Elizabethtown College English Department

Beowulf, Dragons, and French culture. These are just a few of the things English major Megan Tindell will be taking with her after graduation.

From examining the heroism in Beowulf to collecting cultural data on dragon stories from around the world, with a bit of translating French children’s books in between, it is no wonder Tindell is so appreciative of the English literature concentration offered to her at Elizabethtown College.

“Each project has required a different skill set, and has been highly rewarding in its own right,” Tindell said. “The single most important lesson I’ve gained from my research has been how to do research more thoroughly and efficiently.”

Three Concentrations Provide Many Career Options for English Majors

At Elizabethtown College, faculty work closely with students to create a curriculum that allows students to pursue their career goals. To do so, the College offers three distinct paths for English majors to choose from: secondary education, professional writing, and literature. All three paths, or concentrations, are equally valued options within the English major.

For Tindell, the decision wasn’t very difficult. “I didn’t really make a studied decision to be a lit concentration over the other concentrations,” Tindell said. “I didn’t want to go into education, nor did professional writing sound all that appealing to me. So I stayed with lit.”

However, she does see the advantages of being in a literature concentration.

“Literature is universal,” Tindell said. “While the technology learned in professional writing courses will be replaced with newer systems in a few years, great literature is ageless in that it can be read and understood by anyone in any time period.”

The literature concentration prides itself in being flexible with its students, allowing them to elect courses that interest them.

“I think the literature concentration allows for flexibility,” Tindell said. “Even though my options were limited due to my double major and year abroad, I very rarely had to take an English course that did not interest me at some level.”

As a concentration separate from professional writing, the literature track attempts to give students a unique college experience and skill set.  Students have many courses to choose from to meet the concentration’s requirements.

“I wouldn’t say that there is an advantage to choosing one concentration over the other,” Tindell said. “The literature concentration focuses more on analyzing literature and gaining a broader expertise on literature, whereas (in my experience) the professional writing concentration prioritizes teaching career skills.”

A Love of Literature Can Open Many Doors

Tindell feels that great literature can teach us about ourselves and those around us, an essential skill for English majors in the literature concentration to develop. It ultimately allows a student to keep their future career options open.

“Being well-read is usually a good quality, no matter where you are,” Tindell said.

During her time at Elizabethtown College, Tindell has been able to elect a variety of English courses and reflect on those she feels she has learned from the most. Dr. Louis Martin, professor of English at Elizabethtown College, appears to have taught her most memorable classes.

“I took Pre-Brit Lit with Dr. Martin as well as The English Language. They were both really, really hard, but I learned a lot,” Tindell said.

Tindell has recently been accepted to the University of Rochester’s Masters Program in English. She will be attending Rochester following graudation and intends to go for her PhD in English. Her career goal is to become a professor of English.

For more information on the literature concentration, contact Dr. Kimberly Adams, head of the English literature concentration at adamsk@etown.edu.

Author Bio:

Kayleigh Kuykendall is a Senior English major who has had her work published in multiple publications including the Elizabethtown College literary magazine, Fine Print, and has worked as both the Campus Life Editor and Assistant Editor for the Etownian.

 

 

Tags: career, concentrations, literature