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Working Title: Source Title: Fine arts, useless degree or hidden gateway? Author: Heather Hamilton Source: [|link]

Works Cited: Hamilton, Heather. " Fine arts, useless degree or hidden gateway?." //The Northern Ligh//t. The Northern Light RSS. Wordpress, 1 May 2013. Web. 10 June 2014. Summary:

In Hamilton's essay regarding art degrees, she argues against the __widely held belief__ that art majors are useless. Her premise stems from a personal bias, seeing that she has several friends with art degrees, __such as__ sculpture, and she is writing a an article on a university website. It is no secret that students who pursue a STEM degree will, more often than not, obtain a healthy six figure salary within a year of graduating, __on the other hand__ in terms of monetary gain, an arts major won't get you much. Hamilton; __however__, notes that those who choose to major in the arts, do so out of an " undying urge and need to express [oneself]". __ According to Hamilton __, person who gets an arts degree may not belong to that exclusive one percent of Americans, but may ultimately achieve their dreams by following through with their passions in life. __Additionally__, Hamilton notes that there are over "200 potential careers" from an arts major, __ including, __ but not limited to, "advertising art director to art librarian, and jewelry designer to combat photographer. __Although__ there are many options, some lucrative, some not, but most fulfilling , arts majors are still seen as feeble. Hamilton suggests it is due "   shift in cultural mindset"; people often pursue careers they deem to be prestigious or with the option of climbing that nebulous ladder of success. __ In short __ , __ at first glance __ , art majors do seem useless, __ but upon closer inspection __ , they can be fulfilling. Hamilton only presents one side to her argument and fails to provide any negative consequences of pursuing an arts career, for example, the amount of debt from school couples with a poor salary or life as a so called "starving artist".