine how difficult Sociology would be!

yes well i hate maths cant do it to save my life. i hate psycis and chemistry too i cant even work out the difference bettween them god dammit. well i guess psycis is just a harder version of chemistry. and i hated geography i gave that up in year 9,, i hated all that map reading and stuff!! !

soo yeah complete opposite!! !


xx

It's my favourite subject Creative Writing first, then getting to read is second Then art, then math