ShmoopTube

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...

How do you insult the Soviet Union and get away with it? Make them animals. (No one will ever know.) That was George Orwell's plan, and it worked....

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...

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...

Today we aren't looking for the most virtuous person, or most likeable, but rather the most disturbing. Will it be Echo, the nymph who is doomed to...

Their eyes may have been watching God, but we think we know who won that staring contest.

On his ten-year journey home from the Trojan War, Odysseus runs into everything from sirens to sea monsters to seductresses. Such is life when you...

We may not always agree with the government, but at least they aren't pigs. We mean that literally. Whether or not you think they're pigs in a figu...

Mariners back in the day sure knew how to bust a rime.

So that's why Brad Pitt looks so fit in Troy! (The movie, not the city-state.) He's related to the gods, just like Achilles was. We always knew kne...

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...

A great marriage begins with a blooming pear tree and ends with a hurricane, rabies, and a murder trial…or something like that.

Odysseus should have checked out How to Return Home from War for Dummies. Step One: Do not mess with the son of a god. Actually, no need to read on...

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 pret...

How's Julius Caesar doing after that whole "assassination" thing? Well, he's taking it one day at a time.

How would you feel if you lost a diamond necklace that you borrowed? We don't know your life, but we'd feel pretty crappy about it. In "The Necklac...

The Old Man and the Sea was actually Hemingway's second title. His editor wouldn't let him use The Middle Aged Man and the Stubborn Fish.

Elizabeth thinks Darcy's a callous jerk; he thinks she’s a gold-digger. You know these two are just MFEO.

Thought that English society was all about hosting balls and finding husbands back in the day? Well, you thought… right. But that doesn't make th...

We totally understand loving your country, but don't murder your best friend over it. That's a bit over the top. Stick to flying flags and singing...