How to Read Texts

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

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 "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." - James A. Cox, Midwest Book Review (Wisconsin Bookwatch), August 2008 -- James A. Cox "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." - James A. Cox, Midwest Book Review (California Bookwatch), August 2008 -- James A. Cox