Culture & Expectations in the Liberal Arts

            In yesterday’s ENGL403 class, Dr. Kyburz mentioned that students who are, or were, English majors most likely have a familiarity with the “Cultures and Expectations” aspect of what technical editors call “the situation.” I had not considered this connection before, but I definitely agree. Dr. Kyburz also pointed out that an important part of a studying within a Liberal Arts program involves interacting with, learning about, or attempting to understand culture and cultural differences. The arts, humanities, history, etc. teach people how to appreciate and learn from diversity. As an English major, history minor, and one who’s played music since she was nine years old, I take pride in working towards a Liberal Arts degree. I truly believe my studies are allowing me to become a more empathetic, patient, understanding, and appreciative person. I try to make less judgements about others. I try to look at controversial topics from different perspectives. At the Writing Center, I often work with clients who come from other countries or who share different beliefs than me. They often need to explain parts of their culture and experiences to me during our sessions so I have a better understanding of how to work with them and their assignment. I feel very fortunate to have that opportunity and I find it quite engaging.

I think English majors are used to interacting with texts that contain many significant themes such as history, gender, love, family, race, sexuality, politics, etc. In most works of literature, the author is trying to send out a message to the readers. Or, the author may be critiquing or commenting on a current event. I recently finished reading Dickens’ Great Expectations for one English class and this morning I saw the news that the actor Albert Finney passed away. Both of these led to me thinking about A Christmas Carol and the movie Scrooge. A Christmas Carol is a critique on Victorian society, particularly the wealthy. Dickens shows how wealth, greed, and money can make a person arrogant and ignorant. He also shows the spite and scorn the rich have for the poorer classes. Among many things, Dickens is attempting to make readers aware of their own morals and values. He wants readers to be aware of what is happening in their society. He shows the dangers of putting more importance on the materialistic than the humanitarian. Although this work is from 1843, I think it still holds relevance today. Many of these themes are still issues that people are fighting against such as “the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.” This rich-poor conflict was happening long before Dickens’ time, is happening now, and (unfortunately) might always be a problem. The themes in Dickens’ work (wealth, greed, morals, love, social classes, etc.) do not just pertain to American or European society either. Here is one of the most crucial points of literature: it connects people and themes across time and culture.

(I think this post may have gotten away from me a little bit, but ultimately I really liked what Dr. Kyburz had said about English majors and Cultural & Expectations. I didn’t want to necessarily connect technical editing to that idea, but moreover express my perspective on Dr. Kyburz’s comment.)