ABSTRACT

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.

part I|49 pages

How We Read

chapter 1|8 pages

Studying English

chapter 2|12 pages

Where did English come from?

chapter 3|10 pages

Studying English today

chapter 4|10 pages

English and disciplinary consciousness

chapter 5|8 pages

Critical attitudes

part II|29 pages

What We Read

chapter 6|12 pages

Literature, value and the canon

chapter 7|16 pages

Castle Shakespeare

part III|37 pages

Reading, Writing and Meaning

chapter 8|12 pages

The author is dead?

chapter 9|8 pages

Metaphors and figures of speech

chapter 10|8 pages

Narrative and closure

chapter 11|8 pages

Creative writing and critical rewriting

part IV|29 pages

English and You

chapter 12|12 pages

English, identity and politics

chapter 13|10 pages

Why study English?

chapter |6 pages

Conclusion

The importance of English