Rikki Cloos

How It Happened That I Became An English Major

In The Early Years Of The Twenty-First Century

            I can remember the beginning of my love of English, a spark of interest that drove me, pedaling my bike to the local library, to read for leisure as young as seven.  Of course I loved the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books and others more suited to my age group, but it was my mother that pushed "the Classics" on me.  Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, The Call of the Wild, Heart of Darkness, and my favorite, 1984, were probably central to my early success in school.  These books boosted my vocabulary as well as my ability to read and write, and were, for me, always more satisfying and interesting forms of entertainment than movies or sports.

            I incorrectly interpreted my interest in books as a love of visual art--and it wasn't until high school that I stopped wanting to grow up to be a painter and realized that drawing wasn't my forte; it was writing that I excelled in.  Halfway through college I found the courage to pursue what interested me rather than what I thought would guarantee me a financially promising career.  I switched from studying Communications to English during my sophomore year, and I know that I will never look back.

            Rachel Donadio's article, "Revisiting the Canon Wars", reminded me of many of my instructors' arguments over the years--apparently, this is still a hot topic among scholars.  I was sad to find that the classics were almost wholly excluded from my education, although I have happily embraced the more contemporary literature that I have been instructed to read over the years.  Although the classics boosted my vocabulary and English abilities, contemporary writing has helped me to find my own writing voice and pushed me even closer to my goal of becoming a real, published writer.  And in response to Gopnik's arguments for and against abridgment and enrichment of text and cinema, I could see the benefits and drawbacks of both, and am comfortable with the two types of alterations as well as the original coexisting, as long as all are available to their audience.