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Modernism was the happy, optimistic bandwagon that every writer just had to jump on. Okay, so only half of that statement is true. But we want you...
You might be hearing a chorus of farewells if you recommend A Farewell to Arms as the next read for your Fabulously Feisty Feminist Book Club.
This video summarizes the play A Raisin in the Sun. It discusses the Youngers, members of an African-American family trying to better themselves wh...
We know that snacking on some dry raisins in the beating hot sun doesn't sound like the most appetizing thing in the world. But stick with us and y...
What? She gets a rose and we don’t? Who is this Emily person anyway? What’s she done to deserve such a delightful, aromatic gift?
Have you ever pretended to be super happy for your BFF when they win an award when, really, you just wanted to rip it out of their undeserving, ung...
Three scantily clad young girls enter a store. No, this isn’t your grandfather about to tell an inappropriate joke. And no, you’re not watching...
Ayn (rhymes with "mine," ironically enough) Rand penned this cult classic over 50 years ago, but it still resonates with today's audiences. Our que...
A cheap shot at a bestseller or a deeper book with connections relevant to the human race? In The Call of the Wild, the protagonist is a dog named...
This video discusses the major ideas of the satirical American war novel Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. The horror of war meets…absurdity and humor?...
We volunteer you as tribute to watch this video analysis of Katniss in the second book of the Hunger Games series. After the berry suicide attempt...
“Happy Hunger Games!” Or not. Katniss’s Hunger Games experiences left a not-so-happy effect on her. This video will prompt you to ponder if...
If you're anything like us, one cutthroat fight to the death just wasn't enough. Thanks to Suzanne Collins, here's round two!
Can you imagine what it would be like to be without the gift of sight? In "Cathedral," the narrator helps a blind man envision a cathedral by guidi...
You really must love a town if you're going to write a whole poem about it. Carl Sandburg wrote an entire poem on his hometown, Chicago, just becau...
Should you ever find yourself on a raft, floating down the Mississippi River, you're going to want something to do. Reading Mark Twain's classic, T...
In Maya Angelou's poem "Africa," she compares Africa's pain and struggles to a woman being brutalized. Why does she do this? Is it to draw sympathy...
A family goes on a quest to bury their family member. Yeah, sounds simple...except it never is. ‘Cause mom’s dead, and people have issues which...
Historical fiction novels like The Help can whisk you back to a place and time that you may have only read about in history books. Or... a place an...
In The Color Purple, Celie is abused by her father and husband. She leaves her father by marrying Mr. ________, and then leaves Mr. ______, too. But why does she really leave her husband? Is it the abuse, or are there other motives? Check out the video, and decide for yourself.
This video provides a summary of the dystopian novel Divergent. It covers Beatrice Prior’s path from discovering she is Divergent (doesn’t fit neatly into one of the categories of her society) to reinventing herself as Tris in Dauntless, the brave faction, to stopping Erudite from making the Dauntless into Abnegation-killers. Plus, there’s some crazy challenges—what else can you expect from the faction that values bravery?
You'd have to be a Grinch not to acknowledge what a huge effect Dr. Seuss had on all of us. Horton may have heard a Who, but hey... we heard it, too.
There is certainly some deep meaning behind this guy's words. If he were ever to ask someone to borrow a cup of sugar, he was probably actually insinuating that totalitarian dictatorships are dangerous. We're not quite sure how to make that connection in this particular case, but... we're sure it's in there somehow.
Dr. Seuss à la Shmoop. Here you will learn all about the Lorax, Horton, and the Cat in the Hat. And of course, we'll chat about Dr. Seuss. Or should we say Dr. Shmeuss?
¿Por que es el 'Gran' Gatsby tan gran? ¿Porque de su nombre peculiar? ¿Porque de el misterio que le rodea? Se ha discutido esta pregunta por muchos años, y no hay una respuesta correcta. Hay muchos posibilidades, y tienes que decidir para ti mismo.
Sure, Edgar Allan Poe was dark and moody and filled with teenage angst, but what else does he have in common with the Twilight series?
Emily Dickinson was a New England poet/hermit with a fascination with death and immortality. She wrote over 1000 poems in her lifetime, most of them dark and soul-searching. Why were her poems so dark?
Would would the world be like without books? Ray Bradbury tackles that question—and many more— in Fahrenheit 451. Go ahead; read it on your Kindle.
We may be into the whole online education thing, but we love our books more than anything. So the thought of someone burning them? Or of a life without them? Now that’s our definition of a dystopia.
We had a hilariously ironic description of this video written and ready to publish, but then our dog ate it. So you get this one instead.
The Great Gatsby is set in and around New York City and Long Island. On the big L.I., there are two areas known as "West Egg" and "East Egg." East Egg is filled with the wealthier, more elite, folks who come from old money. West Egg, on the other hand, is filled with the nouveau riche. Tom and Daisy live in East Egg, while Gatsby and Nick live in West Egg. Class issues ensue.
The Grapes of Wrath is one of the longest—ahem, most important books in American literary history. But what's with the title?
Así que ... si las uvas de la ira se perdió demasiado tiempo, iban a convertirse en pasas de uva de la ira? Si es así, esto podría afectar seriamente el estado de ánimo de todo nuestro cereal escamas de salvado. Hm ... tal vez quiere decir algo más? Sólo nos queda esperar ...
No, not the sour grapes of questionable freshness that gave you weird stomach rumblings before your last soccer game; we're talking about Steinbeck's classic novel about the Depression. So...not actually a happier topic. Sorry!
So... if grapes of wrath sat out too long, would they become raisins of wrath? If so, this could seriously affect the entire mood of our bran flake cereal. Hmmm... maybe it means something else? We can only hope.
What is the American Dream? Is it popularity? Or is it being content with what you have? In Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman, the American Dream is Willy Loman's goal. He tries so hard to reach perfection that it ultimately kills him. So much for red, white, and blue.
A salesman dies—sorry to ruin it for you. But in addition to giving away key plot points in the title, Arthur Miller also liked to make some pretty weighty points about the American Dream. What is it, and who gets a shot at it? Only your hairdresser knows for sure.
Imagine if dreams really could come true. This is the question that Langston Hughes ponders in his poem "Dream Deferred."
"Girl," by Jamaica Kincaid, is a poem—er, a story... er... what is this thing? Either way, it's about a mother's advice to her daughter. And nothing is sugarcoated.