Introduction To The Study Of English Literature

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.

An Introduction to the Study of Literature sets forth, in a simple and lucid manner, the issues and questions to be kept in mind while studying the vast canon of English literature. It takes much of its substance from a series of twenty - five lectures delivered before University Extension audiences at the Municipal Technical Institute, West Ham and the Polytechnic, Woolwich. This book compresses the matter from these lectures, along with a good deal of additional information, to provide a compact and handy guide that should prove extremely useful to new students of literature as well as veterans in the subject. Comprising ways and methods to study various genres such as poetry, prose fiction, drama, essay and short story, it covers every facet of literature. It also analyses the task of critiquing literature to bring out the necessity of studying the subject. A must - read for all literature aficionados.

This undergraduate textbook introduces English literature students to the application of linguistics to literary analysis.

Sweeping across two millennia and every literary genre, acclaimed scholar and biographer Jonathan Bate provides a dazzling introduction to English Literature. The focus is wide, shifting from the birth of the novel and the brilliance of English comedy to the deep Englishness of landscape poetry and the ethnic diversity of Britain's Nobel literature laureates. It goes on to provide a more in-depth analysis, with close readings from an extraordinary scene in King Lear to a war poem by Carol Ann Duffy, and a series of striking examples of how literary texts change as they are transmitted from writer to reader. The narrative embraces not only the major literary movements such as Romanticism and Modernism, together with the most influential authors including Chaucer, Donne, Johnson, Wordsworth, Austen, Dickens and Woolf, but also little-known stories such as the identity of the first English woman poet to be honoured with a collected edition of her works. Written with the flair and passion for which Jonathan Bate has become renowned, this book is the perfect Very Short Introduction for all readers and students of the incomparable literary heritage of these islands. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

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.

Studying Literature in English provides the ideal point of entry for students of English Literature. This book is an accessible guide for Literature students around the world. This book: Grounds literature and the study of literature throughout by referencing a selection of well-known novels, plays and poems Examines the central questions that readers ask when confronting literary texts, and shows how these make literary theory meaningful and necessary Links British, American and postcolonial literature into a coherent whole Discusses film as literature and provides the basic conceptual tools in order to study film within a literature-course framework Places particular emphasis on interdisciplinarity by examining the connections between the study of literature and other disciplines Provides an annotated list of further reading From principal literary genres, periods and theory, to strategies for reading, research and essay-writing, Dominic Rainsford provides an engaging introduction to the most important aspects of studying literature in English. This book is invaluable reading for anyone studying literature in English.