1st Edition

Studying English A Guide for Literature Students

    182 Pages
    by Routledge

    182 Pages
    by Routledge

    Clearly focussed on the needs of students, Robert Eaglestone and Jonathan Beecher Field have revised the best-selling Doing English specifically for English literature courses in America.

    Studying English presents the ideas and debates that shape literary studies in America today. This overview of the discipline explains not only what students need to know, but how and why English came to be the way it is. This uniquely comprehensive guide to the subject gives students the background they need to understand and enjoy their studies more fully.

    The book covers arguments about criticism and theory, value, the canon, Shakespeare, authorial intention, figural language, narrative, writing, identity, politics and the skills that are learned from studying English for the world of work.

    In a clear and engaging way, Robert Eaglestone and Jonathan Beecher Field:

    • Orient you, by exploring what it is to study English in America now.
    • Equip you, by explaining the key ideas and trends in English in context.
    • Enable you to begin higher level study.

    Acknowledgements

    List of figures

    A Note for Students

    Chapter 1 Studying English

    Chapter 2 Where did English come from?

    Chapter 3 Studying English Today

    Chapter 4 English and ‘disciplinary consciousness’

    Chapter 5 Critical attitudes

    Chapter 6 Literature, value and the canon

    Chapter 7 Castle Shakespeare

    Chapter 8 The author is dead?

    Chapter 9 Metaphors and figures of speech

    Chapter 10 Narrative and closure

    Chapter 11 Creative writing and critical rewriting

    Chapter 12 English, identity and politics

    Chapter 13 Why study English?

    Conclusion

    Further Reading

    Biography

    Robert Eaglestone is Professor of Contemporary Literature and Thought at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK.

    Jonathan Beecher Field is Associate Professor of English at Clemson University, USA.

    'Designed to help the student "think like a critic," Eaglestone and Field's splendid new book Studying English will also help them enjoy the process. Students--and their professors--should celebrate the arrival of a book that will make their lives easier, more efficient, and more productive.' Geoffrey Harpham, Professor of English, Tulane University, USA