Martin Montgomery is Head of the Department of English at the University of Macau. He is the author of An Introduction to Language and Society (Routledge, 1995) and is a contributor to several books and journals.

Alan Durant is Professor of Communication at Middlesex University, UK. His books include Meaning in the Media: Discourse, Controversy and Debate (2010), Language and Media (co-written with Marina Lambrou, Routledge, 2009), How to Write Essays and Dissertations: A Guide for English Literature Students (co-written with Nigel Fabb, 2006).

Tom Furniss is Senior Lecturer in English Studies at the University of Strathclyde, UK. His books include Reading Poetry: An Introduction 2nd edition (co-written with Michael Bath, 2007).

Sara Mills is Professor in the Department of English Studies at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. Her books include Language, Gender and Feminism (2011) Feminist Stylistics (1995), and Discourse (1997), all published by Routledge.

Section 1: Basic techniques and problem-solving 1. Asking Questions as a Way into Reading 2. Using Information Sources 3.Analysing Units of Structure 4. Recognizing Genre Section 2: Language variation 5. Language and Time 6. Language and Place 7. Language and Context: Register 8. Language and Gender 9. Language and Society Section 3: Attributing meaning 10. Metaphor and Figurative Language 11. Irony 12. Juxtaposition 13. Allusion and Intertextuality 14. Authorship and Intention 15. Mode of Address: Positioning the Reader Section 4: Poetic form 16. Rhyme and Sound Patterning 17. Verse, Metre and Rhythm 18. Parallelism 19. Deviation Section 5: Narrative 20. Narrative 21. Narrative Point of View 22. Speech and Narration 23. Narrative Realism Section 6: Drama and performance 24. Ways of Reading Drama 25. Performance and the Page