Includes bibliographical references (p. [402]-414) and index.

PROLOGUE: CHANGING 'ENGLISH' NOW Crossing borders, establishing boundaries Texts in contexts: literature in history Seeing through theory English Literature and Creative Writing English Language Teaching Technologising the subject: actual and virtual communities Forewords! Some propositions and provocations PART ONE: INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH STUDIES Preview 1.1 Which 'Englishes'? One English language, literature, culture - or many historically geographically socially by medium Summary: one and many 1.2 'Doing English' - ten essential actions | Getting your bearings Turning up, taking part: lectures and seminars Taking and making notes Close reading - wide reading Library, web, 'home' - an ongoing cycle Taking responsibility: referencing and plagiarism Writing an essay to make a mark Doing a presentation to prompt a response Revision - preparing to take an exam Seriously enjoy studying English! 1.3 Fields of study: a preliminary mapping Language Literature Culture, communication and media Summary: keeping on course and making your own way PART TWO: CRITICAL & CREATIVE STRATEGIES FOR ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION Preview 2.1 Initial analysis: how to approach a text Opening moves: Notice-Pattern-Contrast-Feeling Core questions: What, Who, When. Where, How, Why and What if? Worked and played example: William Blake's 'London' 2.2 Full interpretation: informed reading, adventurous writing Interpretative framework and analytical checklist Poetry + Prose fiction + Play Script + Critical essay + 2.3 Longer projects: lines of enquiry and sample study patterns From vague idea to viable project Working and playing from the Anthology Further strategies for critical-creative writing 2.4 Overview of textual activities as learning strategies More kinds of critical-creative writing PART THREE: THEORETICAL POSITIONS, PRACTICAL APPROACHES Preview 3.1 Theory in Practice - a working model to play with 3.2 Words on the page - Practical Criticism and (old) New Criticism 3.3 Devices and effects - Formalism into Functionalism 3.4 Mind and person - Psychological approaches 3.5 Class and community - Marxism, Cultural Materialism and New Historicism 3.6 Gender and sexuality - Feminism, Masculinity and Queer theory 3.7 Relativities - Poststructuralism and Postmodernism ... 3.8 Ethnicities - Postcolonialism and Multiculturalism 3.9 The new Eclecticism? Ethics, Aesthetics, Ecology ... PART FOUR: KEY TERMS, CORE TOPICS PART FIVE: ANTHOLOGY Preview 5.1 Poetries 5.1.1 Early English verses Old English lament (anon.) 'Wulf and Eadwacer' Medieval lyric (anon.), 'Maiden in the mor lay' Geoffrey Chaucer, The General Prologue Sir Thomas Wyatt, 'They flee from me' 5.1.2 Sonnets by various hands William Shakespeare, 'My mistress' eyes' (Sonnet 130) John Milton, 'When I consider how my light is spent' Patience Agbabi, 'Problem Pages' (responses to Shakespeare's and Milton's sonnets) Gerard Manley Hopkins, 'The Windhover - To Christ our Lord' Rupert Brooke, 'The Soldier'; with Winston Churchill Ursula Fanthorpe, 'Knowing about Sonnets' (response to Brooke) 5.1.3 Heroics and mock-heroics John Milton, Paradise Lost Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock Elizabeth Hands, 'A Poem ... by a Servant Maid' George Gordon, Lord Byron, The Vision of Judgement 5.1.4 Poetry that answers back Robyn Bolam, 'Gruoch' (Lady Macbeth) Tom Leonard, 'This is thi six a clock news' Chan Wei Meng, 'I spik Inglissh' Mario Petrucci, 'The Complete Letter Guide', 'Mutations', 'Reflections', 'Trench' 5.1.5 Performing poetry, singing culture Seminole chants: 'Song for the Dying'; 'Song for Bringing a Child into the World' Patience Agbabi, 'The Word' Queen, 'Bohemian Rhapsody' pio, '7 daiz' The Flobots, 'No Handlebars' Philip Gross, 'Severn Song' 5.2 Proses 5.2.1 Short stories, fables and flash fiction (complete) Rudyard Kipling, The Story of Muhammad Din Don Barthelme, The Death of Edward Lear Margaret Atwood, Happy Endings Angela Carter, The Werewolf Amy Tan, 'Feathers from a thousand li away' Dave Eggers, 'What the Water Feels Like to the Fishes' 5.2.2 Slave narratives by name Aphra Behn, Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe ('I call him Friday') Geoff Holdsworth, 'I call him Tuesday Afternoon' J.M. Coetzee, Foe 5.2.3 Romance revisited Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Will Self, Dorian 5.2.4 Science and Fantasy Fiction - genre and gender Phillip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Ursula LeGuin, The Left Hand of Darkness Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, Good Omens 5.2.5 War on - of - Terror Ian McEwan, 'Only love and then oblivion', The Guardian Arundhati Roy, 'The Algebra of Infinite Justice', The Guardian Nick Barton, Voices from the Battlefields of Afghanistan - from the air Simon Panter, Voices from the Battlefields of Afghanistan - on the ground 5.2.6 Media messages and street texts News: headlines, captions, intros, outros Personal and not-so-personal ads Cash-machine and check-out exchanges Answer-phone message, call-centre script Street: signs, graffiti, word-art 5.3 Voices 5.3.1 Dramatising 'English' in Education Student talk amongst friends (transcript) Willy Russell, Educating Rita Lloyd Jones, Mr Pip Jeremy Jacobson, 'The Post-Modern Lecture' 5.3.2 Novel voices Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice Amos Tutuola, The Palm-Wine Drinkard Roddy Doyle, Paddy Clarke ha ha ha James Kelman, How late it was, how late 5.3.3 Voice-play, dream-drama Dylan Thomas, Under Milk Wood Samuel Beckett, Not I Athol Fugard, Boesman and Lena Martin McDonagh, The Pillowman Alice Oswald, Dart 5.3.4 'I'dentity in the balance - selves and others John Clare, 'I am - yet what I am ...' Emily Dickinson, 'I'm Nobody' Adrienne Rich, 'Dialogue' Alan Hollinghurst, The Swimming-Pool Library 5.4 Crossings 5.4.1 Daffodils? William Wordsworth, 'I wandered lonely as a cloud' Dorothy Wordsworth, Grasmere Journals Lynn Peters, 'Why Dorothy Wordsworth is Not as Famous as her Brother 'Heineken refreshes the poets other beers can't reach 5.4.2 Mapping Journeys Harry Beck, first Map of the London Underground (1931) Bill Bryson, Notes from a Small Island Caryl Phillips, Crossing the River Billy Marshall-Stoneking, 'Passage' Kathleen Jamie, 'Pathologies - A startling tour of our bodies' 5.4.3 Translations / Transformations Brian Friel, Translations Jo Shapcott and Rainer Maria Rilke, 'Roses' (English and French) W. G. Sebald, Austerlitz 5.4.4 Versions of aging May Sarton, As We Are Now 'Clarins is the Problem-solver' William Shakespeare, 'Devouring Time' (Sonnet 19) Dennis Scott, 'Uncle Time' 5.4.5 Epitaphs and (almost) last words Epitaphs by Pope, Gray, Burns, and others Charles Dickens, Great Expectations Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart Toni Morrison, Beloved Grace Nicholls, 'Tropical Death' PART SIX: TAKING IT ALL FURTHER - ENGLISH AND THE REST OF YOUR LIFE Preview 6.1 Living, learning, earning What now? What next? What if ...? 6.2 English again, afresh, otherwise English and or as other subjects 6.3 Further study Postgraduate courses in and around English 6.4 Into work Transformable skills, transformative knowledges Career pathways and interesting jobs for 'English'graduates Towards application and interview 6.5 Play as re-creation Afterwords - a postlude APPENDICES a Grammatical and linguistic terms - a quick reference b An alphabet of speech sounds c Chronology of English by period and movement d Maps of English in Britain, the USA, and the world Bibliography Relevant journals and useful addresses Index Afterwords ...