Ways of Reading: Advanced Reading Skills for Students of English

1111 2 3 4 5 6111 7 Ways of Reading 8 9 Third Edition 1011 1 2 Praise for the second edition: 3 ‘Thorough, clear, thought-provoking and stimulating, Ways of Reading is 4 the best available introduction to literary studies and the issues connected 5 with reading.’ 6222 Jean Jacques Weber, University Centre Luxembourg 7 8 ‘Ways of Reading is a valuable and immensely usable book . Its range 9 of text samples is admirably wide-ranging and eclectic.’ John McRae, Language and Literature 2011 1 Ways of Reading is a well-established core textbook that provides the reader 2 with the tools to analyse and interpret the meanings of literary and non-literary 3 texts. 4 Six sections, split into self-contained units with their own activities and 5 notes for further reading, cover: 6 • basic techniques and problem-solving 7 • language variation 8 • attributing meaning 9 • poetic uses of language 3011 • narrative 1 • media texts. 2 This third edition has been substantially revised and redesigned throughout 3 with many fresh examples and exercises. References have been updated, the 4 overall organization of the book has changed and new material has been added 5 to include information on electronic sources and the Internet, plus a completely 6 new unit: Ways of Reading drama analyses plays as a dramatic performance 7 and a dramatic text. 8 Martin Montgomery is Director of the Scottish Centre for Journalism Studies; 9 Nigel Fabb is Professor of Literary Linguistics; and Tom Furniss is Senior 4011 Lecturer in English Studies, all at the University of Strathclyde. Alan Durant is 41 Professor of Communication at Middlesex University, London; and Sara Mills is 42 Professor in the Department of English Studies at Sheffield Hallam University. 43 The authors have written and edited numerous books on linguistics, commun- 44111 ication studies, study skills, literary theory and cultural studies. 1111 2 3 4 5 6111 7 Ways of 8 9 1011 1 Reading 2 3 4 Third Edition 5 6222 7 8 Advanced reading skills 9 2011 for students of English 1 2 literature 3 4 5 6 Martin Montgomery, Alan Durant, 7 8 Nigel Fabb, Tom Furniss and 9 3011 Sara Mills 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 4011 41 42 43 44111 British Library Cataloguing in Publication First published 1992 Data by Routledge A catalogue record for this book is available Third edition published 2007 from the British Library by Routledge Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Data Oxon OX14 4RN A catalogue record for this book has been Simultaneously published in the USA applied for and Canada by Routledge ISBN 0-203-59711-7 Master e-book ISBN 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business ISBN10: 0–415–34633–9 (hbk) This edition published in the Taylor & ISBN10: 0–415–34634–7 (pbk) Francis e-Library, 2006. ISBN10: 0–203–59711–7 (ebk) “To purchase your own copy of this or ISBN13: 978–0-415–34633–7 (hbk) any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s ISBN13: 978–0-415–34634–4 (pbk) collection of thousands of eBooks please ISBN13: 978–0-203–59711–8 (ebk) go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 2007 Martin Montgomery, Alan Durant, Nigel Fabb, Tom Furniss and Sara Mills All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. 1111 2 3 4 5 6111 7 Contents 8 9 1011 1 2 3 4 5 Notes on contributors vii 6222 Preface ix 7 Acknowledgements xi 8 Introduction 1 9 2011 1 Section 1 Basic techniques and 2 problem-solving 3 4 1 Asking questions as a way into reading 7 5 2 Using information sources 20 6 3 Analysing units of structure 29 7 4 Recognizing genre 41 8 9 3011 Section 2 Language variation 1 2 5 Language and time 55 3 6 Language and place 67 4 7 Language and context: register 79 5 8 Language and gender 93 6 9 Language and society 104 7 8 9 Section 3 Attributing meaning 4011 41 10 Metaphor and figurative language 117 42 11 Irony 131 43 12 Juxtaposition 141 44111 v CONTENTS 13 Intertextuality and allusion 156 14 Authorship and intention 168 15 Positioning the reader or spectator 183 Section 4 Poetic form 16 Rhyme and sound patterning 195 17 Verse, metre and rhythm 205 18 Parallelism 219 19 Deviation 231 Section 5 Narrative 20 Narrative 251 21 Narrative point of view 261 22 Speech and narration 274 23 Narrative realism 284 Section 6 Media: from text to performance 24 Film and prose fiction 295 25 Ways of reading drama 311 26 Literature in performance 327 Appendix: notes on activities 340 Glossary 342 References 361 General index 367 Index of texts discussed 374 vi 1111 2 3 4 5 6111 7 Notes on 8 contributors 9 1011 1 2 3 4 Alan Durant is Professor of Communication, Middlesex University, London. 5 His books include How to Write Essays and Dissertations: A Guide for English 6222 Literature Students (co-written with Nigel Fabb, Pearson, 2006), Literary Studies 7 in Action (co-written with Nigel Fabb, Routledge, 1990), How to Write Essays, 8 Dissertations and Theses in Literary Studies (co-written with Nigel Fabb, 9 Longman, 1993), Ezra Pound: Identity in Crisis (Harvester/Barnes & Noble, 2011 1981) and Conditions of Music (Macmillan/SUNY, 1984). With Nigel Fabb and 1 others he edited The Linguistics of Writing: Arguments between Language and 2 Literature (Manchester University Press/Routledge, 1987). 3 4 Nigel Fabb is Professor of Literary Linguistics in the Department of English 5 Studies at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, where he was recently Head 6 of Department. He is an editor of the Journal of Linguistics, and the author 7 of five books, including Linguistics and Literature: Language in the Verbal Arts 8 of the World (Blackwell, 1997). 9 3011 Tom Furniss is Senior Lecturer in English Studies at the University of 1 Strathclyde, Glasgow. His books include Reading Poetry: An Introduction (2nd 2 edn), co-written with Michael Bath (Longman, 2007). 3 Sara Mills is Professor in the Department of English Studies at Sheffield Hallam 4 University. Her books include Feminist Stylistics (Routledge, 1995), Discourse 5 (Routledge, 1997) and Gender and Politeness (Cambridge University Press, 6 2003). 7 8 Martin Montgomery is Reader in Literary Linguistics at the University of 9 Strathclyde, Glasgow, where he was head of English Studies. He is now 4011 Director of the Scottish Centre for Journalism Studies. He is the author of An 41 Introduction to Language and Society (Routledge, 1995) and is a contributor 42 to several books and journals. 43 44111 vii 1111 2 3 4 5 6111 7 Preface to 8 third edition 9 1011 1 2 3 4 5 This third edition of Ways of Reading has been substantially revised in the light 6222 of developments in the field, in the light of our own experience using the book 7 and in the light of feedback from others, both colleagues and students. 8 References have been updated and fresh examples introduced, a new unit has 9 been added and the overall organization of the book has changed. 2011 The central emphasis of the original book – on reading as an active and 1 reflective process – remains. We continue to treat reading as much more than 2 the simple decipherment of words on the page. Instead, Ways of Reading is 3 designed to encourage a critical and analytic engagement with text, one in which 4 readers pose questions and attend to details of form and structure in pursuit 5 of understanding. To enable or facilitate this process we have assembled a set 6 of tools for thinking and reading. Many of these ‘tools for reading’ amount to 7 particular skills of analysis; and this helps to explain the structure of units, each 8 of which moves from exposition of an approach to its application. In this way, 9 the book is not only reader-centred but also student-centred, treating know- 3011 ledge as a set of procedures for inquiring about and exploring text as much as 1 a set of pre-constituted facts. 2 The units are grouped into six sections. Section 1 introduces basic tech- 3 niques and problem-solving. Section 2 presents the dimensions along which 4 language may vary, and gives attention to issues of historical change, gender 5 and social position. Section 3 explores questions of meaning, including modes 6 of indirection such as irony and allusion. It also explores the respective roles of 7 the author and the reader in the process of creating and constraining meaning. 8 Section 4 focuses on the sound patterning and grammar of poetic texts, 9 including ways in which such texts may both achieve an extra layer of patterning 4011 and break with normal patterns of linguistic construction. Section 5 is concerned 41 broadly with aspects of narrative – what makes a story and how stories are told. 42 Section 6 addresses the question of translation between one medium and 43 another, from prose fiction to film, and from the page to performance. 44111 ix 1111 2 3 4 5 6111 7 Acknowledgements 8 9 1011 1 2 3 4 5 The book originated in a course in English Studies developed and taught 6222 primarily by the then staff of the Programme in Literary Linguistics, University 7 of Strathclyde, Glasgow.

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