The Rise and Fall of English: Reconstructing English as a Discipline

This work examines the nature and direction of English studies in America. Robert Scholes offers an intervention in current debates about educational and cultural values and goals, showing how English came to occupy its present place in the American educational system, diagnozing the educational illness he perceives in today's English departments, and recommending theoretical and practical changes in the field of English studies. Scholes's position defies neat labels - it is a deeply conservative expression of the wish to preserve the best in the English tradition of verbal and textual studies, yet it is an argument for reconstruction of the discipline of English.