Weeks 1–2: Robert Eaglestone's "Doing English"

Robert Eaglestone's Doing English: A Guide for Literature Students is a book that has a lot of traction within our English department, particularly in ENGL-3000, because it does an excellent job of providing a thoughtful foundation for work in the field and a sense of how that field has changed over time. 

(not) Robert Eaglestone

"People usually set off 'doing English' without thinking about what they are doing in the first place and, perhaps most importantly, why they are doing it," he observes, continuing, "While it sometimes looks as if English is simply the discussion of literature, it is a subject, or a discipline, and this shapes ideas that are often 'below the surface' or taken for granted and are not discussed." Thus, though it leads to a somewhat awkward title, the key notion here is for Eaglestone's readers to be actively and mindfully engaged in their navigation of the world of English language and literature. We'll follow his example and consider how we might actively "do" other sorts of related discourses (like audio, video, and visual arts) within the realm of English studies after we finish with his book.

Eaglestone offers three main aims for his book:

• to orientate you, by explaining what you are doing when you are doing English;
• to equip you, by explaining basic key ideas;
• to encourage you, to explore newer ways of doing English.

And this will be carried out over the book's four sections — which are concerned with how and what we read; the relationship between reading, writing, and meaning; and the ever-changing and growing realm of English studies — before concluding with a consideration of the importance of English. One caveat: Eaglestone's book is somewhat delightfully British, and aside from providing us with a fair amount of insider's perspectives on local turf wars and the state of the UK's secondary and college programs, we also get to see wonderfully un-American words like "orientate."

Here's our reading schedule for Doing English:

• Friday, Aug. 28: Part I: How We Read
• Monday, Aug. 31: Part II: What We Read
• Wednesday, Sept. 2: Part III: Reading, writing and meaning
• Friday, Sept. 4: Part IV: English Studies . . .? + Conclusion