Literature

Four children and a Psammead explore the past with the aid of a magic amulet, which is controlled by a strange entity. The story has an unexpected ending.

What does the word "antiphrasis" elicit in your mind? Is it "anti-" meaning against, and "phrasis" meaning phrases? You will learn more about this common and widely used technique by many poets whether they know what they are doing or not.

In this poem, Emily Dickinson’s speaker is contemplating her spiritual garden, wherein she plants and grows the metaphorical seeds for her poems. She introduced this garden in the poem, "There is another sky."

Edith Nesbit wrote some interesting and popular children's books. One of them includes a Phoenix that talks, a carpet that flies, and five adventurous siblings.

'Mock Orange' is Louise Glück's short, intense feminist poem focusing on the effects of the love act between the male and female. The mock orange plant mimics the real orange and becomes a metaphor for the falseness of sex, which the speaker hates because it is linked to the physical power of men.

Early American poet, Philip Freneau, has been designated as the "Father of American Poetry" and the "Poet of the Revolution." He was the first notable early American poet to have been born in the American homeland.

Rebecca Serle takes the reader through an array of emotions in this book, all the while keeping the ending hidden. You will truly have no idea where she is going with it, until she gets there.

American poet, John Greenleaf Whittier, never married nor produced offspring, but he lived a full life, filled with political activism, working to abolish the institution of slavery, editing political and literary publications, and creating some of the most widely read poetry in the American canon.

As in her riddle-poem, "I have a Bird in spring," Dickinson is employing the bird metaphor to muse on the possibility that her special awareness might abandon her. The bird becomes a useful poetic device for this poet, as she often bestows on her talent the characteristic of flight.

The speaker in Emily Dickinson’s "By such and such an offering" is exploring the nature of duplicity by those who feign elevated status through appropriating experience that they have not in fact endured.

'Mont Blanc' is Shelley's philosophical poem in which he explores the idea that the human mind is part of the great flow of things, passive yet imaginatively aware of the awesome teaching power of nature. Using metaphor and vivid imagery, the atheist romantic brings platonic form as faithful guide.

This is a story of struggle and success. It will encourage you to "faith it 'til you make it." Yvonne Orji's style is uniquely interesting, with humor everywhere, even when she cites Bible references.

"The First Soldier" examines Western media's myth that Hitler was an incompetent commander. Its revolutionary conclusions reveal the real Hitler.

'The Highwayman' is a rhyming ballad telling of the romance, death and ghostly return of a gallant highwayman and a landlord's beautiful daughter Bess, idealised outsiders against the state. Betrayed by Tim, a jealous stableman, Bess sacrifices herself for her outlaw lover; he is shot by soldiers.

Jane Austen wrote exceptional novels that still make readers laugh and sigh at the rich cast of characters and situations that she created. Who was Jane? When did she write her classic novels? This mini biography gives you a bitesize introduction to the delightful Miss Austen.

'Diving into the Wreck' is Adrienne Rich's poem on women's rights and self-discovery. Using metaphor and imagery, the poet takes the reader down to the wreck, a symbol of the historical relationship between men and women.

British poet, Edward Thomas, who was killed in the Battle of Arras during World War I, may be most famous for his friendship with American poet, Robert Frost.

Walter de la Mare is one of the most under-rated and under-appreciated poets in the Western world. His works yoke together the physical and spiritual levels of being in entertaining and enlightening ways.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning's classic work, "Sonnets from the Portuguese," has become the poet's most anthologized work, studied by students in secondary schools, colleges, and universities, as well as by the general lover of poetry.

'Sonnet 135,' Shakespeare's punning poem, plays on the words Will and will. Addressed to the dark lady, it is a sexually charged plea from a demanding lover, a persistent voice who will be heard? Some women have fantasies but she does not. She has her Will, repeatedly.

'West-Running Brook' takes the form of a dialogue between husband and wife, observing the movement of the brook as it flows west, contrarily. Frost uses metaphor in philosophy, exploring the relationships between individual reality and nature, consciousness and love, within time, truth and process.

George Herbert practiced a style of metaphysical poetry that showcased his intellect and deep emotion, as well as his dedication to his religion, his faith, and his Creator.

Austen impeccably depicts the social and economic realities that preoccupied the individuals in the regency era. This article aims to discuss and analyze Pride and Prejudice beyond a romance novel.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, finding Poe’s penchant for rime as bit much, labeled his contemporary, the "jingle man." But Poe’s literary chops have proven more valuable to the written word than a mere rimer.

White washing on a line billowing in the wind becomes a band of angels dancing. Wilbur's poem takes the reader from the mundane to the spiritual, the soul back down into the body, the free verse form allowing the metaphor to take off, the language bringing moments of dark tension and washed beauty.

This article will review the novel "The Companion" by Katie Alender.

Two opposing views—the Oxfordian and the Stratfordian—continue the controversy surrounding the authorship of the Shakespeare canon. I side with the Oxfordians, and in this article, I elucidate the reasoning for my choice.

U.A. Fanthorpe's 'Half-Past Two' focuses on a schoolboy's perception of time and routine after being detained by the teacher for doing something wrong. Using personification, poetic device and compound words, Fanthorpe stretches out the boy's experience of isolation into the realm of fairy tale.

Sarojini Naidu's 'In the Bazaars of Hyderabad' is a lyrical question and answer poem using iambic beat and full rhyme to develop an unusual, exotic atmosphere. This marketplace comes alive as the speaker meets different people, from merchants to flower-girls, all busy selling, creating and weaving.

One of the most noted names of the English Romantic Movement in literature, Keats left some impressive works, despite dying at the tender age of 25.

Toni Morrison’s Beloved lays bare the horrors of slavery by delving into the psychologies of multiple (ex-)slaves. Set in 1876, a decade after slavery was abolished, it explores the devastating effects that slavery has on motherhood, which will be explored and analyzed in this essay.

The two styles of creative criticism are often confused with one another; herewith are definitions.

Writer and broadcaster Andrew Marr explores creativity, self-expression and how "good art" is defined by artists, art lovers and the mega-wealthy business of art investing.

What is antithesis? How effective is it in literature? How can you identify it? Learn the usage, characteristics, and importance of antithesis.

Edgar Lee Masters’ American classic, "Spoon River Anthology," brought the poet into the literary world, and no other work from his extensive writings has garnered more attention, including his sequel to the original, "The New Spoon River."

“How Green Was My Valley” is an evocative tale of life in a Welsh mining village. Slag from the coal mine and problems in the community create a compelling story.

What is an oxymoron? How does oxymoron affect the reader? In this article, you will learn how oxymoron is used as a literary technique in literature.

This article offers an analysis of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, the character Shylock, and the play's supposed anti-semitism.

Blake's political poem "London" captures the city, its people and its conditions. It is a critique of not only the political system of that time but also the religious and economic systems.

Spenser's 'Amoretti 75' is a must in any literature-based course. It has continuities and departures from the sonnet tradition, which gives it a voice and substance of its own. It is a love poem, untainted by courtly comparisons or power politics.

Joyce Kilmer's "Trees" is a short, rhyming, romantic and religious poem and has to be one of the most popular, being well known in the English-speaking world since it was published in 1913. Iambic pentameter, personification, full rhyme and a certain child-like charm bordering on the sentimental.

'Wintering' is one of five poems in the Bee Sequence Sylvia Plath wrote shortly before her death. Vivid imagery and unique descriptive language combine as winter sets in and the bees slow down. Plath further explores identity and power, the will to survive, as the spirit wanes and spring inspires.

Can ballads be classified as narrative poems? Are they romantic or sad? Do they have to rhyme? Can they be sung? Find answers to these questions in this article.

It's known for it's length and the "non-plot-related" descriptions of whale biology and sailing. But it's also a beautiful novel that has inspired many people, and it serves as a potent metaphor for seeking revenge at the expense of all else.

Written a few months before her tragic death, 'The Bee Meeting' is the first of five 'Bee Poems' Sylvia Plath wrote focusing on mind, body and spirit. It explores the idea of vulnerability, fertility, identity and power.

How many poems have you read which lack assonance? Assonance is a common characteristic of poems. Some poets use it intentionally but sometimes it just happens. What is assonance?

Alliteration is a strong literary technique that appears in a lot of poems and everyday life. Sometimes alliteration occurs accidentally or is used deliberately by a poet.

Some hand-picked book recommendations by Indian women authors that every reader would be able to appreciate.

The title of this piece is deceptive because its subject is the speaker’s mother; the farm simply serves as a setting. A pleasant read, the poem does suffer some technical difficulties.