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, January 05, 2025
What Did Shakespeare Sound Like?
“Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.”
What did Sir Walter Scott write?
What did Sir Walter Scott write?
12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”
How many of these great novels have you read?
Why Do Languages Die?
How does someone become the last known speaker of a language?
Japanese literature
Japanese literature, the body of written works produced by Japanese authors in Japanese or, in its earliest beginnings, at...
African American literature
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent. Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary...
American literature
American literature, the body of written works produced in the English language in the United States. Like other national...
Yiddish literature
Yiddish literature, the body of written works produced in the Yiddish language of Ashkenazic Jewry (central and eastern European...
Literature Quizzes
William Shakespeare: The Prose and the Playwright
Where is Shakespeare buried? Who says "Alas, poor Yorick"? See if your answers are "to be" or "not to be" in this quiz about...
Gods, Goddesses, and Greek Mythology
Do you know which hero took a dip in the River Styx? Or what mysteries lurk inside the Labyrinth?
An Odyssey of Grecian Literature
Who was Odysseus’s wife? What author wrote The Republic? From famous philosophers to epic journeys, embark upon...
A Study of William Shakespeare
How many sonnets did William Shakespeare publish? Where is Romeo and Juliet set? From couplets and quatrains to...
The Life and Work of William Shakespeare
Who was Hamlet’s mother? How many sonnets did Shakespeare write? Broaden your literary horizons in this quiz spanning the...
The Life and Works of English Authors
You may be familiar with Alice in Wonderland and A Christmas Carol, but how much do you know about Virginia...
Name That Author
Who wrote The Wealth of Nations? Who wrote Inferno and the other books of The Divine Comedy?...
Who Wrote It?
From The Divine Comedy to The Da Vinci Code, test your knowledge of the authors behind the plays, poems,...
What’s In A Name?
Who wrote Things Fall Apart? From Sherlock Holmes to Winnie-the-Pooh, see if you can pick up the pieces by attaching...
A Study of Poetry
If roses are red and violets blue, in poetry, what does the word "foot" refer to? Take your knowledge beyond red roses and...
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.
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Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson
Norwegian author
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The Thousand and One Nights
collection of Middle Eastern and Indian stories
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Brothers Grimm
German folklorists and linguists
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.
Articles
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Sherlock Holmes
fictional character
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Batman
fictional character
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the Avengers
fictional superhero team
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.
Articles
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Katie Couric
American broadcaster
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Joseph Moses Levy
British journalist
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Christiane Amanpour
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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almanac
book
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Conrad Gesner
Swiss physician and naturalist
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Newberry Library
library, Chicago, Illinois, United States
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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picaresque novel
literature
- metaphor
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epic
literary genre
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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The Diary of a Young Girl
work by Frank
- nonfictional prose
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blog
Internet
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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Ulysses
novel by Joyce
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The Sound and the Fury
novel by Faulkner
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Catch-22
novel by Heller
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
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.
Articles
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Pygmalion
play by Shaw
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A Raisin in the Sun
play by Hansberry
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Our Town
play by Wilder
Poetry
; sonnets, haikus, nursery rhymes, epics, and more are included.
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Mahabharata
Hindu literature
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Symbolism
literary and artistic movement
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Odyssey
epic by Homer
