One of my professors is driving me nuts..

[TheVrolok]

Originally posted by: sao123

Originally posted by: loki8481

Originally posted by: FuzzyDunlop

Originally posted by: loki8481
college level english course and he's MAKING you write your papers on religious topics within the books?

sounds not right... I don't think I ever had a course where specific paper topics were forced beyond vague generalities.

so you went to a community college?

majored in english lit at penn state?

you went to penn state for a non engineering degree?
might as well just enrolled at the Smeal College of Retards.

I think you're forgetting about the massive amounts of partying and tail that come along with Penn State.

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: Babbles

Originally posted by: zinfamous

Originally posted by: albatross
even Dawkins,in teh God delusion,has a chapter in which laments the lack of biblical literacy among people today.

http://richarddawkins.net/print.php?id=2469

Indeed.

Those who blindly attack an institution with no prior knowledge of said institution are the biggest fools among us. Many of them can be found in these forums...

I would have to dig up the articles, but many scholars accused of Dr. Dawkins of the exact same thing. In other words Dr. Dawkins made many arguments and statements in "The God Dillusion" without doing the background research himself.

well, I'm no fan of Dawkins either. I think he's an overblown crack-pot when it comes to Genetics (...which is actually what I do; not that I'm an expert. either way, the "Selfish Gene" idea as he originally posited it (not the rehashed 'save my reputation version') is widely regarded in the legit community to be tripe.).

anyway, there is some truth to that statement...or idea.

 

[Kirby]

:laugh:

This thread is a fucking joke. Don't like reading in a Lit class? Drop it. I'm sure the professor doesn't give a rat's ass if a lazy, close minded student drops the class.

My last Lit class, I had an openly atheist teacher. Yet we read the Bible, the Koran, greek mythology, and everything else under the sun.

 

[lupi]

Originally posted by: ShotgunSteven
Until the OP grows a pair and actually tells us what his assignment is, he may as well just be trolling. Anyone that posts regularly on ATOT could have guessed how this thread would turn out with the OP mewling about how unfair it is that he is supposedly required to unstick his head from his arse long enough to get a whiff of the real world and how it works. As it is, he will have his supporters and detractors, all of whom wind up sounding a bit foolish because he won't even tell us what he is supposedly expected to know. My guess is that he just wanted to whine at blog.anandtech.com and knew that if he gave all of the details he would get owned back to the Stone Age.

That being said, I volunteer to be the recipient if the OP is feeling brave enough to send out this supposed required knowledge via PM to get an opinion based on reality instead of people throwing around opinions without having the full picture. I took English Lit and some of the reading we did covered such themes in an abstract way. I also took Religion 205: Study of the Bible and History of the Early Christian Church. It was taught by an ordained minister, who said at the start, "This ain't no Sunday School, so if that's what you're looking for, you might want to leave now."

I learned a lot of fascinating things in that class, and people both with and without a background in Christianity did well in the class. There were a few requirements, however. You had to get off of your arse and do the assigned reading, do the work, participate in class discussions (Oh noes!), and maybe even do a bit if reading outside of the books assigned!

If you expect real life to be as easy as you seem to expect college to be, you're in for a rude awakening.

Actually, given that this is ATOT, I'm surprised we didn't get more of the "then burn a bible in the middle of class, that;kll show him" response.

 

[lupi]

Originally posted by: ShotgunSteven
Until the OP grows a pair and actually tells us what his assignment is, he may as well just be trolling. Anyone that posts regularly on ATOT could have guessed how this thread would turn out with the OP mewling about how unfair it is that he is supposedly required to unstick his head from his arse long enough to get a whiff of the real world and how it works. As it is, he will have his supporters and detractors, all of whom wind up sounding a bit foolish because he won't even tell us what he is supposedly expected to know. My guess is that he just wanted to whine at blog.anandtech.com and knew that if he gave all of the details he would get owned back to the Stone Age.

That being said, I volunteer to be the recipient if the OP is feeling brave enough to send out this supposed required knowledge via PM to get an opinion based on reality instead of people throwing around opinions without having the full picture. I took English Lit and some of the reading we did covered such themes in an abstract way. I also took Religion 205: Study of the Bible and History of the Early Christian Church. It was taught by an ordained minister, who said at the start, "This ain't no Sunday School, so if that's what you're looking for, you might want to leave now."

I learned a lot of fascinating things in that class, and people both with and without a background in Christianity did well in the class. There were a few requirements, however. You had to get off of your arse and do the assigned reading, do the work, participate in class discussions (Oh noes!), and maybe even do a bit if reading outside of the books assigned!

If you expect real life to be as easy as you seem to expect college to be, you're in for a rude awakening.

Actually, given that this is ATOT, I'm surprised we didn't get more of the "then burn a bible in the middle of class, that'll show him" response.

 

[Crono]

Originally posted by: nkgreen
:laugh:

This thread is a fucking joke. Don't like reading in a Lit class? Drop it. I'm sure the professor doesn't give a rat's ass if a lazy, close minded student drops the class.

My last Lit class, I had an openly atheist teacher. Yet we read the Bible, the Koran, greek mythology, and everything else under the sun.

That phrase comes from the book of Ecclesiastes.
See, OP, the Bible is a relevant historical and literary source

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: nkgreen
:laugh:

This thread is a fucking joke. Don't like reading in a Lit class? Drop it. I'm sure the professor doesn't give a rat's ass if a lazy, close minded student drops the class.

My last Lit class, I had an openly atheist teacher. Yet we read the Bible, the Koran, greek mythology, and everything else under the sun.

You can't read the Bible cover to cover and be able to quote passages that are relevant to the book. Only somebody who has a decent amount of experience with Christianity and knows it that well would be able to recognize the relevant passages and messages in the Bible.

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune

Originally posted by: zinfamous

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: zinfamous
FYI:

English lit is WORTHLESS without even a cursory understanding of Christianity. Deal with it, and read it as it were literature. some 80% of what was written for many centuries was done so under the pretense of faith.

Such an infintile and naive complaint, this is.

Uh okay. Why isn't "cusory understanding of Christianity" listed as a pre-requisite on all English Lit courses then?

:roll:

Yeah, I was really pissed when I went into calculus and they didn't tell me i had to have a cursory understanding of 1st grade arithmetic! :|

Why should somebody be expected to know about a certain religion?

How you would feel if you went into a lit class and people were getting good grades because they were able to quote Buddhist readings which were relevant to the books they were reading?

 

[shadow9d9]

The level of hate and bitterness from the pro religious crowd here in this thread is astounding, but I guess not surprising.

 

[Babbles]

Originally posted by: shadow9d9
The level of hate and bitterness from the pro religious crowd here in this thread is astounding.

:roll:

WTF, how dense can you be? The only bitterness is the OP who was bitter about religion.

 

[Anubis]

The OP does have a point, if having extensive knowledge of the Bible is required it should have been listed as one. Being able to read the book and having memorized the thing are 2 totally different things. however is he being a lil bitch about it

i have a lot against religion but FFS i have at least read the bible and one of my fave classes in college was "Religion and modern Culture"

 

[IronWing]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
I took an English class a couple of summers ago where the entire class was based on the book, "Us and Them" The History of Intolerance in America.

I'm not the most liberal person around...nor particularly tolerant...and at first, the uber-liberal teacher pissed me off.

Then, I realized that I didn't have to like or agree with the material...I just had to write on it...and could use MY point of view if I chose.

While she didn't always like what I said, (and told me so more than once) I still got an "A" for the class.

Ignore the material's religious content if that helps you, just write.

Yup, the Marque de Sade gets a lot of air time in Lit classes. Doesn't mean we should admire his writings. I mean, crap, the guy totally ignores velcro and duct tape.

 

[magomago]

Originally posted by: RichardE

Originally posted by: musicman64

Originally posted by: FuzzyDunlop

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune
I had to read The Origin of Species in a British Literature class. I am now heavily offended as I am a Christian. I had to write a paper on a book with heaver overtones of evolutionary theory.

Quit whining you idiot. People who bitch about this stupid stuff should just be denied a degree.

:thumbsup:

There's no difference between The Origin of Species and the Bible - none at all.

So why did you go to college?


I think a better question, is why does the bible a book responsible for most of Westerns History of the last 2000 years offend you?

If you are deeply offended just take the opposite stance. My professors wanted a history paper outlining the plight of the Palestinian people, I wrote a paper putting the blame on them. I still got a A on it, just do a good job.

Even still, you should not object this strongly on ethical grounds about a book.

Wow I can't believe you said that. Take a look again - 'most' is not even the correct term. Did it play a role? Of course! Did that role change over various time periods (periods of heavy influence, periods of lighter influence)? Yes.
Is it responsible for most of Western History for the past [b2000 years[/b]? Helll no.

Anyways to the OP, quit QQing. The professor just MAY be abusing and taking advantage of the course for an ulterior reason, but there are very valid points that many books are influenced by religious texts.
If you actually have that much of a problem, do what the others said --> go hardcore, get your research done well, and criticize the religion if that is what you want. I doubt it will be perfect, but if the professor isn't an asshole he will see you tried hard even if there are a few mistakes (I never got a poor grade for a very good effort and some analysis that had a mistake or two...its lack luster effort and lack of analysis combined with total BS that kills a report/paper) and you will probably come out on top.

Now I doubt that a deep and profound knowledge of the Bible is needed. Sounds like you don't know it, so go read some. Would you be offended if you had to read the Quran at all? What if old pagan writings were also required because the book was influenced by that?

Translation: ENGLISH CLASS...READ BITCH

 

[RichardE]

Originally posted by: magomago

Originally posted by: RichardE

Originally posted by: musicman64

Originally posted by: FuzzyDunlop

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune
I had to read The Origin of Species in a British Literature class. I am now heavily offended as I am a Christian. I had to write a paper on a book with heaver overtones of evolutionary theory.

Quit whining you idiot. People who bitch about this stupid stuff should just be denied a degree.

:thumbsup:

There's no difference between The Origin of Species and the Bible - none at all.

So why did you go to college?


I think a better question, is why does the bible a book responsible for most of Westerns History of the last 2000 years offend you?

If you are deeply offended just take the opposite stance. My professors wanted a history paper outlining the plight of the Palestinian people, I wrote a paper putting the blame on them. I still got a A on it, just do a good job.

Even still, you should not object this strongly on ethical grounds about a book.

Wow I can't believe you said that. Take a look again - 'most' is not even the correct term. Did it play a role? Of course! Did that role change over various time periods (periods of heavy influence, periods of lighter influence)? Yes.
Is it responsible for most of Western History for the past [b2000 years[/b]? Helll no.

Anyways to the OP, quit QQing. The professor just MAY be abusing and taking advantage of the course for an ulterior reason, but there are very valid points that many books are influenced by religious texts.
If you actually have that much of a problem, do what the others said --> go hardcore, get your research done well, and criticize the religion if that is what you want. I doubt it will be perfect, but if the professor isn't an asshole he will see you tried hard even if there are a few mistakes (I never got a poor grade for a very good effort and some analysis that had a mistake or two...its lack luster effort and lack of analysis combined with total BS that kills a report/paper) and you will probably come out on top.

Now I doubt that a deep and profound knowledge of the Bible is needed. Sounds like you don't know it, so go read some. Would you be offended if you had to read the Quran at all? What if old pagan writings were also required because the book was influenced by that?

Translation: ENGLISH CLASS...READ BITCH

The renaissance was a direct response to the church.. (the bible) 2000 years would take us back to around the time Christ died almost.. I'm pretty sure *western* culture was based around the bible/church, Eastern culture..maybe not..but Western (read European) culture..yeah...yeah it was

 

[ScottyB]

Unless your teacher is providing supplemental essays on religion in conjunction with your literature readings, you shouldn't be expected to have any religious knowledge. That class is a farce. Drop it and take a proper literature class.

(And, before the nitpickers come in, I am earning a Master's in English. So, there. )

 

[Kirby]

Originally posted by: Leros

Originally posted by: nkgreen
:laugh:

This thread is a fucking joke. Don't like reading in a Lit class? Drop it. I'm sure the professor doesn't give a rat's ass if a lazy, close minded student drops the class.

My last Lit class, I had an openly atheist teacher. Yet we read the Bible, the Koran, greek mythology, and everything else under the sun.

You can't read the Bible cover to cover and be able to quote passages that are relevant to the book. Only somebody who has a decent amount of experience with Christianity and knows it that well would be able to recognize the relevant passages and messages in the Bible.

I'm sure the professor's topic of discussion for the day's lecture wasn't the whole Bible. Asking a student to read passages out of the book of Job is not asking too much. Why couldn't you take notes of important verses while reading?

Do you honestly think that the professor came into class the first day and said that there was going to be a quiz tomorrow on Genesis through Malachi?

 

[Turin39789]

Originally posted by: RichardE

Originally posted by: musicman64

Originally posted by: FuzzyDunlop

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune
I had to read The Origin of Species in a British Literature class. I am now heavily offended as I am a Christian. I had to write a paper on a book with heaver overtones of evolutionary theory.

Quit whining you idiot. People who bitch about this stupid stuff should just be denied a degree.

:thumbsup:

There's no difference between The Origin of Species and the Bible - none at all.

So why did you go to college?


I think a better question, is why does the bible a book responsible for most of Westerns History of the last 2000 years offend you?

If you are deeply offended just take the opposite stance. My professors wanted a history paper outlining the plight of the Palestinian people, I wrote a paper putting the blame on them. I still got a A on it, just do a good job.

Even still, you should not object this strongly on ethical grounds about a book.

No that is Euclid's Elements

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune
Yeah, I was really pissed when I went into calculus and they didn't tell me i had to have a cursory understanding of 1st grade arithmetic! :|

There are prerequisites listed for Calculus.

 

[Lonyo]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7894563.stm

The Poet Laureate says it is becoming increasingly difficult to teach English Literature because students do not know the Bible or classical mythology.

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune

Originally posted by: zinfamous

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: zinfamous
FYI:

English lit is WORTHLESS without even a cursory understanding of Christianity. Deal with it, and read it as it were literature. some 80% of what was written for many centuries was done so under the pretense of faith.

Such an infintile and naive complaint, this is.

Uh okay. Why isn't "cusory understanding of Christianity" listed as a pre-requisite on all English Lit courses then?

:roll:

Yeah, I was really pissed when I went into calculus and they didn't tell me i had to have a cursory understanding of 1st grade arithmetic! :|

:laugh:

:beer:

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: Leros

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune

Originally posted by: zinfamous

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: zinfamous
FYI:

English lit is WORTHLESS without even a cursory understanding of Christianity. Deal with it, and read it as it were literature. some 80% of what was written for many centuries was done so under the pretense of faith.

Such an infintile and naive complaint, this is.

Uh okay. Why isn't "cusory understanding of Christianity" listed as a pre-requisite on all English Lit courses then?

:roll:

Yeah, I was really pissed when I went into calculus and they didn't tell me i had to have a cursory understanding of 1st grade arithmetic! :|

Why should somebody be expected to know about a certain religion?

How you would feel if you went into a lit class and people were getting good grades because they were able to quote Buddhist readings which were relevant to the books they were reading?

:roll:

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: ScottyB
Unless your teacher is providing supplemental essays on religion in conjunction with your literature readings, you shouldn't be expected to have any religious knowledge. That class is a farce. Drop it and take a proper literature class.

(And, before the nitpickers come in, I am earning a Master's in English. So, there. )

Did you go to Hollywood Upstairs English College too?

 

[jagec]

Go research it!

You will always get a few teachers with an agenda. Usually in English, it's (if anything) an anti-religion, anti-establishment agenda. Suck it up, get your A, and then get a real degree and laugh as you become more and more successful and they become more and more bitter.

Originally posted by: shadow9d9
The level of hate and bitterness from the pro religious crowd here in this thread is astounding, but I guess not surprising.

The "pro religious" crowd at ATOT is, maybe, 2 people.

Originally posted by: Leros
Why should somebody be expected to know about a certain religion?

How you would feel if you went into a lit class and people were getting good grades because they were able to quote Buddhist readings which were relevant to the books they were reading?

If I was taking this class in Thailand, it would be more or less what I would expect, and I would have to brush up on my Buddhist literature to catch up.

This thread is retarded. It's like whining that one of the other kids is getting better grades in Art History than you because his parents used to take him to museums when he was a kid, and yours did not. I guess this makes sense to the laziest group of college students in history.

 

[Babbles]

Originally posted by: Lonyo
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7894563.stm

The Poet Laureate says it is becoming increasingly difficult to teach English Literature because students do not know the Bible or classical mythology.

That's an interesting article.

My fiancee teaches art history at the university here - she specializes in medieval history. As far as I gather religion had a significant impact on society, culture, art, architecture and the history in general of the medieval period. Anyhow, she has told me that at times she had to effectively teach some fundamental aspects of Christianity to students for whom it should be a part of their cultural history.