Studying English literature : a practical guide / Tory Young.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Young, Tory.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English literature--Study and teaching (Higher).

English literature.

Physical Description:

xi, 172 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2008.

Summary:

This essential guide provides the answers every first-year English student wants to know about how to approach the subject. It explains the history of literary criticism in an easily digestible form and offers clear advice on how to read and write effectively, with many interactive features, key tips and examples.

Contents:

1.2 Some practicalities: how to use this book 2

1.3 Reading and writing in your life 6

1.4 A very brief history of writing and reading 9

1.5 What do novels know? 13

1.6 Literacy in contemporary society 15

1.7 Stories, narrative and identity 18

2.1 Writing as reading? 21

2.2 A love of literature 23

2.3 The discipline of English 24

2.4 The new English student 27

2.5 Plagiarism: too complete a loss of self 36

2.6 How to read: ways of avoiding plagiarism 39

2.7 What to read 41

2.8 Some recommended websites 44

Chapter 3 Argument

3.1 Having something to say 48

3.2 Rethinking dialogue: Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhhin (1895-1975) 50

3.3 Stories, arguments and democracy 52

3.4 The folded paper: how to stand at a distance and start a dialogue with a text 54

3.5 What is rhetoric? 61

3.6 A very brief survey of Classical rhetoric 62

3.7 Wayne Booth (1921-2005) and The Rhetoric of Fiction 71

3.8 More ways of discovering arguments 73

Chapter 4 Essays

4.1 What are essays for? 79

4.2 What is an essay? 80

4.3 How do you think you write an essay? 88

4.4 The stages of writing an essay 88

4.5 Thinking of or about the question 89

4.6 Research 93

4.7 Making a plan 102

4.8 The thesis statement 105

4.9 Writing the main body of the essay 106

4.10 Beginnings and endings 108

4.11 Editing 110

4.12 Finally, a frequently asked question: 'Is it OK to use "I"?' 117

Chapter 5 Sentences

5.1 The most common errors made in student assignments 121

5.2 Errors involving clauses 122

5.3 Errors involving commas 125

5.4 Errors involving apostrophes 128

5.5 Errors involving pronouns 131

5.6 Errors involving verbs 133

5.7 Errors involving words 138

6.1 The MLA system 143

6.2 Citations in the MLA style 144

6.3 Quotations 148

6.4 Bibliographies and Works Cited in the MLA style 149

Appendix Samples essay by Alex Hobbs 156.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780521690140

0521690145

9780521869812

0521869811

OCLC:

191891605