Now in its second edition, How to Read Texts introduces students to key critical approaches to literary texts and offers a practical introduction for students developing their own critical and close-reading skills. Written in a lively, jargon-free style, it explains critical concepts, approaches and ideas including: - Debates around critical theory - The role of history and context - The links between creativity and criticism - The relationship between author, reader and text. The new edition now includes guidance on analysing a range of multi-media texts, including film and online media as well as the purely literary. In addition to new practical examples, readings, exercises and 'checkpoints' that help students to build confidence in their own critical readings of both primary and secondary texts, the book now also offers guidance on writing fully-formed critical essays and tips for independent research. Comprehensively updated and revised throughout, How to Read Texts is an indispensible guide for students making the transition to university study.
Now in its second edition, How to Read Texts introduces students to key critical approaches to literary texts and offers a practical introduction for students developing their own critical and close-reading skills. Written in a lively, jargon-free style, it explains critical concepts, approaches and ideas including: - Debates around critical theory - The role of history and context - The links between creativity and criticism - The relationship between author, reader and text. The new edition now includes guidance on analysing a range of multi-media texts, including film and online media as well as the purely literary. In addition to new practical examples, readings, exercises and 'checkpoints' that help students to build confidence in their own critical readings of both primary and secondary texts, the book now also offers guidance on writing fully-formed critical essays and tips for independent research. Comprehensively updated and revised throughout, How to Read Texts is an indispensible guide for students making the transition to university study.
1. What is a Text and What Do We Do With It? Thinking about texts Texts in the digital age Terminology and differences Levels of reading Theories of reading 2. Creative Reading What is criticism? What is creativity? Being critical and creative Reading as a critic vs. reading as a writer Creativity and/as research 3. Close Reading The history of close reading The benefits of close reading The problems with close reading New ways of applying close-reading-skills Researching texts close-up 4. Biography and Authorship The role of the author The significance of biography Life-writing The limitations of author-centred approaches Researching authors 5. History and Contexts How history fits in Other types of context A critique of historical reading The strengths of historical reading Researching contexts 6. Reading Theoretically What is theory? The origins of theory The impact of theory The achievements of theory After theory Conclusion: Reading Now! Notes Bibliography Index
Now covering multi-media texts and practical advice on essay-writing and independent research, this is an essential guide to critical reading at university level,
Neil McCaw is Senior Lecturer in English and Creative Writing at the University of Winchester, UK.
How to Read Texts is filled with a passion for reading and for
authorship. Lively and approachable, this is a great book for
anyone interested in how we approach the texts we encounter in our
lives.
*Professor Graeme Harper, Bangor University, UK*
Neil McCaw's How to Read Texts: A Student Guide to Critical
Approaches and Skills offers an invaluable and expansive
introduction to the often vexing worlds of avant-garde critical
theory and literary interpretation. Yet even more significantly,
McCaw challenges us to discover our own critical voices, to seek
out brave new textual frontiers of our own making, and to think
creatively about the nature and direction of our reading
experiences. Suitable for academic and general readers alike, How
to Read Texts affords us with the attendant tools and historical
background for unlocking and appreciating the rich texts that mark
our lives.
*Kenneth Womack, Penn State Altoona, USA*
How to Read Texts will encourage both students - and, as
importantly, their teachers - to re-think the very basics of
reading and analysing texts.
*Peter Dempsey, Department of English, University of Sunderland,
UK*
With a solid set of appendixes and an index, How to Read Texts is
enthusiastically recommended for those facing a tough pile of books
in their future.
*Midwest Book Review (Wisconsin Bookwatch)*
How to Read Texts: A Student Guide to Critical Approaches and
Skills offers high school and college-level students a fine survey
of critical theory paired with exercises and checklists to help
students in their own readings of primary and secondary texts.
Students learn how to gain confidence in their skills and learn the
methods of recognizing and challenging assumptions in this fine
survey of critical thinking skills.
*Midwest Book Review (California Bookwatch)*
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