English Major Graduates Can Do More Than Being a Teacher (term report)

English Major Graduates Can Do More Than Being a Teacher

Conventionally, people always assume that the only thing the English major graduates can do is teaching, and that old school, the narrow-minded assumption still exists superiorly among communities. Graduated students, however, whose major are English, have proved that they can be more than being teachers with their capabilities such as critical thinking, academic writing, analytic prowess, and linguistic skills.

Criticizing is what the English major students do in all of their academic training time at university. Due to the nature of the field involved with language, English major students ought to deal with myriad kinds of knowledge from an astronomical amount of literary works. Literatures is a type of art which rarely has the exact and unique meaning, for that reason, the students shall be trained by their instructors or professors to understand, appreciate, and then to give their own criticisms. Through the process of criticizing, the students learn how to think and perceive the issues from different perspectives to draw out the conclusion for them. This skill, therefore, is very suitable for those who want to be the literary critic after graduation. Of course, it is not easy to become a literary critic because one must possess a great deal of knowledge of literature. In fact, the literary critics usually are the writers or poets who are masters in this field. Edgar Allan Poe (Jan 19^th, 1809 – Oct 7^th, 1849) and John Updike (Mar 18th, 1932 – Jan 27^th, 2009) 2 American famous poets and writer in 19^th and 20^th century respectively, not only prove their talents by many poetry and literary works but also leave their remarks in criticism (Wikipedia). Also, both of them graduate with an English degree and they do not become a teacher as people often assume that one can only be an educational instructor with a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in English. 

There is a saying “language is a dress of thought,”¹ emphasizing the language’s function is to arrange, to shape, to sharpen, and to express one’s thoughts; the relationship between language and thought is as the same as that between academic writing and critical thinking. Without academic writing skill, ones barely transmit their thoughts and ideas into words clearly and sophistically. Indeed, good writing shall make the papers more engaging to the readers. What’s more, possessing a good academic writing skill shall help ones strengthen their ideas, to prove ones’ points and convince their counterparts to agree to them. These two advantages mentioned above are necessary for ones who want to pursue future professionals such as journalists, screenwriters, public relation specialists, content strategists², and speechwriters. Moreover, jobs such as technical writers, attorneys, legislators, and even medical assistants need the writing skill of English’s degree holders who can write and demonstrate any ideas succinctly and coherently. Lastly, it will be inadequate, if the professional of a writer is not mentioned. To become a writer, ones must have creative writing skills. More or less, the English’s degree holders own the skills, and they might consider it as their future careers. Stephen King, the American prominent author of horror, science and fantasy fiction, whose books have been sold more than 350 million copies around the world, also graduated from the university with a degree in English (Wikipedia). Doubtlessly, he is the ideal role model for ones wishing to pursue the writing career.   

As critical thinking helps students of English Department approach the issues from a different perspective, analysis prowess supports them in segmenting and dissecting any factors of a particular issue. As a result, English’s majors who have been honed their analysis skill during the time at university, can grab the key points of any subjects quickly and then, identify the strengths or weaknesses effectively. Editor and technical editor are two professionals longing for this prowess because these jobs’ duties are finding the mistakes and fixing them rightly. Reasonably, they ought to have this skill to pick out any mistakes and errors of the matters.  Furthermore, another advantage of the analysis prowess is to evaluate or assess a subject to understand it deeply. Marketing analyzers, who deal with the variableness of market daily, need strong analysis ability to analyze and assess the raw data so that they can predict and make appropriate decisions.

If academic writing is the most practical and essential capability, linguistic skills are as important as it is. Linguistic skills provide several advantages to the English majors in finding future jobs. First, the students shall be able to communicate efficiently. For the non-English-speaking English major students such as Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Korean, and other non-speaking-English students, being able to speak English as the second language helps them greatly for future careers, and creates more job opportunities. In Taiwan, English is considered the essential skill that many universities set the teaching of English is at the top priority. According to the 2018 annual official report of Soochow University’s English Department studying the English graduates’ professional status after 3 years of graduation, the percentage of English graduates involving in the educational domain was over 12 percent, but the highest rate was the number of graduates students working in the marketing and sales area by the rate of over 24 percent. Furthermore, the report also showed the variety of professional choices of the English graduates such as business management, information technology, public services, art, and video production. As the world is under the process of globalizing, proficiency in communicating in English is an essential demand that the employers require from the job seekers. Therefore, tour guide, flight attendant and interpreter are the three most suitable jobs for the non-English-speaking English major graduates. Besides, having an excellent English communicating skill shall be an advantage for those who long to become the social workers, multinational recruiters or consider studying Law after getting a bachelor’s degree in English.

Second, those who can master the linguistic skills will master the pragmatic uses of the English language. Indeed, the pragmatic uses of English are the crucial requirements that English’s degree holder is expected to have by the recruiters. Specifically, the pragmatic uses are the knowledge of the practical uses of English such as how to speak and write in English based on different situations, how to apply the English into a real conversation and workplaces, and how to make the English more engaging. Thus, translator, interpreter, and content strategist are in need these linguistic skills. To non-native English majors, interpreting and translating are two jobs that strongly require the pragmatic uses of the English language. To native English majors who have enough knowledge of linguistics, a content strategist is a good choice of the future career. While most English’s degree holders are eager to develop their future careers in business except for the educational field, a few of them want to study more about the English language. For that purpose, becoming a linguist is a perfect choice for them. Last but not least, the linguistic skills level up English major graduates’ reading ability in term of speed, accuracy, and productivity. Whoever the English major graduate acquires this reading skill, the editor and proofreader are two most suitable professionals for them, because these jobs require ones to pick out the errors and mistakes in plenty of texts and to correct them quickly and effectively under the pressure of limitation of time.

In conclusion, English’s major graduates’ choices of future careers are various and promising. Except for being an educational instructor, English’s degree holders who equip themselves with critical thinking and analytic competence, academic writing and linguistic skills are also able to take part in other fields such as Law, Business and Finance, Art and Literature, and many different kinds of Services. Simply put, future careers and job opportunities for English major graduates are equal to other majors, but whether the English’s degree holders can successfully seize those opportunities or nor, it depends on them.

Works cited

Soochow University. scu.edu.tw/career/file/7619.  p.45. 19 July 2018.

Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Updike. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_King.

Notes 

¹By Dr. Samuel Johnson (18 Sep 1709 – 13 Dec 1784). He is an English writer, poet, essayist, literary critic, and lexicographer. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Johnson

²Content A strategist is the one who creates and develops content for a branded website. More reference mediabistro.com

The Summary and Response of "Breakdown"

“Breakdown” is a Hollywood’s thrilling, and action movie starring Kurt Russell, released in 1997. The film is about a married couple of Jeff (Kurt Russell) and his wife Amy, on the way to San Diego, California caught up in a taking hostage situation. The plot is not new to movie fans these days, but it was fresh taste back in the 90s. Their car suddenly breaks down. Amy takes a lift from a truck to get to the Belle’s Dinner to make a call, while Jeff stays trying to fix his car. Unfortunately, it turns out that the truck driver is a gang's boss and the mastermind behind the criminal group, targeting long-journey travelers on the road. They abduct Amy and extort money (90,000 USD) from Jeff. Not having enough money, Jeff is desperate to save his wife alone.

Unlike other typical Hollywood’s 90s action films in which the main characters are supposed to be strong, muscular, and cold, Kurt Russell’s role as Jeff in “breakdown” is completely different. He is just a normal guy trying to start a new life with his wife Amy in California. No fancy cars, no special skills, no guns, and hot chicks accompanying side by side, Kurt Russell’s character stumbles and struggles in desperation to get his wife back. From my perspective, the film’s direction is not bad. The director knows how to guide the storyline in his own ways, so as to create the thrilling, intense, and suspend atmosphere for the film. Moreover, the scenes in which Jeff goes to the bank to get the money, are the ones that I like the most. Thanks to the excellent acting of Kurt Russell combining with the cinematography, I can feel the tension is being escalated up on another level. Finally, the climax of the film once again is on the pinnacle with the saving Amy of Jeff and the car chase scenes at the end of the movie. If you are sick and tired of action-packed movies these days, trying to seek for some Hollywood classical action ones, “Breakdown” is worth to give it a shot.

Money Can Buy Happiness

Money Can Buy Happiness

Some thinkers believe that money does not make one happy; others consider that money can be used to purchase almost everything even happiness. While many people disagree with the former, in the current economic-driven society, money can bring happiness to people because it satisfies human beings’ needs, solves most of people’s problems, protects one’s life, and even helps one aid another with itself.

Everyone needs money to satisfy their necessity. Foods, clothing, accommodation are among human’s basic needs that people hardly afford them without money. People spend a large proportion of their money on eating and drinking, clothing, and housing. Besides material needs, men and women need money to satisfy their mental needs such as knowledge learning, recreation, and entertainment. Based on the data of the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2014, it is shown that an American spent an average of about 4 thousands US dollars for education, entertainment, and recreation (cnbc.com). From material to mental needs, money plays a significant role in helping consumers acquire them.

Money maybe is not an almighty thing, but it is an effective solution for most of humankind’s troubles and issues. Nowadays, many groups and companies use the incentive money to encourage their employees to work harder; the more employees work enthusiastically, the more profit the companies make. What’s more, money is also used to promote health care and improve living standards. 6.5 trillion USD was spent on health care worldwide according to WHO, based the 2010 data. In the last 20 years, the living conditions of people in the world have been improved positively: the extremely poor population has been reduced to a half; a half of child death under the age of five has been cut off; life expectancy has increased 5.2 years around the world estimated in 2014; more children, especially girls have had the chance to go to school (unfpa.org). Without or less money, those achievements are barely to succeed. By utilizing money reasonably, human beings may solve their problems quickly and effectively.

Having strong financial support shall guarantee ones’ life and keep them safe from external and sudden impacts. Life is unpredictable that one never knows what will happen; it is the reason why people coming up with the precautions against the worst situation which can occur anytime. In fact, the life insurance program is invented with the money that people save in case of an emergency relating to health or even life and death. According to the Swiss Re Institution’s research, people paid USD 4892 billion for the life insurance premium worldwide (swissre.com). Furthermore, possessing enough money makes ones do not worry about it. Indeed, the awareness of the money gives a person the assurance and the feeling of safety not only for himself or herself but also toward their loved ones. As a result, they shall be content and felicitous.

Giving away makes people happy. The feeling of aiding the disadvantaged ones satisfies the givers’ conscience and moral. Morally speaking, providing financial support is the obligatory act of human beings. Many philanthropists such as Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jack Ma has been donating part of their wealth to help people in need because they are aware of the responsibility of redistribution. In addition, the joy of giving away money tends to be more powerful than spending it for personal purposes. Liz Dunn, a social psychologist, and her partners had conducted a survey involved over 600 Americans and had found out that people were apt to feel happier when they gave away their money to the others than spending for themselves (psychologytoday.com). The main point here, generally speaking, is how humankind cultivates and nurtures happiness through money’s values.

In conclusion, money can create or “buy” such an abstract thing as happiness. It ensures a comfortable life for human beings, fixes problems, keeps people safe from unexpected harms, and can be used to help the ones in need. It is irreplaceable.   

Work Cited

Kathleen Elkins, “Here’s how much Americans are spending on housing, food, and alcohol every year.” cnbc.com. May 31, 2017.

Rebecca Zerzan, “How Has the World Changed in the Last 20 years?” unfpa.org. 7 April 2014.

Swiss Re Institute. Sigma No 3/2018 “the global insurance sector.” Swissre.com.

Allen R McConnell Ph.D. “Giving really is better than receiving.” Psychologytoday.com. Dec 25, 1010

The Summary and Response to "Third Culture Kids," Revision.

Third Culture Kids Are Not Ideal Citizens

Bilal Ahmed says in his article “Third Culture Kids” that third culture kids (TCKs) including himself are different from immigrants and cross-culturally-experienced persons in terms of social status and the market-drive-economic world where we are living. As a matter of fact, he claims that TCKs come from prestigious and wealthy families which distinctively make them different from the immigrants and others. Although I agree with his points to some degrees, I doubt that all TCKs are wealthier than the immigrants, and I believe that there are also prestigious and well-educated immigrants. What’s more, I disagree with the author’s claim that TCKs are the ideal citizens in the world.

The author begins his publication by mentioning two definitions of “Third Culture Kids” defined by anthropologist Ruth Hill Useem and sociologist David C. Pollock respectively. Then, he introduces himself as a TCK who has been nurtured under the influences of many cultures such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Canada, the United States, and Britain. Next, Bilal Ahmed starts to address and explain the differences between TCKs and immigrants. He lists several factors such as social backgrounds, financial support, and adaptability. Furthermore, the TCK-author emphasizes how important they are to the modern world given the current situation of globalization. Also, Bilal Ahmed argues that TCKs have difficulties to resolve and challenges to overcome. He says that TCKs deeply depend on their families and that they tend to lose themselves or misbehave without families’ support and guidance. In the end, the author concludes that only accept their special identities do they find happiness.

In response to the author’s ideas, there are several points which I would like to address. First, Bilal Ahmed says that TCKs don’t have a financial dilemma compared with the immigrants. Personally, I don’t think so. TCKs are those who live and grow up in foreign countries such as foreign-service and expatriate children, those who I assume that they have strong financial support from their families. However, TCKs also include military brats and missionary kids that I find hard to agree that all of them are rich kids. Second, Bilal Ahmed implies that TCKs come from a higher social background than the immigrants and refugees do. I think this is his weak argument because there are no statistical figures or evidence to prove his claim. Indeed, there are thousands of immigrants and refugees who are well-educated coming from middle social class or even higher. According to pewresearch.org, research in 2016 shows that 44 million immigrants coming from Asia, South America, Europe, Africa, are very well educated before they move to the United States.

Thanks to two advantages being mentioning above, the TCK-author claims that TCKs are the best citizens in the world.  From my own perspective, he has a point for TCKs who are likely to possess almost what this globalizing modern world needs. They have multicultural backgrounds, come from prestigious families, and they have no financial worries, even if not all of them are wealthy. They are good at adaption, prefer flexibility to predictability, and are fans of shifting. All of these advantages and features help them fit in and survive in any situation, and offer them more professional opportunities than the others. Still, TCKs are not the ideal citizens in the world, because I think that there is no such “ideal citizen” conception at all. I believe that people have their own advantages and weaknesses. Besides, this is just the subjective, one-sided opinion of Bilal Ahmed, a TCK. From the TCKs’ point of view, he observes things around him according to their own conditions and standards. Therefore, his arguments are not concrete enough to convince me.

Bilal Ahmed asserts that TCKs are the most-desired citizens in the world because of their multicultural backgrounds and financial support matching with globalization. In contrast, I don’t believe that. Ideal citizens belong to an ideal and perfect world, but our world is not.

The Summary and Response to "Third Culture Kids."

Third Culture Kids Are Not Ideal Citizens

Bilal Ahmed says in his article “Third Culture Kids” that third culture kids (TCKs) including himself are different with immigrants and cross-culturally-experienced persons in term of social status and the market-drive-economic world where we are living. As a matter of fact, he claims that TCKs come from prestige and wealthy families which distinctively differs them from the immigrants and others. Although I agree with his points to some degrees, I doubt that all TCKs are wealthier than the immigrants, and I believe that there are also prestige and well-educated immigrants. What’s more, I disagree with the author’s claim that TCKs are the ideal citizens in the world.

The author begins his publication by mentioning two definitions of “Third Culture Kids” defining by anthropologist Ruth Hill Useem and sociologist David C. Pollock respectively. Then, he introduces himself as a TCK who has been nurtured in the influences of many cultures such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Canada, the United States, and Britain. Next, Bilal Ahmed starts to address and explain the differences between TCKs and the immigrants. He lists several factors such as social backgrounds, financial support, adaptability. Furthermore, the TCK-author emphasizes how important they are to the modern world given the current situation of globalization. Also, Bilal Ahmed argues that TCKs have difficulties to resolve and challenges to overcome, too. He says that TCKs deeply depend on their families and that they tend to lose themselves or misbehave without families’ support and guidance. In the end, the author concludes that only accept their special identities do they find happiness.

In response to the author’s ideas, there are several points which I would like to address. First, Bilal Ahmed says that TCKs don’t have financial dilemma comparing with the immigrants. Personally, I don’t think so. TCKs are those who live and grow up in foreign countries such as foreign-service and expatriate children, those who I assume that they have strong financial support from their families. However, TCKs also include military brats and missionary kids that I find hard to agree that all of them are rich kids. Second, Bilal Ahmed implies that TCKs come from a higher social background than the immigrants and refugees do. I think this is his weak argument because there are no statistical figures or evidence to prove his claim. Indeed, there are thousands of immigrants and refugees who are well educated coming from middle social class or even higher. According to pewresearch.org, research in 2016 shows that 44 million immigrants coming from Asia, South America, Europe, Africa, are very well educated before they emigrate into the United States.

Thanks to two advantages being mentioning above, the TCK-author claims that TCKs are the best-suited citizens for the world.  From my own perspective, he has a point for TCKs likely possess almost what this globalizing modern world needs. They have multicultural backgrounds, come from prestige families, and they have no financial worries, even if not all of them are wealthy. They are good at adaption, prefer the flexibility to predictability, are fans of shifting, or at least Bilal Ahmed says so. All of these advantages and features help them fit in and survive in any situation, and offer them more professional opportunities than the others. Still, TCKs are not the ideal citizens in the world, because I think that there is no such “ideal citizen” conception at all. I believe that people have their own advantages and weaknesses which imperfect them. Besides, this is just the subjective, one-sided opinion of Bilal Ahmed, a TCK. Standing from the TCKs’ point of view, he observes things around him according to their own conditions and standards. Therefore, his arguments are not concrete enough to convince me.

Bilal Ahmed asserts that TCKs are the most-desired citizens in the world because of their multicultural backgrounds, financial supports matching with globalization. In contrast, I don’t believe in that. Ideal citizens belong to an ideal and perfect world, but our world is not.

The Response to "More Than Job Satisfaction"

Kirsten Weir’s statement about the significance of work to most adults is right on point, and I agree with it. To me, labor shall give the humankind the feeling of existence, and plays an important role in our lives. Thus, the author indicates that people should create meaning in work as much as possible.

Weir points out several ways to find the meaning in work which I find useful such as taking pride of one’s job, thinking of the families, the obligation, and the relationships with one’s partners. From my own perspective, I think the thinking of family is the most significant way through which one can find the meaning in work.

The author says, “The people who are the most content are those who believe their work has a higher calling,” to some degree, her point of view is true. As long as ones believe that their jobs are meaningful to society, they shall devote more to their works just like the story of the bricklayers or the example of the zookeeper. However, ones cannot put all their heart onto the work with little return. Therefore, sustainable financial support shall encourage laborers in their jobs. That is why I say that what Weir claims above is just partially right.

Specifically, Kirsten Weir mentions about a few ways to practice “job crafting” through which workers may find meaning in their work such as prioritizing on favorite tasks, spending more time on positive relationships, and thinking of one’s work from a different angle. I, personally, find these methods acceptable, although I think it is not easy to practice them at work places. Firstly, one cannot just favor one task to another one due to the requirements of work, which are the pressure from one’s superior officers and from the expected results. Secondly, it’s hard for one to change his/her perspective on something, especially on work. Most adults tend to avoid changing their routines, habits, and even their ways of thinking.

In conclusion, Kirsten Weir’s ideas in the article are substantial that I find them reasonable and pragmatical. 

Summary

Summary of “More Than Job Satisfaction”

Kirsten Weir, the author of “More Than Job Satisfaction,” begins the article with a fact that the adults spend most of their time to work, and that the works are considered to be their identity. However, according to a 2013 report of Gallup Inc. the author points out that two-third of American workers are not devoted to their jobs, and she calls it “disengagement” which costs U.S. companies hundreds of billions every year. She implies that one of the causes to the problem is how great the meaning that the American workers find in their jobs.

The author claims that there are ways to increase meaning and improve the life quality through work. She mentions about Michael G. Pratt, Boston College’s professor who uses a story of the bricklayers to strengthen his ideas that every job has its own meaning, and that there are various ways to create or seek for the meaning in work. Additionally, she brings up the study of Douglas Lepisto and Camille Pradies in their book “Purpose and Meaning in the workplace,” that employees can find the meaning of work through their prides, responsibilities to family, duties to fulfill, and even the relationship among the colleagues. Weir says that those who believe in what they are doing is good to humankind, are the most content people. And she gives example of the work of the zookeepers who, even though, earns not so much, they still love their job. The author explains that because the bond between the job and the zookeepers, which encourages them to do their best. Next, she mentions about “job crafting,” which is the term used by Jane E. Dutton, PhD, a professor at the University of Michigan indicating the way to create meaning through work. The author, then, lists out several ways to create meaning which are prioritizing to the tasks that ones are interested in, concentrating on positive relationships, and actively thinking about one’s work from different angles. At the end, Weir warns that the enterprises might use job crafting to exploit their employees. She concludes that the enterprises and companies should help their workers to find meaning in works which is good for both sides.