Welcome back, Brandesians, to the second edition of The Opinion. In the previous edition, I discussed the intensity of University clubs — with many clubs mirroring today’s politics and stressors, which many students prefer to avoid. I argued that clubs should be taken less seriously not only for the betterment of students’ mental health, but also to improve campus culture as a whole. Today’s opinion will tackle a topic that I have heard discussed in the library numerous times. 

Here is today’s opinion which was emailed to me: All humanities majors should be required to take the English close reading class.

There is an ongoing discussion that I have seen while deathscrolling TikTok where teachers are going online and commenting — rather anxiously — that the younger generation is unable to read. This younger generation, referred to as Generation Alpha, is reportedly trading books for iPads. This topic has been widely covered, from Business Insider (with a gripping title: “For Gen Alpha, Learning to Read Is Becoming A Privilege”) to Binghamton University. According to The National Literacy Institute, in 2024-25 the U.S. was ranked 36th in literacy, which took me by surprise. What was even more surprising was that there were numerous countries who achieved 100% literacy rates like Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Finland and Andorra to name a few. According to the National Literary Institute, only 79% of adults in 2024 knew how to read in the U.S., with around 54% of those adults reading under a sixth grade comprehension. 

This is all just to say that in the United States, literacy is a privilege for many students. Many are not prepared for college, which then makes the transition exceedingly difficult. While this may not be the case for all Brandeis students, I do understand the argument that humanities majors should take the English close reading class, and it makes a lot of sense. Many humanities majors require the ability to analyze literature and synthesize materials to form an argument. Without proper guidance or preparation, said task can be extremely difficult to achieve. With a required close reading class, there would be no excuse for misunderstandings. Every student would know what the expectation at Brandeis is, and would have the tools to excel academically. 

However, there is a flaw in this argument. Recently, our new president (Captain, my Captain) and the administration have rearranged the academic schools, creating three new schools to expand the current selection. This, in turn, has rearranged the organization of the college, switching which subjects constitute a humanities major. For instance, I used to solely be in the School of Arts, Humanities and Culture, but now my history major has been moved to fall under the School for Social Sciences and Policy, making me a social science student. While I do not understand why history is considered a social science, my academic life is not greatly affected by this, as opposed to my peers. 

This proffer is merely to suggest: because the schools changed, which majors constitute humanities has also changed. Therefore, there are majors that I think close reading could assist — like Comparative Literature and Culture, English, Philosophy and European Culture Studies — and, likewise, there are other humanities majors where close reading might not be as applicable. Additionally, some humanities students may benefit from a close reading class while others may find it repetitive. As a double major in history and English, I find close reading very useful and I am lucky my high school made students sell their souls for academic excellence because I felt prepared entering those fields. And, in general, close reading is pivotal for reading intensive majors. 

Perhaps a good fix would be to test students’ reading comprehension in order to assess whether it is necessary to require a close reading class. By making it mandatory, students who are able to close-read will find their time wasted by an unnecessary class. Brandeis already requires all first-years to take a writing seminar and a health class — having too many graduation requirements can squander undergraduate morale and passion.

As I mentioned in my first publication, I don’t want my own bias to influence the whole article. It should be noted that the English department’s close reading class is a requirement for the Creative Writing major. I wanted to understand, as a general hypothetical, whether humanities students thought that a required close reading course would be beneficial to the student experience at Brandeis. So I asked my friends — who were majority humanities majors with some social science mixed in there — what they think. The question proposed was: Do you think your major would benefit from a required close reading class? Out of the 28 participants, 64.29% said yes, 28.57% said no and 7.14% said maybe or argued that it depends.

I’ve also decided to include a few responses that I found interesting (for the sake of keeping this article from rambling, I only chose a few. However, thank you so, so much for everyone who responded, everyone had such interesting takes, I wish I could include them all). One student, who for the sake of anonymity will be known as Apple, studies creative writing and notes how their major requires the English close reading class. They believe that a close reading course was unnecessary because other classes fulfilled the requirement. They suggest that “close reading” should become a tag attached to classes, like how other classes are tagged with Digital Literacy or Oral Communications. Thus, the requirement does not have to be a class dedicated only to close reading, and instead can offer variety. This idea is repeated and supported by other students I interviewed.

Student Blueberry, an English major at Brandeis, is in partial agreement with Apple. They suggest that a course focused specifically on learning how to do close reading analysis would actually benefit their major. However, they think that requiring a specific class might not be what humanities classes need in general, instead resolving that if there was a close reading course tag, like Quantitative Reasoning, they would be on board.

Another student, who I will refer to as Clementine, agreed that close reading would benefit their field. As a Classics major, Clementine believes a close reading class could absolutely help people figure out the various readings they do in class, especially in the text’s original language.

Student Berry — a Politics and African and African American Studies double major — notes how they understand the benefit of a close reading class because it’s good for everyone to hone in on the skill of analyzing texts. However, they don’t think it should be required. One reason offered is that they think it would take up extra time when humanities students already read a lot, and the addition of a required close reading class can overwhelm the student. Additionally, when entering the humanities, the ability to analyze text is a skill one should already possess. One enters the field with an understanding that they will analyze text, so the student should be prepared and capable of doing it, or they should be ready to learn along the way.

The last opinion I will be sharing is of a peer who wants to be referred to as Sommer Vermeil. As an Anthropology major, they feel as though a required close reading course would be extremely beneficial, citing how “some crazy things are said during class.” They mention how if the students learned how to analyze class readings, they would better understand the material — thus creating a more engaged environment and reducing the amount of “whack” things students say. Sommer also notes how this scenario can be applicable to all majors.

I do want to note, around a third of the interviewees mentioned how the required close reading class would be beneficial for all majors, not just those in the humanities. Many suggested that while close reading is important to humanities, the same skill should be taught across the board. Student Swan, who majors in Philosophy and Biology, suggests that instead of University Writing Seminar, every major could have a class geared towards teaching the necessary writing and reading skills for their major. Thus, students are less overwhelmed and can be efficiently prepared for future classes.

Again, take what you will from this article. It is not meant to persuade or dissuade you from any opinion. I believe college is a place that is meant to cultivate discussion and debate.

If you want any of your opinions anonymously published, please email me at theopinion2027@gmail.com 

With our First Amendment right constantly being threatened, I believe it is important for opinions to be openly expressed and discussed — now more than ever. I hope Brandeis remains a safe campus where everybody’s opinions are equally respected and cherished. Expressing yourself can be scary and overwhelming, but I will keep all opinions anonymous.

May everyone continue to be able to express themselves with their First Amendment right to free speech. And with this ends the second issue of The Opinion. Have a good day.