Doing English: A Guide for Literature Students

by Robert Eaglestone

Doing English presents the ideas and debates that shape how we ‘do’ English today, explaining arguments about the value of literature, the canon, Shakespeare, theory, politics and the subject itself.

In his lucid and engaging style, Robert Eaglestone:

orients students by encouraging them to think about what they are doing when they study literature;
bridges the gap between English at A-level and International Baccalaureate to English in Higher Education by exploring traditional and theoretical approaches to literature and explaining key ideas and trends;
explains to students why English, more than any other subject, is the cause of public debate and concern in the media and amongst politicians and educators.

This popular and classic guide has been fully updated throughout to take account of recent research, educational changes and current events, and it now includes a chapter called ‘Why Study English?’ – showing how and why the skills taught by English are transferable to a range of careers. This immensely readable book is the ideal introduction to studying English Literature.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Literary Criticism, Literature

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 23, 1999

About the author

Robert Eaglestone (born 1968) is a British academic and writer. He is Professor of Contemporary Literature and Thought in the Department of English at Royal Holloway, University of London. He works on contemporary literature, literary theory and contemporary European philosophy, and on Holocaust and Genocide studies.

His work explores how literature ‘thinks’, especially in relation to issues of ethics. This was the subject of his first book, Ethical Criticism: Reading After Levinas, on literary theory and the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas. This focus on ethics broadened to a concern with ethical relationships to the past, centrally the Holocaust, other genocides and atrocities, in The Holocaust and the Postmodern. His work draws on memory studies and trauma studies, as well as on the thought of Jacques Derrida and Hannah Arendt.

He works widely on contemporary literature, including Salman Rushdie and J. M. Coetzee and is the author of Contemporary Literature: A Very Short Introduction. In that book he writes:

Literature thinks. Literature is where ideas are investigated, lived out, explored in all their messy complexity… Perhaps… ‘think’ is not the right word: ‘think’ is too limiting a description of the range of what a novel can do with ideas. In any event, the way literature thinks is bound up with what it’s like to be us, to be human. Literature is how we make ourselves intelligible to ourselves. And contemporary fiction matters because it is how we work out who we are now, today.

He is also concerned with the teaching of literature, and has written the text book Doing English, a Guide for Literature Students; edits a series of books introducing major thinkers, Routledge Critical Thinkers, and is a commentator in the national press on literature teaching at school and in Higher Education.

He lives in Brixton, London, and has two children.

Reviews

[Maya · Rating 2 out of 5]

ITS OVER MY NIGHTMARE IS OVER THIS BOOK CAN GO DIE I’m so sorry robert eaglestone it was a well written book but it was so mind numbingly boring I wanted to die every second i was reading it i couldnt give it more than 2 stars even if I wanted to

[Noa Zapin · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 - he thought he ate but he simply snacked

[Viktória · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook on Everand, thinking I might pick up a few bits for college and it ended up being an enjoyable read. 🤓

[Jenn Ronan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
Really enjoyable read. I definitly recommend it to anyone looking to pursue a degree in Literature.

[Suzy Coull · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable and engaging overview of subject English.

[Madhab Dwibedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

not great bt not bad

[Ed Bettles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uni reading is killing me so this counts

[Nancy Freund · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little book is on my "general knowledge" list of recommended texts for a Masters degree in Creative Writing. 'Doing English' by Robert Eaglestone is valuable background. It's only 150 pages long, and my second-hand copy has a big white sticker on the front of the book saying "1 Week Loan." It was so unintimidating and eager to be read, it practically jumped into my lap... four weeks ago.

That "1 Week Loan" sticker must have been a University of Glasgow employee's evil trick. (That's where it came from, I can see). This was no race-through. Now that I finished it, I want to delve into the texts mentioned at the end for further reading or to start this one all over again. It explores and explains much about the Undergrad degree in English I got in the 80s and it speaks directly to my prior incarnation as a high school English teacher in Los Angeles. Turns out I wasn't wrong to thing there was a battle being waged (not just a little controversy) between the teaching of English as a fixed discipline meant to divide and define people by its cultural narrative versus a much more open-minded and creative approach to the presentation of literature and lessons to be derived from it.
Even as I type that sentence I realize this stuff is absolutely fascinating to me. If you're yawning already, it might not be a 5-star read for you. But if you're even a little intrigued, by all means, take a look.

'Doing English' is a UK-focused book with many references to American and other types of English literature. It's a review of the history of the study (and teaching) of English as a discipline, the accepted literary canon as it exists and as it's developing over time, and most importantly, of the ways "doing English" blurs the boundaries between English literature and many other academic subjects, most notably science. It honors the newness of a more modern approach -- one that's not easy to assess in a classroom, but no doubt dynamic and exciting to teach. The contents seem to repeat, but it's a sort of kaleidoscopic view of something that merits exploration from many angles and through multiple lenses. For a student intrigued by a possible study of English, I think it would be invaluable. Every page of this guidebook deserves its space. Even the end-pages of suggested further reading...

This quote from David Foster Wallace is from that section:

"'Critical appreciation' means having smart, sophisticated reasons for liking whatever literature you like, and being able to articulate those reasons for other people, especially in writing. Vital for critical appreciation is the ability to 'interpret' a piece of literature, which basically means coming up with a cogent, interesting account of what a piece of lit means, what it's trying to do to/for the reader, what technical choices the author's made in order to achieve the effects she wants, and so on. As you can probably anticipate, the whole things gets very complicated and abstract and hard, which is one reason why entire college deprtments are devoted to studying and interpreting literature."

If you don't have time to read the full 150-pages-plus, there you go. That's the nutshell. But if you can make the time, I'd highly recommend digging in for the full walnut.

[Sebastian Porta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A guide should be concise and simplified, it should start with the general ideas and basic notions to the most specific and secondary ones, connecting all the dots of one chapter to the other. And above all, it should be useful for the student and encourage him to continue his own research. And I found this book to be all that.

It starts with the origin of how English became a discipline and how it developed to the discipline it is today, without going too deep into dull historical details. The author explains with engaging and clear prose how the English discipline changed throughout history and how literary theories started to play a meaningful role in English studies as a social science. And he never stops clarifying why the student should care about those matters.

He covers history, literary theories from Barthes to Genette, the value and Canon of Literature, metaphors, and figures of speech, creative writing as a practice and a commercial activity, politics and more practical and institutional matters that concern today's students of English. But not only that, but he also argues why English and Literature as disciplines are so important in our lives and how it is deeply connected to our culture and lifestyle. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

[Jemma Love · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve always wanted to do an English degree, but have never had the time, and in a funny way this felt like the next best thing! I definitely have a greater understanding of different critical approaches in the presuppositions that they are based on than I did at A Level. A number of challenging questions about reading and the wider world are explored in concise detail. I would definitely feel more confident doing an English degree if I was going to do one. A few more examples could’ve been used to illustrate each point that was being made, otherwise this was an interesting read.

[Lara Vassall-Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s annoying to rate this book a 5 stars because it wasn’t altogether an enjoyable read but I can’t really rate it any lower because it served its purpose. It gave me all the foundations to understand why and how we study or ‘do’ English due to its complex history and its contentious disagreements. I have never thought about education or English and where subjects come from or how I interact with them in such an expanded way. You can tell he put a lot of work to make this book high quality, useful and accessible.

[Jon Margetts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very readable introductory read into literary theory and English's place within education. Provides you with the metacognitive tools to understand how and why we do the subject of English. Eaglestone is clear and informative when introducing key concepts such as the death of the author and how we read critically. Also contains excellent pointers to more material to digest in the Further Reading section.

[Hetty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in preparation for an English Literature university course. I really did not expect it to be a page turner, but it was! It’s not a step by step guide on how to approach analysing texts and essay writing, but rather an explanation of the fascinating history of English as a subject and why we do it. It made me feel I had made the right degree choice. A worthwhile read for anyone considering doing English!

[Amateur-Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a guide of appreciation of your own major English ( Specifically English Literature discipline). It enriching & insightful and it is amusing as well. Now, I'm too proud of my major after reading that and definitely I will refer to it from time to time!!!

[Lucía · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic and very easy to read intro to how English is currently beign taught at universities. I think it would be useful for teachers dealing with freshmen students to get an idea of what their way of looking at things may be.

[Hannah Potantus · Rating 3 out of 5]

If academic books are your thing then go for it. They are not my thing. If you are, like me, bored out of your mind reading things like this I will say this book does a nice job of breaking itself up into parts, so you can find what you are looking for and only read what’s necessary.

[Catherine Oughtibridge]

Helpful as an orientation to concepts that people in the literary world might take for granted. I wish I had rad an equivalent for Physics before studying that. I might have felt less lost that way.

Read as someone doing a Masters in Creative Writing without a Literature degree.

[Emilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting and useful introduction to studying English.

[Eugenio Fouz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book to me

[Meaghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent for students of English at higher levels (Extension 1 and 2), and for some teachers too.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly contains typos but otherwise an excellent overview

[James ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very insightful and beginner friendly look into the study of English by examining its origins, growth, and processes

[makena · Rating 3 out of 5]

doing english done

[frank reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5⭐

had some great points but took a long-winded approach. kind of overwhelming to read and shift through but very helpful in understanding English concepts!

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

really bad shut up eaglestone

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doing English, although very introductory, does a fantastic job of addressing some of the more fundamental questions that are unique to the peculiar subject of English: Why do we read so much Shakespeare? How do we determine a text's canonical status? Is there a "right" way to interpret a book? Eaglestone covers these questions and more as he hops through short chapters on all of the major trends and underlying assumptions that those of us in literary studies often take for granted or perhaps never even questioned ourselves. My one suggestion would be to pair your reading of Doing English with Terry Eagleton's Literary Theory: An Introduction which I believe offers a more in depth and nuanced response to some of the more difficult "why?" questions that seemed to get skimmed over rather quickly by Eaglestone in phrases such as "intrinsic" and "extrinsic" interpretations. These terms are not bad, and if anything, Eaglestone's brevity in theory may have more to do with the book's general scope rather than any sort of authorial shortcomings. Regardless, anyone pursuing a more relevant understanding of literary theory should read Eagleton who covers the more abstract aspects of English history in greater detail.

[Magnus Buchanan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great first book in reflecting on the subject of English in education. I learnt a lot even if I disagreed with quite a few of the positions taken up by Eaglestone. The author charts the genesis of English as a socializing tool, first in the colonies then back in Blighty, all with a fairly Marxist lean. He then takes the reader through the more 'traditional' school of Literature and 'close reading' via Leavis and Richards before ripping into it a chapter later. Eaglestone (as a Uni professor) is a thinly cloaked missionary for the merits of theory and this perhaps leads him to construct rather shabby 'straw men' to attack. Still, if like me, you're still a fan of the old school, it gives you a good chance to sharpen your response as you get to 'know thy enemy'! Later chapters on the direction of the subject of English degenerating into glorified Media Studies were convincing if worrying for teachers... now, where did I put that DVD of Hamlet?

Culler's Introduction to Literary Theory is an ideal follow up to this one.

[Stephanie Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to read this book for Introduction to English Studies at the University of Cincinnati (fall semester 2014).

Excellent book for the student who's just starting to take courses applicable to the English major! Really helped to clarify how to study English--Eaglestone stresses that different approaches to "doing English" is welcomed and encouraged--and how to read texts, i.e., what you think about a text (not fellow students or your professor) is what matters most. Even the tips on how to analyze texts and write about them are easily understandable and doable.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're not sure why you should 'do English' or you get annoyed by the assumed pomposity of the whole thing, this is an informative and very entertaining approach to the subject. I'm so glad I read it before I started back at university; it really helped me gain a perspective, and confirmed some of the niggling suspicions I had about 'doing English'.