English Studies: An Introduction to the Discipline

by Bruce McComiskey (Editor)

Well-known scholars in the field explore the important qualities and functions of English studies' constituent disciplines--Ellen Barton on linguistics and discourse analysis, Janice Lauer on rhetoric and composition, Katharine Haake on creative writing, Richard Taylor on literature and literary criticism, Amy Elias on critical theory and cultural studies, and Robert Yagelski on English education--and the productive differences and similarities among them that define English studies' continuing importance.

Faculty and students in both undergraduate and graduate courses will find the volume an invaluable overview of an increasingly fragmented field, as will department administrators who are responsible for evaluating the contributions of diverse faculty members but whose academic training may be specific to one discipline.

Each chapter of English Studies is an argument for the value--the right to equal status--of each individual discipline among all English studies disciplines, yet the book is also an argument for disciplinary integration.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Textbooks

339 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Bruce McComiskey is Professor of Rhetoric and Writing in the English department. He specializes in ancient and modern rhetorics, composition theory and history, and the discipline of English studies. He is also the Director of the Center for Rhetoric in Society.

Reviews

[Jennifer DuBose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the chapters on linguistics and English education. The others were either too pretentious or were a bit boring as they were just surveys.

[Woody · Rating 5 out of 5]

great survey of field. wide scope, but digs down on important differences and debates.

[Jordan Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very informative. Was a textbook for my masters program and I had a good time reading most of it. A chapter or two were unnecessarily wordy but that’s common in college leveled text.

Recommend if you are interested in the English language and how it is used and taught in an educational manner.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read everything but the linguistics chapter. While I liked this book for a few reasons and didn't really dislike it, I think that its subject matter gets in the way of itself. By trying to define something explicitly difficult to define, the book starts out strong. However, some of the chapters are strong while others read as a quick-fix list of where to go if you want more information on this particular discipline. I enjoyed most the introduction and the chapter on creative writing--though, as we discussed in the class I read this for, that chapter focused too narrowly on creative writing pedagogy. The questions that this book raises are important, and had it provided stronger arguments to lead more towards beginning to answer some of them, perhaps I would have given it four over three stars. I do understand that the book is situated in time in a way that these questions are not easy to answer and providing answers perhaps would have seemed foolish considering the evolving nature of "English Studies", but the depressing outlook that it gives at times eclipsed the book's important history lessons of How We Got Here.

[Joanne Gass · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, reading to prepare to teach a new class, and this one is the main text for the English majors who will be taking the class. A very readable book which describes the paths one can follow in English studies and also examines the tensions between the disciplines in the discipline as well as the challenges to each one.

[Matthew Cirilli · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a text for my current master's class. The book has some excellent essays in it as well as some that are not nearly so excellent. It really is a mixed bag, but worth looking through if you are interested in literature studies.