if a professor brags about how hard it is to pass their class then drop the class. they should not be proud of being bad at conveying information to students. you’re not paying thousands of dollars to fail. find a professor that wants you to pass.
the idea that anyone who approaches sex in an unconventional way (asexuals, kinky people) is LGBT is a direct product of the perception of gay sex as deviant and strange
say it with me kids: children realizing theyre lesbian, gay, or bi at a young age is not comparable to children identifying as asexual, because lesbian, gay and bisexual children’s attraction is not inherently sexual and it’s old-school homophobia to suggest otherwise
me externally: lit teachers arent pulling text analysis out of their asses
me internally: the reason people and especially students like to blame English for seemingly making up meanings where they cant see it is because literature is an art and art is widely regarded as ‘easy’, ‘anyone can do that’, ‘its stupid and useless’ unlike math and science which are widely regarded as difficult but important subjects so while students will readily admit that they have trouble with math or science they’re more likely to shift the blame when they dont understand a more artistic subject, seeing it as a sign of weakness that they dont get something thats supposed to be dumb and easy rather than seeing it as an important topic that’s just as crucial to their knowledge as any stem subject and just as difficult and in-depth as any math or science can be
also me internally: we’re so used to there being a ‘right’ answer to questions that art, including literature, makes us uncomfortable because the audience’s different and sometimes contradictory interpretations (even ones pulled out of your ass) are just as valid as the artist’s and there’s no authoritative, definitive reading for anything and we’re not used to having that power or acknowledging it in others
So many people misunderstand the most basic principle of lit classes. It’s not about telling the teacher what they want to here, it’s about saying what you think and why you started thinking that way. It’s about recognizing patterns from other works in the one your analyzing and using those to justify your opinion.
