I had a math test this morning.
I don’t like math tests, which isn’t surprising, since I don’t particularly like math. The only saving grace was that this test was on factoring polynomials, and I happen to be decently good at that, after all the time I spend doing it last semester.
Since today marks exactly the middle of the term, I suppose you could call this my “midterm” but it’s only on chapter 4 in our book, and our teacher only made us take the test to be sure that we all knew how to factor before we moved on to the new stuff.
So, really, we’ve been reviewing Algebra 1 material for half the semester. No wonder I thought it was easy.
We’ll be getting progress reports next week, and I’m sure half of the class will be dropping after that. After all, you can’t bring up an F with only nine weeks left. I’m hoping for a C. Because if I have a C, I won’t be paranoid that I’m failing, which is a serious problem at the moment.
I’ve been talking to my English classmates (you know, the class where everyone is an English major? That’s my favorite) and we all agree that we need “Math and Literature” as our required math class, instead of all this problem solving we keep having to do.
What would “Math and Literature” be like? Well, way easier. You’d read novels about Einstein and the ancient Greeks who discovered all the Math junk we do now. We’d never have to solve a math problem, and instead to projects on what the world would be like if no one figured this stuff out.
I can dream, right? And I dream that English majors would have “Math and Literature” as their required upper-division math class. Far better than Mathematical Theory or Stats like we have to do now.
I share your hatred of math. I was a computer science major in a previous life; but gave up on it because of the copious amounts of required math. Now, I’m sorry - but the computer is /there to do the math for you/. I digress.
Our university offers just what you hoped for, “Cultural Math” that explores (without math, just in terms of descriptions) the historical differences and interesting points of different mathematical concepts throughout time. An interesting concept, but not used for any major here that I know of.
Jordan: I feel you in the not wanting to finish a major because you hate what it takes to get there. I’d have loved to be a forensic scientist, but aside from the math, I was never going to get through a biology disection without puking.
But, it’s good to know that I’m not the only one who thinks “Math and Literature” is a good idea. And I don’t know why it can’t cover the math requirement. I can take a literature class to cover an Art requirement, a Foreign Language requirement, and History requirement.
The only think I’ll probably ever agree with Emerson on: English is the only subject worth studying (if you’re an English major
)
Hahaha! /me makes fun of you !!!
At GWU, our math requirement (we only had to take 1 class) was satisfied by logic, which was actually part of the Philosophy department. We learned about fallacies all that other good, logical stuff. Damn, that “math” rocked.
< /mean teasing >I <3 you, Lisa!
at Reed our math was satisfied by languages- thing is if you’re good at languages, you’re usually good at some forms of math. I think we clump all math together, but in reality, you can be good at some and suck at others. It’s also hard to determine what I sucked at since there were so many factors distracting me at any given time. Ah. Yeah but your math & lit class is flawed: you really do need to know math in the real world, it’s sad but true.
Anna, I’m not saying Math is useless. I’m just saying “Mathmatical Theory” is just as useful as a brain hemmorage for me. It’s basic Algebra and Business Math thrown together, and since I’ve done both classes, I really don’t want to do it again. And as to why it’s an upper division math class, I have no idea.
And I already knew all the Math I was going to need in the real world when I graduated High School. After all, I had been through the Algebras and Geometry. And what I didn’t (don’t) know will probably not ever apply to whatever job I work, and if it does, there are calculators and computers to solve them for me. Never mind the little sister, who can solve any math problem you can throw at her.
After all, six years out of HS so far, and never once have I been asked to factor a polynomial.