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Well you speak
it, don't you?

> Why English courses are mandatory

Lauren Paulsen
Senior Columnist

 

ave you ever wondered

why they make students
take English courses as part
of their degree? If it’s your
native tongue, then what’s
the point, right? But have you
ever actually thought about
what the real reasons are?

To begin with, English is a
complicated language. Where
most languages may have
irregularities, they usually
have a main set of rules that
can be followed. English is a
combination of several other,
older languages, so it just seems
to be irregularities all over the
place. That’s why they made you
take English courses in high
school, but why do we need to
take them in post-secondary?
Let’s look at the course
academic writing, also known
as ENGL 1130. This is a useful
course to learn how to properly
write essays for the academic
world. So, you can take this
class and you will learn how to
write well for your other classes,
earning better marks on those
essay assignments. But after you
are finished school, you won't
need to write essays anymore,
so this will be a skill you won't
need for real life, right? Wrong.

Academic writing does
actually serve you in real
life. When you are finished
getting your degree, you will
be looking for a career where
you can put that degree to good
use. Essays are a way that you
can practice your ability to
explain things. They allow you
to better communicate your
answers to questions. When
faced with two nearly identical
résumés, an employer will
often choose the person who
wrote a better cover letter.

So writing can be useful to
you outside of post-secondary,
but what use is analyzing
literature? According to Brenna
Gray, an English professor at
Douglas College, the reason
behind taking a literature
class is because it will “..
teach you to read attentively,
to pay attention to details,
and to think critically about
the texts in front of you.”

 

 

 

Let’s EAT

GRANDMA.

Lots eat
RANDMA.

 

 

 

000

COMMAS SAVE LIVES

Image via www. ithinkonpaper.com

 

 

In a literature course you
may be analyzing literature and
thinking about how the story
is told, but learning to think in
this way will help you outside
of the classroom as well. Being
able to think critically and pay
attention to details allows you
to have a better understanding
of the world around you.

So there really is a reason
that you are required to take an
English course for your degree.
These English courses help you

develop critical skills for the
outside world. The point isn’t to
teach you how to speak English
or to learn proper grammar—
rather, it is to teach you skills
to better express yourself, and
to look at the world around you
more closely. An English course
may seem boring, or like a lot
of work, but that work really
does pay off in the long run,
and will give you skills that you
can use for the rest of your life.

The monastery:
breaking the habit

> Strategies for re-patterning your life

Adam Tatelman
Arts Editor

 

Buz humans are habitual
creatures, we tend to like
routines. You may say youre
going to stop doing something,
but actually altering a long-term
routine is not so easy. This ugly
truth was made apparent to me
when | actually tried to get up
at 6 a.m. for the first time in 3
years.

Without any particular
reason to haul my ass out of bed,
I shouldn't have been surprised
that it didn’t happen right away.
I did, however, manage to rise
at 7 a.m. when I had to make
the UBC Orientation at 9 a.m.
So, lesson one: when making
goals, be sure to have a concrete
motivation for accomplishing
them. Otherwise, the initial
discomfort will prove too much
of a hassle to push through.

Consider social media.
Visiting sites like YouTube and
Facebook is such a habit for
me that, upon the slightest
distraction | actually find myself
typing their names into the
address bar without realizing it.

When habits are sublimated to
this degree, one must remove
the potential to abuse them
entirely.

In my case, | made a huge
blacklist of websites I tend to
waste time on and restricted my
access to them. Parental settings
and programs like Cold Turkey
are helpful for this. With no
option to access these obstacles,
I now get as far as typing “yout”
before realizing | can’t visit that
site anymore. Then I get back to
work.

That’s a definite mantra of
monk mode—you will almost
never succeed at something the
first time you try it. There will
be a period of discomfort and
adjustment, and your old ways
will seep in, no matter what you
do. The only way to get through
is to keep finding new strategies
for change. Impose penalties
for failure without excessive
self-immolation, and be sure
to reward yourself when you
succeed.

Next week, we discuss
rewards and meditation. Until
then, fellow monks, tashi deley
(I honor the greatness within

you).

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