Everything an English Major has to Read 📚
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- Опубліковано 1 чер 2024
- Books, books, and even more books! This video is all about what an English major has to read. As an undergraduate student who studies literature, my reading list is usually quite long. I had a nice time sharing what some of the books for my degree have been. I would be happy to know which ones you've read too!
From Chaucer to Hemmingway and everything in between, this video is here if you're curious about what English majors have to read. I hope that you enjoy it! :)
Prefer to read? You can find this list of books and more on my website, Wander and Words. Here is the link to it: wanderandwords.com/books-engl...
★Chapters
0:00 - 0:38 Intro
0:39 - 4:37 Victorian Literature Class
4:38 - 7:12 Shakespeare Class
7:13 - 10:31 Life Writing Class
10:32 - 12:55 Storytelling Class
12:56 - 15:24 European Literature Class
15:25 - 17:16 Canadian Drama Class
17:17 - 18:42 Poetry Class
18:43 -19:06 Literature and Composition Class
19:07 - 19:52 Canterbury Tales Class (my fav class ever!!)
19:53 - 20:31 Seventeenth-Century Verse and Prose (my least fav class ever....)
20:32 - 20:47 Old English Class
20:48 - 21:26 Fiction Literature Class
21:27 - 21:50 Outro
★Feel free to follow Wander and Words on Instagram:
/ _wanderandwords_
★Great music made by Alan to add to your study/relaxation playlists. You can find it here:
open.spotify.com/artist/3tM7I...
★Feel free to check out MexCan, a podcast about travel, culture, and language learning.
We would appreciate the support! :)
You can find it here:
anchor.fm/alan-jamen
i find it so cool to see how english majors’ reading lists differ in every country! i am a second year english major from spain and it is so crazy to see how your reading list looks almost completely nothing like mine - for example, the only shakespeare we have read so far is a midsummer night’s dream but then on our third year we have a module completely focused on him :) you would think we would read the same things but i do find it cool (reading the comments aswell) that we all do different things!
Thanks for your comment! It's great seeing the comments from other English majors around the world. It really is such a diverse degree, and I would be so interested in seeing what an English major from Spain has to read.
I took a literature course last year that was entirely in Spanish, and it was so cool! A lot of the stories were mythical, and it was definitely a worthwhile challenge for me.
How was Shakespeare for you? I find some of his plays a lot easier to understand than others. 🙂
omg yes, i am in my third year of EL in Mexico and it is really different
Same in Romania. I was surprised to see that her list did not contain Moby Dick, Dracula, Pride and prejudice or The scarlet letter and more.
I’m no English Major but I took English in my Business Administration class (in Germany)
We read
Shakespeare - Macbeth
Charles Dickens - Oliver Twist
Mark Twain - A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
George Orwell - 1984
Aldous Huxley - Brave New World
George Bernard Shaw - Pygmalion / Arms and the Man
Joseph Heller - Catch 22
Edward Albee - Zoo Story
Samuel Beckett - Krapp’s Last Tape
So quite modern
@@danyella2957 I studied lit in the US, and I had to read Moby Dick, Dracula, and ended up spending a lot of time on Frankenstein. I also spent a lot of time in science fiction, especially Philip K Dick and Harlan Ellison. A healthy does of William Blake was had as well. My YA lit class focused on Robert Cormier and Paul Zindel (Harry Potter didn't even make an appearance). I also had a Shakespeare class that went a whole school year. As a whole, it was an amazing experience.
I'm no English major, but many of these books sound very interesting, and I want to read them!
Thanks, sis! Your summer reading list is growing. 📚
I'm also an English major (from Germany though) and I love these kinds of videos! I actually had to read 'Much Ado About Nothng' for a class I'm taking and I was really surprised to see how much I enjoyed it and how progressive Beatrice's character is *claps for Shakespeare*
Hi, Sarah! Thank you so much for your comment. It's great to meet other English majors, and I would love to learn German one day.
Agreed! Beatrice is so fun! I think that a lot of people assume that Shakespeare is boring (and it totally can be sometimes), but he does have some interesting characters like Beatrice. She is certainly the most memorable part of that play!
What has been your favourite book that you've read for your degree so far? ☺️
@@wanderandwords My favourite so far would probably be "A Raisin in the Sun", I found it very fun to read but also a very versatile text to work with :)
Freshly graduated English major from Australia over my three years: I took a class based on the romance genre (think classics and medieval romance), gothic literature, creative writing (short stories), literary theory, a class entirely on King Arthur, medieval dreams and visions, 18th century literature, and Shakespeare
First of all, congrats!! It's wonderful that you were able to finish your degree, and you should be very proud of yourself. 😀
The classes you took sound really interesting! Thank you for sharing because I think it's helpful for others to see what English majors from around the world study. 🌎 It actually sounds like we've taken quite a few of the same classes except for King Arthur. Which one was your favourite?
@@wanderandwords Thank you! I really loved my 18th C. literature. The full unit title was "18th Century Scandal and Sociability" so it was a unit entirely contributed to novels about scandalous things. Some of the stand out texts for me was Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe and Pamela by Samuel Richardson. I also really loved my Shakespeare class. I think the only play we both would have studied was As You Like It.
Best of luck with your future studies!
It's super interesting to see how universities differ. I also study English, but I'm studying it in Slovenia and our reading lists are c o m p l e t e ly different. To be honest, I'd pay to be in your Victorian novel class and not in mine where I had to read Bleak House among other books.
Thank you for your comment! I agree, it really is interesting, and I really love getting to meet other English majors.
In Slovenia, do you get to pick some of the English classes that you take? I must say, the Victorian novel class I took last year was nice, despite the extremely long essays. It actually wasn't part of my degree requirements since I was given a few choices. I'm glad that I decided to pick it though!
Besides Bleak House, what are some other novels that you've had to read so far?
Damn we got that in Slovenia? Zgrešila sm faks
In my last semester for my Creative Writing major; going to be finishing up my Editing and Publishing certificate next semester. Here's what I've taken/what I've had to read-
- World Literature (assorted plays, essays, stories, and poems from various authors around the world; I don't remember all of them but I do remember we read Cesaire, Akhmatova, Kafka, Woolf, Baldwin, Conrad, Brecht, Beckett, Eliot, Soyinka, Devi, Achebe, El-Sawaadi, Munro, and Rushdie)
- Arthurian Literature (Assorted Arthurian legends and adaptations; we read Du Troyes, Mallory, Mark Twain's "Connecticut Yankee," Toole's "Confederacy of Dunces," Gottfried's "Tristan," and the Roman du Silence)
- Contemporary Latin American Women's Literature (assorted poets, playwrights, and authors; books we read were Julia Alvarez' "Afterlife," Jaquira Diaz' "Ordinary Girls," and Ada Limon's "The Carrying," Jennine Capo Crucet's "My Time Among the Whites")
- 19th Century British Literature (Assorted poets, like Wordsworth, Keats, Coleridge, Rossetti, Browning; we also read E. Bronte's "Wuthering Heights" and Hardy's "Jude the Obscure")
- Medieval-Renaissance European Literature (assorted poets, playwrights, and authors, including Beowulf, Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", Marlowe's "Dr. Faustus", some John Donne and Plutarch)
- Literary Criticism (C. Bronte's "Jane Eyre;" most of the class was discussion on different forms of criticism though)
- Celtic Literature (the Mabinogion, Ulster Cycle, Book of Invasions, some Irish saints' lives)
Wish I could take more, to be honest. I don't have any more time for more literature classes, but I'd love to look more at world literature (particularly Asian literature; we only really touched on it in World literature, which focused mainly on Europe, America, and Africa) and some ancient stuff as well; most of what we focused on was the Middle Ages onward. Also Russian literature; there weren't any classes on it available, but I've read some on my own time, and as a writer, I wish we'd had more than just Akhmatova's "Requiem" cycle assigned to us (although it is very good!); there's so much to learn from Russian authors.
Wow! Thank you so much for sharing. I love seeing what other people get to study. I also think it's super helpful for anybody who is interested in taking some English classes. It can give them a better idea of what to expect.
All of your classes sound interesting! I am particularly intrigued by your Latin American Women's Literature class because I am getting a minor in Spanish, and I noticed that most of the stories we've looked at have been from men. Come to think of it, I'm not even sure if we've looked at any pieces from women. What a shame! I will have to check out the authors that you mentioned.
I definitely agree with your points. We truly do have so much to learn from authors, not just ones who write in English.
By the way, your degree sounds amazing. As much as I enjoy being an English major, I would have liked to become a creative writing major too if my university had that option. Congrats on being in your final year! That's so exciting. :)
Do you have any tips for someone who would like to get into the world of editing and publishing? Thanks. 🙂
I'm studying English Literature in Turkey, and in my university, we have a very strict chronological system, where we have to take classes for every single period of English literature next to more eclectic classes like fantasy literature, immigrant literature or creative writing. Because of that sometimes I have to take up to 7 -8 classes a term, so seeing the number of your classes made me a little envious. But I also see that the things we read in our classes are nearly identical, other than our curriculum having way too many Charles Dickens novels, it's very interesting to see how similar our reading are.
Wow! I think you’re the first person to say that your reading list is similar. It’s quite interesting seeing how your classes work in Turkey. I like how structured it is, but 7 classes really does sound like a lot! The maximum amount that we can take in Canada is 5 per term, and even then I sometimes feel like that’s too many. Thanks for sharing! :)
not an english major, dont enjoy reading, and i have no clue how this was on my recommended but for some reason i enjoyed this so much
Wow! Thank you so much for your comment. I'm glad that you enjoyed the video despite it not being what you typically watch. 📚😄
I'm an English major and I can relate. We have to read at least 3 books per week
I'm about to graduate English language and lit in North Macedonia and my reading list was also completely different!
The only ones that match are Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Midsummer night's dream, The passionate shepherd to his love, the most notable Shakespeare sonnets ofc, Canterbury tales, The Flea (which is one of my personal favs!) and Frankenstein.
It's so interesting to see how different universities rank the importance of these classics. To be frank, I hadn't even heard of some of yours before this video! Our uni mostly focuses on poems and plays, although we do get the occasional novel.
Thank you for making this video! I now have some additional reading to do after I graduate 😂
your videos are so well edited and calming ! thank you for the recommendations
Thank you very much for your kind comment. I really appreciate it! ☺️
I do love editing, so I'm glad that you like it! As for the books, I hope that you enjoy them. Sometimes the books that professors assign to read for English classes are a little dull, but books like Dr. Jekyll and Canterbury Tales were surprisingly quite enjoyable. 📚
Listening to you, it turns out I'm most familiar with European Literature. Btw, you have a lovely smile.
Thank you very much for your kind words! ☺️ Yeah, I think European literature is more often than not the focus for a lot of English classes. I do enjoy it though!
Have a great day. 📚
fantastic video! i love how thorough you are, and I appreciate your excitement in explaining how you felt about each piece
Thank you so much! You are so kind, and I really appreciate your nice comment. ☺️
Have to admit was surprised by the amount of books that dealt with romance . Overall that sounds like a good collection of books
Haha me too! I read so many romance novels, especially in my Victorian lit class. Thanks so much for the comment, Holly! 💕
As someone who did not finish college, I love seeing the videos detailing what you all read and learn.
Its a helpful resource for us self learners out there.
Thank you. :)
Hi, Jessica! Thank you so much for your kind comment. I’m glad that I was able to help you a little. ☺️
I’ve always loved reading, but university can sometimes suck the fun out of it, so I think self-studying is the perfect way to learn!!
I’m a first year English creative writing major and I’m so excited! Love the video!
Yay! Thank you so much for your kind comment. ☺️
I would have loved to study creative writing like you! What has been your favourite part so far? My university doesn’t offer that degree, so English was my next choice.
I’ve taken a few creative writing classes, and they’ve been amazing. Do you know of any online writing groups that are accepting people? I’ve been on the hunt to find a writing group for workshopping and sharing feedback. Thanks!
@@wanderandwords My favorite part so far has definitely been being able to share my work with others and finding friends who have the same interest in writing as me. My favorite classes I’ve taken so far have been speculative fiction and British Literature medieval to 1800!
I do not know of any online groups unfortunately, but that sounds like something I would be interested in as well! Workshopping is my favorite!
All the books you talk about in this vid sound so interesting! I’d love to know how you annotate your books! A lot of people already did a vid like this, but I’d really love to know how an English Major annotates a book 😊
Thank you so much for your comment. ☺️ I really appreciate your kind words and the video idea. I would love to make a video about how I annotate. I’ll definitely try to make one within the next few weeks once finals are over. 📚
You have such an amazing aura and I fell in love with your account 🥰🥰❤️❤️
Wow, wow, wow! ☺️ Thank you so much for your kind words. You are so sweet, and I love your channel name. As a coffee lover, I can say that there is nothing better than books and coffee. ☕️ 📚
In my university we have 3 european literature classes divided on the bases of time period from 14-19th century and a class for classical literature, American literature, popular literature and Indian writing in English other than that there are some optional classes like rhetoric or gender.
I'm also an English major but our semesters are divided by genre (poetry, theater, essay and narrative) and centuries. I read some of Shakespeare, Donne and Milton. Also Chaucer, Pope, Keats, Shelley. But then we switch into elective classes and I took a lot of American poetry and African literature.
Wow! Your university seems to have a very good system for structuring classes. I just take whatever classes are being offered each semester, so it’s quite random. Also, thank you for sharing. I loved Chaucer and Shelley but couldn’t stand Donne. That class was dreadful for me. 😆 Did you enjoy his works?
I would love to read African literature! Do you have any recommendations?
I’m definitely lacking in that area because it seems like all of my classes mostly focus on European literature.
Thanks for your comment! 😊
Hey I am studying Bachelor of Arts with Major in English, rn I am in my final year of this course...and this video is awesome!!! CHEERS!!!💙✌
Hey! Thank you so much for your kind comment. I am so glad that you enjoyed the video. It's always nice to chat with other English majors, and congrats on almost completing your degree. :)
What has been your favourite part about getting a degree in English?
north and south is literally my favorite book ever
Right!? It’s so good!!
I remember thinking that it was going to be a long, dull book when I started reading, but it turned out to be one of my favourites too. 📚
Thanks for the comment!
I've just finished my final modules for an English and History double major in South Africa (I am South African btw). We had a few African authors in our modules so even when we did American or British novels and plays we also had authors like Bessie Head, Lauren Beukes, K Sello Duiker, Ben Okri, Fred Khumalo, Athol Fugard, etc. Studying here and having African works of literature amongst western works is interesting because in high school generally speaking most people read the same euro/americentric books like Animal Farm, The Great Gatsby, To Kill A Mockingbird and whatnot. I would honestly recommend checking out some African works to broaden your view of English and the world. African literature is really slept on and as a continent we have such a diverse selection of genres and themes. I love it so.
Reading through the comments I can see that pretty much everyone has had to do a bunch of Shakespeare (myself included) and personally I really don't like that. I understand that his works were influential but so were many others' and they're not necessarily universally studied.
Also, shout out to my sister. She is a few years older and did her masters thesis on African science fiction with a focus on socio-economic inequality represented within South African science fiction. She used Chappie (the movie starring Die Antwoord), Zoo City by Lauren Beukes, and Dub Steps by Andrew Miller as the three works of focus but also referenced a bunch of other works. She's also presented a paper in Sweden focused on the depiction of xenophobia and its relation to economic inequality in the South African movie District 9 (starring Charlto Copley and directed by Neil Blomkamp). She was offered to do her PhD in Sweden based on the fact that she was working in relatively unexplored territories and exploring contemporary issues within Africa through the lens of African works.
I'm super interested in reading some of what you've said here. I have family in Canada and my aunt works for the Canadian health system and works a lot with First Nations people. I'm super keen to get her to send me some of those works. I really enjoy being exposed to understudied English literature.
Sorry for the essay 😅
I absolutely loved this awesome video thank you very much for your recommendation ♥️♥️ But actually sometimes I face difficulty reading novels and literature books because English Language is not my native language. So may you film a video talking about how none-English speakers read literature books efficiently ? All my love from Saudi Arabia🇸🇦 ♥️♥️.
Thank you for watching! ☺️
Your comment is so, so sweet. It makes me happy that you enjoyed the video, and I will definitely try to make another like you suggested.
I sometimes struggle with certain texts, so I’m always amazed by other people reading the same things even when it’s not their first language. You are doing a great job!
This is interesting as I’m an English undergrad in England to see the differences
I agree! It really is interesting seeing what different universities prioritize when it comes to reading. I would like to see what English majors from England need to read. ☺️
She seems like a sweetheart. I like her.
Thank you! ☺️
not me watching this as if i didn’t only read like 4 of the 14 works we covered for my literature class last semester. still passed though
Haha 😆 Thanks for watching, and congrats on passing! That’s the main thing. 😎
Your comment made me laugh because I can totally relate. I love to read and all, but this current semester has been difficult for my motivation.
I am thinking about studying English as a major, because I thought it is not hard .now I hesitate a little bit since I am a mom and I want to study simple thing would you please tell me your suggestions? Thank you so much.
Looove the thumbnail!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. 😊
Im a first year English major and my favourite books of the year are Julius Ceasar(Drama) and Coconut(Narrative fiction)
Congrats on deciding to study English! I hope that you enjoy it. ☺️ I haven’t had the chance to read those stories yet, but I will definitely put them on my TBR. Thanks for sharing!
Hi there! I now have a website called Wander and Words. I recently published a list containing all of the books and poems I had to read for my degree in English. You can find it here:
wanderandwords.com/books-english-majors-read/
Heavy reading. It would be cool to have a sit down discussion with one of your professors about any of those books. Then pull something out of left field by asking for their assessment of William Burroughs Naked Lunch or something.
Hello! Yeah, it does require quite a bit of reading. 📚
Well, I haven't read anything by that author before, but it certainly does sound like an interesting idea! 😜
Thanks for watching.
i believe don quixote is originally portuguese
Hi, Wander and Words! I love your video! I'm curious as to what the colorful tabs are on your books? Like for each colorful tab, what does it signify?
Thanks! I've been much curious about it for quite a while now since I saw a lot of English and Literature majors use those colorful tabs ☺️
Those colorful tabs might be Reader’s favorite words/ sentence or favorite scenes. Just use for marking the pages we love like we use highlighters. For example, blue tabs are favorite sentences from the hero , yellows ones are favorite quotes like this. You can buy them every stationary shops .
@@ijean.s thank you!!
Hi! Thank you so much for your kind comment, and I'm really glad that you enjoyed the video. 😀
As for the colourful tabs, I used to use them to mark certain quotes (ones that may be good for an essay) and descriptions (ones that would back up my points). I would even occasionally use the tabs to separate the chapters so that I could easily flip through the book on a test.
I don't do that much anymore because it took me such a loooong time. I would have to pause every few minutes to grab a pen and the sticky tabs. It really stopped me from enjoying the book. However, it was really nice for when I had tests and essays. Since then, I still write in books, but I only use one pen and no sticky notes.
Hope this helps! 📚💕
Hi!! Thank you for the clarification! ❤️ Keep up the great videos!
Thank you
Thank you for watching! ☺️
I'm an English major and I'll start to looking for these books
That's great! I hope that you enjoy your studies. It can definitely be boring at times, but it's worth it. 😀
Is your list available in a PDF or doc form?
How did you read the Shakespeare plays? Written in old English? Or one translated to modern English?
Good question! We read the plays in their original form without any translations.
Hey! English teacher here. Shakespeare is actually modern English. Old English, think Beowulf.
@@ct3658 I get it. Thank you
@@ct3658 just to clarify. What i meant by “old English” is that some words aren’t used today. Such as thou, and other words Shakespeare uses which can be difficult to read and understand today.
I will definitely be reading some of these! What’s your approach to analyzing fictional novels? Like, what type of things do you write down when you annotate?
By the way, I really recommend you check out Saramago or Camilo Castelo Branco. They’re two fantastic portuguese authors!
Hi, Mónica! Thank you very much for your kind comment and suggestions. I'm always on the hunt for new things to read, so I will definitely check them out. I'm not too familiar with Portuguese authors, so I think it will be a nice place to start. 😄📚
Ohh, great question. It's kind of funny because when I first started uni, I would go a little crazy and annotate everything. I also used so many tabs and sticky notes. That's why my copy of Dante's Inferno looks so colourful haha
When I got into my third year and I read books like North and South, I would highlight the words in different colours every time I saw an important person, place, or theme. After each chapter, I would write a summary and jot down the page numbers with potential quotes. This took me way too long, and I fell behind. It was helpful when I had to write an essay though.
Nowadays, my method to analyze novels is quite simple. I like to take a bold, black pen and write a few words as I go. For example, I am currently reading The Lathe of Heaven for one of my classes, and I knew that I wanted to write my essay about the way religion is used to explain how a dystopian society can be prevented. I have been drawing little stars next to good quotes that support my idea, and I also write down a few things like "religion" or "frustration" every time something important occurs. This new method saves me soooo much time because I'm not trying to switch highlighters every two seconds.
I hope this helps! 😁
I wish I majored in English haha instead I’m gonna add these to my tbr
Thank you so much for watching! ☺️
And here I am, doing masters in Lit but all of them are contemporary classics ....
Ohh, that sounds interesting! Contemporary classics are usually quite nice.
Congrats on doing a master's in Lit! That's amazing! 🤩
What book (or should I say books since you probably have multiple on the go) are you currently reading for class?
@@wanderandwords Mostly, we can choose any, but we did Fahrenheit 452, Handmaid's Tale and The English Patient for novels. For poems we did Coleridge and Wordsworth. And more.
I do recommend Lyrical Ballad and The Rime of Ancient Mariner for poems. You can find the ebook on kindle or anywhere, and I do suggest on feel the poem first before purchasing the physical book, as it is so scholarly not anyone will enjoy it. But I do, so thank me later when you do.
How to learn English well can you do video plz😊🙏
Sure! I will try to make a video with tips for how to improve your level of English in the near future! Thanks for the suggestion. :)
Did u spoil Far From Madding Crowd? Who’s Gabe 😭
Don’t worry, Gabe falls in love with the main character within the first three pages of the book. 😌 There are a bunch of love triangles in this book and soooo many proposals.
@@wanderandwords ooh! Okay thank you!
Can you link us the list?
Hi Leena! Thanks for your comment. Here's a link the list on my website, Wander and Words. 😄
wanderandwords.com/books-english-majors-read/
Wow I how smart and how pretty you are
Hehe thank you! I loveeeee you! 💕
🖤🖤
Thanks for your support! 💙💙💙
English language and composition: 🤢🤮😡
English literature: 🤩💕🥰✨🌈
Hahaha yes, books for the win!
I can't be the only one wondering what the hell a kobo is, can I?
Haha, it’s an e-reader like a Kindle. I don’t think they are being made anymore, but I got it for Christmas when I was around 13 and I’ve had it ever since.
Unpopular literary opinion : north and south is better than pride and prejudice 😂
Hahaha I completely agree! I like pride and prejudice but north and south is just so good!!
It would be great to introduce yourself
Good idea! I’ll try to make a video where I introduce myself a bit more soon.