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.

This handbook designed specifically to support students and teachers of English language, literature and culture by combining the functions of study guide, critical dictionary and text anthology.

This introduction to the tools required for literary study provides all the skills, background and critical knowledge which students require to approach their study of literature with confidence.

Studying English Literature is a unique guide for undergraduates beginning to study the discipline of literature and those who are thinking of doing so. Unlike books that provide a survey of literary history or non-subject specific manuals that offer rigid guidelines on how to write essays, Studying English Literature invites students to engage with the subject's history and theory whilst at the same time offering information about reading, researching and writing about literature within the context of a university. The book is practical yet not patronizing: for example, whilst the discussion of plagiarism provides clear guidelines on how not to commit this offence, it also considers the difficulties students experience finding their own 'voice' when writing and provokes reflection on the value of originality and the concepts of adaptation, appropriation and intertextuality in literature. Above all, the book prizes the idea of argument rather than insisting upon formulaic essay plans, and gives many ways of finding something to say as you read and when you write, in chapters on Reading, Argument, Essays, Sentences and References.

Studying English Literature offers a link between pre-degree study and undergraduate study by introducing students to: - the history of English literature from the Renaissance to the present; - the key literary genres (poetry, prose, and drama); - a range of techniques, tools and terms useful in the analysis of literature; - critical and theoretical approaches to literature. It is designed to improve close critical reading skills and evidence-based discussion; encourage reflection on texts' themes, issues and historical contexts; and demonstrate how criticism and literary theories enable richer and more nuanced interpretations. This one-stop resource for beginning students combines a historical survey of English literature with a practical introduction to the main forms of literary writing. Case studies of key texts offer practical demonstrations of the tools and approaches discussed. Guided further reading and a glossary of terms used provide further support for the student. Introducing a wide range of literary writing, this is an indispensable guide for any student beginning their study of English Literature, providing the tools, techniques, approaches and terminology needed to succeed at university.

Aimed at students in the final year of secondary education or beginning degrees, this immensely readable book provides the ideal introduction to studying English literature. The book will: * orientate you, by explaining what you are doing when you 'do English' * equip you for future study, by introducing current ideas literature, context and interpretation * enable you to bridge the gap between 'traditional' and 'theoretical' approaches to literature, showing why English has had to change and what those changes mean for you. Doing English deals with the exciting new ideas and contentious debates that make up English today, covering a broad range of issues from the history of literary studies and the canon to Shakespeare, politics and the future of English. The second edition has been revised throughout and includes a new chapter on narrative. Robert Eaglestone's refreshingly clear explanations and advice make this volume essential reading for all those planning to 'do English' at advanced or degree level.

Doing Englishexamines the evolution of English as a subject and questions the assumptions that lie behind approaches to literature. The author deals with the exciting new ideas and contentious debates that inform English education today, covering a range of issues from critical approaches to value, the canon and Shakespeare, to cultural heritage and national identity and on to the future of English. In response to requests from readers, this fully revised second edition includes a new chapter on narrative. This volume is an essential purchase for all those planning to 'do English' at degree level.