I did some searching on the department website, but I couldn’t find exactly what the policies of the department were. However, I did find some “goals” and “objectives” for being an English major or minor here at WVU.
As the website states: “Majoring in English can help develop skills in communication, research, critical thinking, and focused creativity. Students can improve their understanding of people and cultural knowledge. They can also learn how language works and how to use it effectively in a variety of contexts.”
#1 – Critical Thinking: Specifically in the professional end of writing, it is a must to be able to think in details and aspects of the project to make it the best it can be. Critical thinking involves your audience, purpose, message, and format/style. Having the ability to perform this skill is regarded, sometimes, more important than the letters on the page. I see this skill in editors. Cultural knowledge falls under this category because it defines the audience and message.
#2 – Focused Creativity: This sort of goes hand-in-hand with critical thinking. Once the steps for the big four mentioned above are complete, it’s time to put my individual mark on it or my twist on it. It’s important to find myself as a person while in college, but even more so as a writer/editor. Isn’t that why people have favorite authors? It’s why I absolutely love Nicholas Sparks. (In case you don’t know, he wrote Message in a Bottle, The Notebook, and A Walk to Remember. All three were made into movies, and he has at least eight more books including a memoir that is touching.)
#3 – Communication: After critical thinking and focused creativity, communication is key. We have to get our message across as clearly and concise as possible (unless we are Faulkner or Hemmingway). This skill is in a way taught to us through the critical thinking of the message, but it’s important to be able to explain to someone else why or how you approached the topic or project. Every field has its jargon or slang, but I feel in English, we have to be able to translate, for lack of a better word, what the other fields are saying for the general population. We understand our audiences more than any other professional field.
#4 – Research: Obviously this one is the least important in my eyes because anyone can learn how to research a topic. And from what I know, most English majors do not pursue a career in research. There isn’t much I can say to rationalize the lack of importance in research for my program, but again, this is just my opinion.
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