Literature
With the development of language, the human imagination has found a way to create and communicate through the written word. A literary work can transport us into a fictional, fantastic new world, describe a fleeting feeling, or simply give us a picture of the past through novels, poems, tragedies, epic works, and other genres. Through literature, communication becomes an art, and it can bridge and bond people and cultures of different languages and backgrounds.
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Featured content, May 01, 2024
Why Is There an R in Mrs.?
There’s no r in missus, so what’s it doing in the abbreviation?
What were Sir Walter Scott’s influences?
What were Sir Walter Scott’s influences?
9 Obscure Literary Terms
Know your eye rhymes.
The Bizarre Origins of the Words Nerd and Geek
On the nature of nerdiness…or geekiness.
novel
Novel, an invented prose narrative of considerable length and a certain complexity that deals imaginatively with human experience,...
Arabic literature
Arabic literature, the body of written works produced in the Arabic language. The tradition of Arabic literature stretches...
Central Asian arts
Central Asian arts, literary, performing, and visual arts of a large portion of Asia embracing the Turkic republics (Uzbekistan,...
Australian literature
Australian literature, the body of literatures, both oral and written, produced in Australia. Perhaps more so than in other...
Literature Quizzes
Famous Authors
You may be familiar with The Shining and Frankenstein, but do you know the names of the authors behind...
Famous Poets and Poetic Form
Who wrote the long poem The Waste Land? What is the most common meter in English poetry? Test the long and short...
The Little Prince
It was translated into over 250 languages and sold over 140 million copies worldwide, but how much do you know about The...
Famous Quotes
From what play does the phrase "Alas, poor Yorick" come? What is the motto of the Three Musketeers? Test your knowledge of...
Matching Names to Novels
From Rudyard Kipling and The Great Gatsby to C.S. Lewis and Brave New World, test the depths of your literary...
Characters in Literature
What did the Wicked Witch of the West demand of Dorothy? Who was the sole survivor of the Pequod? Test your knowledge...
Character Education
Do you know the names of the Three Musketeers? From Gulliver’s Travels to Where the Wild Things Are, test...
Profiles of Famous Writers
Was Charles Dickens from the American South? Which Russian writer lived in exile from 1974 to 1994? From a failed Peruvian...
From Moby-Dick to Space Odysseys
Who wrote a novel about a world of Eastasia, Eurasia, and Oceania? From Moby-Dick to 2001: A Space Odyssey,...
The Littlest of Them All
From Stuart Little and Little John to Little Women and The Little Engine Who Could, see how big your knowledge...
Literature Videos
Literature Subcategories
Folk Literature & Fable
Step into the world of folklore, fables, legends, tall tales, and epics, in which heroes are known to undertake arduous journeys and dragons, fairies, and giants abound. Stories such as these circulated long before systems of writing were developed; ballads, folktales, poems, and the like were transmitted exclusively by word of mouth before written languages took over, and they continue to captivate listeners and readers to this day.
Articles
- heroic poetry
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Jean de La Fontaine
French poet
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vampire
legendary creature
Fictional Characters
Here you'll find some of your favorite fictional characters from literature, film, television, and the like, whether it's the analytical mastermind Sherlock Holmes and his endearing associate Dr. Watson or the menacing and helmeted Darth Vader, the ill-tempered Donald Duck, or the teenage sleuth Nancy Drew.
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Spider-Man
fictional character
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Sherlock Holmes
fictional character
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Batman
fictional character
Journalism
Extra, extra! Although the content and style of journalism and the medium through which it is delivered have varied significantly over the years, journalism has always given us a way to keep up with current events, so that we always have our fingers on the pulse.
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Amy Goodman
American journalist, columnist, and author
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Barbara Walters
American journalist
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Walter Cronkite
American journalist
Libraries & Reference Works
Looking to impress your friends with your expansive knowledge of historical events, philosophical concepts, obscure words, and more? We may be biased, but it seems fair enough to say that reference works such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, and textbooks have provided such a service for years (in some cases, hundreds or even thousands of years). You can look for them at your local public library, which likely stores books, manuscripts, journals, CDs, movies, and other sources of information and entertainment.
Articles
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Georges-Louis Leclerc, count de Buffon
French naturalist
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Pliny the Elder
Roman scholar
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Carolus Linnaeus
Swedish botanist
Literatures of the World
Literature knows no geographical bounds; authors can be found in nearly all corners of the globe. Find out more about regional literary styles and forms.
Articles
Literary Criticism
Everyone's a critic. But not all literary criticism involves judging the quality of a text; it can also focus on interpreting the meaning of a work or evaluating an author's place in literary history.
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Edward Said
American professor and literary critic
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Harold Bloom
American literary critic and author
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Charles Baudelaire
French author
Literary Terms
Want to be able to distinguish your limericks from your haikus and your paeans from your panegyrics? Dive deep into literary terms and forms.
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novel
literature
- nonfictional prose
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tragedy
literature
Nonfiction
The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth! Or that's the idea, at least. Nonfiction works center on facts and real events. Although there is some debate about which kinds of literature qualify as nonfiction, the genre typically includes books in the categories of biography, memoir, science, history, self-help, cooking, health and fitness, business, and more.
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epitaph
poetic form
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slave narrative
American literature
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The Abolition of Man
work by Lewis
Novels & Short Stories
novels and short stories have been enchanting and transporting readers for a great many years. There's a little something for everyone: within these two genres of literature, a wealth of types and styles can be found, including historical, epistolary, romantic, Gothic, and realist works, along with many more.
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The War of the Worlds
novel by Wells
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The Fall of the House of Usher
story by Poe
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The Catcher in the Rye
novel by Salinger
Oratory
speech and Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, quoted above, are two iconic examples of successful oratory, as are Elizabeth I's speech to the troops at Tilbury and Winston Churchill's first speech as prime minister to the House of Commons.
Articles
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Cicero
Roman statesman, scholar, and writer
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Patrick Henry
American statesman
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Meister Eckhart
German theologian and mystic
Plays
; and the stage is where you'll find performances of works by such famed playwrights as Anton Chekhov, Eugene O'Neill, and the Bard himself, among many others.
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Our Town
play by Wilder
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The Seagull
play by Chekhov
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Oedipus Rex
play by Sophocles
Poetry
; sonnets, haikus, nursery rhymes, epics, and more are included.
Articles
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rondeau
poetry and music
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ballade
poetry and song
- light verse