It Matters

Dear Whoever You Might Be,


      "Everyone who has seriously studied literature knows that the mental process involved is as          coherent and progressive as the study of science. A precisely similar training of the mind takes place, and a similar sense of the unity of the subject is built up"    --- Northrop Frye


      Sometimes I wonder if what I am currently doing with my life has any significance at all. I graduated college with a degree in English, and I am currently working on my Master's degree in English Literature. Ask anyone what this means, and they will say "oh, she's going to be a teacher." There exists an automatic assumption that the study of literature can only lead to the teaching of literature. Once a bookish person, always a bookish person.
      So many people, *SO MANY PEOPLE,* look down upon literary studies as an illegitimate field of study. People who save lives for a living, people who protect our country from terrorism, people who work and work and work in business and spend their whole lives in the consumption and spending of money. There is nothing remotely wrong with these people, and yet so often, they think there is something wrong with us "lit-nerds."
      I admit, sometimes I feel guilty about how I spend my days. I read most of the day. Books, research articles, papers. I read, and a lot of times, I do so from my bed. Or couch. Or poolside. In my pajamas. While the TV is on in the background. Etc. Etc. Etc. I can take my work with me to the beach or park. Plane, train, automobile. I am not restrained by a 9-5 cubicle job. I do not answer to a CEO, or leave messages with a secretary. I do not wear a uniform. I do not save lives.
      But this does not mean that what I do doesn't matter, or that it isn't justified, or fair....
      For as long as I can remember, I have been told that the brain is split between math/science and art/creativity. That my brain, that all brains, are programmed for emphasis on one or the other. I have always immediately turned towards the art side. It made the most sense. I read books. I like museums. I am a romantic. But being in graduate school has taught me that I am more than a book-nerd. The art of studying literature is not even an art... it is a science.
      I have to think critically. Make observations. Make hypothesis. Make a claim and defend my argument. I have to look for evidence, both obvious and subtle. I have to trace patterns and trajectory of thought. And then, after doing all this, I have to pull a 30+ page research paper out of my ass and explain all of this. People think these skills belong in a laboratory. In an office. In a courtroom. In an ER. What they forget is that being able to think, being able to observe, and reflect are skills that belong everywhere and belong to everyone. What I do matters because I can use these skills that I have been trained for in my every day life. I can look at the world around me and process. I can absorb and reflect. I am using my brain. I am exercising that muscle. I am making a difference.
     At the end of the day, there is a good chance I will be a teacher. Why? Because I make a damn good teacher. But that is not the only thing that reading books has made me damn good at. And I rue the day of the next person who scoffs and thinks that all I am capable of is sticking my nose in a book and never knowing when to pull it out.


                                                               Sincerely,
                                                                         Me