Scholar's Life

 Scholar's Life

Introduction

First of all if we ask a question that what is scholar? Answer is that ' A learned or erudite person especially one who has profound a knowledge of a particular subject'. Scholar masterly gets some knowledge of his subject of choice. Literary means connected with writing study or appreciation of literature. So, literary scholar means a scholar one who study or get knowledge of literature. The behavior of scholar, language of scholar, thoughts of scholar, everything is different than other, so let’s know more details about the life of scholar. 

Scholar’s Life

 Literary scholar never stops being a scholar. Today most of them earn their living as members of teaching faculties in colleges and universities throughout the world. Their responsibility is quite remote from the pursuit of knowledge. They have to do many other works being as teacher, administrators, academic committee members, etc. Not only these but they have to do their private role as spouses, parents, family, social works, etc. In the busy schedule the literary awareness of the literary scholar keeps twenty-four- hour days. It means their ideas and thoughts are going on related with their work. They have to do multitasking all the time whether in school, university or at home. So, as a literary scholar they have to be alert whole days.  It is now almost a century since literary study began to be professionalized. For scholars there is no good environment in which they study only as scholar.

 According to Wayne Booth, for instance, The Scholar regretted the proliferation of dissertation topics that concentrate on the formal aspects of literary texts "isolated from the influences of ethics, politics, history, logic, dialectic, and even grammar." The scope of English studies now also includes writing theory and pedagogy. At the same time meaning of the word 'meaning' have been drastically redefined. It is eternally slippery word.  Now a days, scholarly activity become for gathering figures rather than knowledge. The scores of conferences are just remaining; only quantity is lying, lost of quality. The study of literature remains at base an intensely private pursuit. No one read papers before an audience to see his or her original ideas on a literary topic printed in a learned journal. Right Intentions of conferences are to love of books and a consuming interest in the intellectual and esthetic questions from different backgrounds and tastes. In scholarship there is no prejudice born of national origin, creed, color or social class. They always live in truest democracy of all, the democracy of the intellect. Scholars are working together for the benefit of society, not for private aggrandizement. Scholar always think in different ways as compare to common man, always think about the better society while common man think about his personal profits. So, from these many ways scholar is very different than others.

Two Principles of Scholar’s Life

1) Let others know what you are working on. Don't worry about boring them; if you are genuinely excited, your excitement is bound to be contagious. True scholar always opens up his works or his ideas that what he think and how he think. He never hides his literary works rather than he presents it. In this technology era, scholar shares his works through digital tools and because of that more people can read it on easier way. This is one of the great benefits of this techno-era. And as a scholar, he must have to use it.

2) Keep up with what other people are doing, not only in your own field but in others as well. As a scholar, he must have to be aware of his time and society. He must have to be closer observer, so he comes to know or understand that what is going on in and around us. As a literary scholar, he must have to know everything related with literature but only that much is not enough. He has to observers every field, what's going there. So, these two principles are very important to being a scholar.

Other things related to scholar’s Life

Scholars are sustained by desirability of fair play, self- respect, and professional morale. Sometimes scholars are discouraged and may share the belief, so prevalent in the word outside, that our achievements have an unreal quality, or if they are real, at least they are futile: that they add nothing to the sum of human wisdom or happiness. Yet if scholars are unappreciated and undervalued, the fault is partly theirs. They gladly learn, but outside the classroom many of them are curiously uninterested in teaching. Many modern critics and scholars have developed the habit of talking only to each other, neglecting the broader audience of educated people. It is scholar’s responsibility to seize every opportunity to communicate with the lay audience, as in book reviews or in articles and essays in the popular press on history, biography and Culture. To educate students at all levels to read, write, and think, developing in them the intellectual curious habit of mind that casts a disinterested eye over all important issues, appreciating their complexities; and to lead students by extensive reading and critical analysis of recognized writers and thinkers, ancient and contemporary, inside and outside the mainstream, to seek, in Matthew Arnold's words, "The best that is known and thought in the world". And the purpose of creating in their own lives a 'current of new and fresh ideas' appropriate in this current time. And current time is related with technology so scholars and students of literature also have to use these current tools of technology, to walk with time. And because of that people understand and appreciate the works of scholars, use of those works in betterment of society. (Altick)

Conclusion

Thus, to be a scholar is not an easy task, and the life of scholar is much busier than others. They have to always be ready to do many works with at a time. And for that the skill of multitasking is very important to acquire as scholar. Because they have to do many works at a time and their minds are always alert. Any common man can’t be scholar; it is an intellectual activity which requires sound knowledge as well as understanding.

“They're so cold, these scholars!

May lightning strike their food

So, that their mouths learn how

To eat fire! "

-Friedrich Nietzsche

Bibliography

Altick, Richard, Fenstermaker. The Art of Literary Research. n.d.