The Student Room Group

People who get A* in Eng Lit are smarter than the people who do the same in Science?

Scroll to see replies

Original post by scherzi
OP didn't do M4 this year


M4 is just too much for a level I thought M3 was bad enough but when I saw the M4 paper it made me sick !


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App
Reply 261
Original post by EMPStudent
The arts are for people too dumb to do sciences.


This should be elected as the post of the year :colone:
I think now would be the perfect time for a completely overused and cliché, but still totally relevant quote...
inspiration,poster,quote,text,einstein,genius-bfb3b00c4eb39556c2e14d3e82a37441_h.jpg
Original post by SJS101
Well lets put it this way.....

Which subjects will result in you getting a better job (also better paid) - maths and science


I think this may well be the single most unsubstantiated generalisation in human history.
Original post by M4LLY
So English Literature sent man to the moon did it? Is literature going to prevent climate change? Is literature going to solve any other problems in the world today? I think not!!!


Original post by xiyangliu
Well said!


Not relevant to the thread.

Whatever ludicrous comparisons OP is attempting to make between the 'intelligence' of people who study different subjects, I think there are insufficient grounds on which to infer that the actual value of the subjects in the real world was being compared. At no point did OP even suggest that English Lit was somehow 'better for the world' than science, nor vice versa.
Original post by Kenocide
Not relevant to the thread.

Whatever ludicrous comparisons OP is attempting to make between the 'intelligence' of people who study different subjects, I think there are insufficient grounds on which to infer that the actual value of the subjects in the real world was being compared. At no point did OP even suggest that English Lit was somehow 'better for the world' than science, nor vice versa.


Some posts implied that ppl who study literature have higher "mental power" or iq. Ha !


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App
my neg is but a drop in the neg ocean
Original post by EMPStudent
The arts are for people too dumb to do sciences.


Or maybe they're for the people who are socially engaged. I could just as easily say that sciences are for people who are too inhumane to do arts. I'm not going to (because I know that that would be insensitive and unnecessary, as well as being untrue), but I could.
Reply 268
Original post by Alevelsareboring
It's not just knowing what the makes an atom or what x + y is


Please come and take my AQA Biology Unit 5 paper or chemistry. I'd love you to do these. X+Y my ass, with that logic you would not even get 1 MARK, NOT EVEN 1 MARK in the M4 exam, yeah that's right, NOT EVEN 1 and don't deny it. The large number of negs proves your ignorance.

Why is it that arts students get screwed over when they try apply for jobs in IB unless they attended unis like Oxbridge? Because past experiences proved they lack the mental power to take on the job, simple. And you know what's funny? That majority of these jobs require a standard knowledge of maths, and yet, you people get ****ted on.

At the end of the day the world needs the people that can bring facts, not those who blag. Anyone can blag, my little sister can. But let me ask you this, why do arts students continuosly feel endangered when compared to their fellow science students? Why must they always try to defend themselves and their decision of studying arts? Why is it that the most competitive courses are in the sciences? Why is it that no one would trust politicians with their lives and yet people are ready to risk their lives if a doctor tells them they will be fine? Why is it that ambitious parents push their children towards sciences? Why is it that smart people are always compared to Einstein but never to Shakespeare? Why is it that this list http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1567544/Top-100-living-geniuses.html is dominated by scientists? Because arts students are regarded as less intelligent and thus incapable of accomplishing anything useful as opposed to their fellow science students.

The reason why you are allowed to post is because we exist, was it not for us, humanity would still think the world is flat and that if you were to sail too far, you would then fall off the planet...

But then again, ignorance is bliss I guess.
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by Table dust
my neg is but a drop in the neg ocean


Lol why so negative though, i mean 193 users took the time to neg my post...it's a lil excessive.
Reply 270
Original post by Alevelsareboring
Lol why so negative though, i mean 193 users took the time to neg my post...it's a lil excessive.


Many decided to spare you, I'd be happy with that.
Original post by jokosor
Please come and take my AQA Biology Unit 5 paper or chemistry. I'd love you to do these. X+Y my ass, with that logic you would not even get 1 MARK, NOT EVEN 1 MARK in the M4 exam, yeah that's right, NOT EVEN 1 and don't deny it. The large number of negs proves your ignorance.

Why is it that arts students get screwed over when they try apply for jobs in IB unless they attended unis like Oxbridge? Because past experiences proved they lack the mental power to take on the job, simple. And you know what's funny? That majority of these jobs require a standard knowledge of maths, and yet, you people get ****ted on.

At the end of the day the world needs the people that can bring facts, not those who blag. Anyone can blag, my littler sister can. But let me ask you this, why do arts students continuosly feel endangered when compared to their fellow science students? Why must they always try to defend themselves and their decision of studying arts? Why is it that the most competitive courses are in the sciences? Why is it that no one would trust politicians with their lives and yet people are ready to risk their lives if a doctor tells them they will be fine? Why is it that ambitious parents push their children towards sciences? Why is it that smart people are always compared to Einstein but never to Shakespeare? Why is it that this list http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1567544/Top-100-living-geniuses.html is dominated by scientists? Because arts students are regarded as less intelligent and thus incapable of accomplishing anything useful as opposed to their fellow science students.

The reason why you are allowed to post is because we exist, was it not for us, humanity would still think the world is flat and that if you were sail too far, you would then fall off the planet...

But then again, ignorance is bliss I guess.


Lol i'm laughing hysterically at how personal you people are taking this thread...and since when was this about Einstein and what science offers? This is A LEVEL, to be honest i don't really give two flying seagulls what Issac Newton did or the fact that he is a scientist because it's not relevant to this argument.

Alot of you people are taking this thread a lot further than it should be and making this debate about irrelevant issues. All i'm saying is that the skills used to achieve an A* in an English Literature exam are better than the skills used to get an A* in a Maths/Science exam.

This thread has been going on for ages now and it's got me thinking, maybe these two subjects aren't really that comparable, but for you to try and put down us "arts students" is plain stupid. Most students who achieve the A/A* at GCSE in English do the clean sweep. They usually achieve similar results in Maths/Science so it is not because we are scared of Science it's because we prefer Lit.

In reply to your other post, yeah this site is full of a bunch of Science/Maths nerds anyway so i guess 193 negs is to be expected.
Reply 272
Original post by Alevelsareboring
Lol i'm laughing hysterically at how personal you people are taking this thread...and since when was this about Einstein and what science offers? This is A LEVEL, to be honest i don't really give two flying seagulls what Issac Newton did or the fact that he is a scientist because it's not relevant to this argument.

Alot of you people are taking this thread a lot further than it should be and making this debate about irrelevant issues. All i'm saying is that the skills used to achieve an A* in an English Literature exam are better than the skills used to get an A* in a Maths/Science exam.

This thread has been going on for ages now and it's got me thinking, maybe these two subjects aren't really that comparable, but for you to try and put down us "arts students" is plain stupid. Most students who achieve the A/A* at GCSE in English do the clean sweep. They usually achieve similar results in Maths/Science so it is not because we are scared of Science it's because we prefer Lit.

In reply to your other post, yeah this site is full of a bunch of Science/Maths nerds anyway so i guess 193 negs is to be expected.


LOL but the people who are taking these subjects are the ones who are going to be the next scientists so my arguement stands. GCSE is bullox, A-level is a different game and you so called english students have proven again and again that you are unable of working as efficiently as science students, that can only mean that you are not as smart.

What clean sweep are you talking about? Ohhh you are talking of the classic student that gets A*s and tries to do sciences at A-level, only to fail and run off to subjects like English. Yeah I know someone like that, she dropped Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Maths so she could take English, History, French and something else. She now has an offer from cambridge and yet failed so miserably in the sciences. That's the REAL general trend and not whatever you are talking about because the opposite is so rare that it's negligible.

There was a ranking of the hardest subjects and guess what? Sciences topped it. You can't back up any of your points, plain simple. There are loads of English students on TSR but they were smart enough to not support you because what you stated is ludicrous. What skills do you use in English? Do tell. Reality is that they can be easily achieved unlike the skills that we have to apply.
You can blag your way through English, many have stated this, yet you can't do the same in maths, chemistry or biology, heck they might even mark you down for it.
How would you feel if you had to sit an exam that hasn't go a thing to do with the syllabus? Go through the M2 or M4 threads, you English students will never face the same thing. We just sit there and wonder how the heck we are supposed to solve something that we have never seen, we have got to think on the spot and fast. Think about 5 or more different approaches and intelligently choose the safest one. It's harder than it looks and like that is not enough we are not fighting only against the paper but also against our calculators, because silly mistakes can take place at any time. So we also have to be accurate and are forced to double check, it is time consuming and nerve racking at times. it is no more X+Y, it becomes X...Y, yeah you have got to guess the connection between the two numbers and therefore you are forced to think outside the box. Reality is that unlike in English, maths is not predictable and thus we are always prepared for the worst, making sure we go above and beyond the syllabus. This is only maths, I won't even go into chemistry or biology.

Our grades are objective while yours are subjective, so how can you prove that your A* is really an A*? It's common for English students to send their papers for remark only to find out they dropped or gained 30 marks, that's stupid.
(edited 11 years ago)
It seems that the general consensus is that they are different and therefore require different types of intelligence.

HOWEVER. I am hugely dyslexic and found English very hard, although I managed to do decently well in my exams. This was largely due to practice at all the factual stuff like presentation etc but with the concepts side of things about what the writer was trying to say I was always decent at which I completely attribute to the part of my brain that understood science.

In contrast, many people I knew who were insanely good at literature could never get their head around basic maths or physics.. which makes me feel that they are more difficult.
Original post by johnharris19944
Yeah its harder then English language but not English Literature it depends on the student taking the subject. Some people are brilliant at Maths and Science but **** stink at Literature whilst others ace literature but cant do maths to save their life its all down to the individual. Clearly English Language wasn't your strong point considering you misspelt Naivety and interesting as well as tried...

Its all down to the student neither subject is harder then the other. Unbiased point of view here i find Sciences and Literature equally tough. They require different things though.


I got an A for english language and a B for english litreature at gcse mate. I apologise for the spelling mistakes, but i really dont give a **** about them, ive got a life etc..
Original post by Alevelsareboring
Lol i'm laughing hysterically at how personal you people are taking this thread...and since when was this about Einstein and what science offers? This is A LEVEL, to be honest i don't really give two flying seagulls what Issac Newton did or the fact that he is a scientist because it's not relevant to this argument.

Alot of you people are taking this thread a lot further than it should be and making this debate about irrelevant issues. All i'm saying is that the skills used to achieve an A* in an English Literature exam are better than the skills used to get an A* in a Maths/Science exam.

This thread has been going on for ages now and it's got me thinking, maybe these two subjects aren't really that comparable, but for you to try and put down us "arts students" is plain stupid. Most students who achieve the A/A* at GCSE in English do the clean sweep. They usually achieve similar results in Maths/Science so it is not because we are scared of Science it's because we prefer Lit.

In reply to your other post, yeah this site is full of a bunch of Science/Maths nerds anyway so i guess 193 negs is to be expected.


What a word to use. Nerds.. The again the socity is pushed forward by nerds. Facebook, Internet, techonolgy . Why do ppl call us nerds, they are jealous for our intelligence and our spirit of not giving up on anything. Nerds will spend hours and hours on solving a problem.. What would a literature student do ? Oh wait he. Hasn't got any problems to solve.


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by dada55
Some people are better at Maths/Science while others are better at Essay subjects like English. There are a few that are good at both.

I find Maths/Science easier then English lit, not neccesarily because it's easier for me but because analysing what a author wrote is pointless and they never meant the stuff that people come up with. This frustrates me having to make up some random "analytical skill based" fiction to hopefully score some marks based on what some bored to death examiner gives you. Even if you do the perfect essay, you probbably still won't get full marks due to subjective marking and you will still never know how well you did until results come out.
For English lit, you also don't have to revise that much either, just go on the day and make up some random stuff the author never meant and you can get an average grade.

This is just my biased opinion, when I just done 11/12 of my gcse summer exams, 2 being English lit.


load of crap. yes it is down to interpretation, but there are right and wrong answer, one must also understand not only the text but the social-historical context, the writer himself, the analysis of critics and so on... I wouldn't say lit is harder than maths and i wouldn't say maths is harder . To me it may be, but i know people who wizz through a-level papers for maths getting top grades, but struggle with understanding an analysing texts. I'm good at analysing but if i'm to do maths i have to put in a lot more effort than i needed to for other subjects....

Lemme ask everyone a question. Why do you hear these stories of young kids getting A*'s in maths papers, but never the same with english? My take on it is that to understand literature, you need to be emotionally developed and have an understanding of this world, i doubt a 9 year old would understand Fitzgerald's consistent portrayal of hedonism in the Great Gatsby... With maths there is no need for emotional maturity, its just straight numbers
Reply 277
I think it's quite stupid to compare these two subjects in the first place. They require completely different skills to be good at them. I'll admit English Literature has really helped me in other subjects like History as I became more confident in analysing things. And it's not just about the "significance of the colour blue" or whatever, there's lots of research into the context of the period the text was written in so we can understand how literature has developed. But, I have never studied A Level Science, and in my opinion the only person who can give a balanced view on this would be someone sitting both subjects a A Level.
Original post by TheEssence
load of crap. yes it is down to interpretation, but there are right and wrong answer, one must also understand not only the text but the social-historical context, the writer himself, the analysis of critics and so on... I wouldn't say lit is harder than maths and i wouldn't say maths is harder . To me it may be, but i know people who wizz through a-level papers for maths getting top grades, but struggle with understanding an analysing texts. I'm good at analysing but if i'm to do maths i have to put in a lot more effort than i needed to for other subjects....

Lemme ask everyone a question. Why do you hear these stories of young kids getting A*'s in maths papers, but never the same with english? My take on it is that to understand literature, you need to be emotionally developed and have an understanding of this world, i doubt a 9 year old would understand Fitzgerald's consistent portrayal of hedonism in the Great Gatsby... With maths there is no need for emotional maturity, its just straight numbers


You meant logic ?


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App
Original post by TheEssence
load of crap. yes it is down to interpretation, but there are right and wrong answer, one must also understand not only the text but the social-historical context, the writer himself, the analysis of critics and so on... I wouldn't say lit is harder than maths and i wouldn't say maths is harder . To me it may be, but i know people who wizz through a-level papers for maths getting top grades, but struggle with understanding an analysing texts. I'm good at analysing but if i'm to do maths i have to put in a lot more effort than i needed to for other subjects....

Lemme ask everyone a question. Why do you hear these stories of young kids getting A*'s in maths papers, but never the same with english? My take on it is that to understand literature, you need to be emotionally developed and have an understanding of this world, i doubt a 9 year old would understand Fitzgerald's consistent portrayal of hedonism in the Great Gatsby... With maths there is no need for emotional maturity, its just straight numbers


I ll give some university maths paper if u found a number in it don't use it, it's probably the page number.


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Quick Reply