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Poetry Guide
Spring and All (By the road to the contagious hospital)
by William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams's “Spring and All,” first published in his 1923 collection of the same title, reflects on the season of spring as a time of renewal. Spring’s arrival, in this poem, is not s...
Poetry Guide
Song
by Lady Mary Wroth
“Song” was written by the English Renaissance poet Lady Mary Wroth, one of the first female English poets to publish a complete sonnet sequence. Wroth broke gender barriers by writing love poetry a...
Poetry Guide
Base Details
by Siegfried Sassoon
"Base Details," a satirical war poem by the British poet Siegfried Sassoon, takes aim at the military elite of World War I—the "scarlet Majors" who live indulgent, lavish lives while sending young ...
Lit Guide
How Democracies Die
by Steven Levitksy and Daniel Ziblatt
In How Democracies Die, political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt examine democratic breakdowns around the world in order to assess the dangers that President Donald Trump poses to th...
Poetry Guide
Spring and All (By the road to the contagious hospital)
by William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams's “Spring and All,” first published in his 1923 collection of the same title, reflects on the season of spring as a time of renewal. Spring’s arrival, in this poem, is not s...
Poetry Guide
Song
by Lady Mary Wroth
“Song” was written by the English Renaissance poet Lady Mary Wroth, one of the first female English poets to publish a complete sonnet sequence. Wroth broke gender barriers by writing love poetry a...
Poetry Guide
Base Details
by Siegfried Sassoon
"Base Details," a satirical war poem by the British poet Siegfried Sassoon, takes aim at the military elite of World War I—the "scarlet Majors" who live indulgent, lavish lives while sending young ...
Lit Guide
Twilight
by Stephenie Meyer
Seventeen-year-old Bella Swan hugs her Mom goodbye in Phoenix. She boards the plane that will take her to the rainiest place in the U.S.: the tiny town of Forks, Washington, where Bella will live w...
Lit Guide
Heart of a Dog
by Mikhail Bulgakov
In the early days of the Soviet Union, a mad scientist (Prof. Preobrazhensky) implants a human pituitary gland into a stray dog (Sharik) and accidentally turns him into a man. In Heart of a Dog, Mi...
Lit Guide
The Boat
by Alistair MacLeod
The narrator of the story, a middle-aged professor at a Midwestern university in the United States, recalls how he often wakes up at 4 a.m., afraid that he has overslept and that his father will be...
Lit Guide
The Queen’s Gambit
by Walter Tevis
Eight-year-old Beth Harmon is orphaned when her mother dies in a car crash; she then moves into the Methuen Home in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. Methuen is a strict and tense place for Beth, but she f...
Lit Guide
Weapons of Math Destruction
by Cathy O’Neil
In Weapons of Math Destruction, mathematician and writer Cathy O’Neil explores the world of Big Data—and its insidious, fast-growing control over almost every aspect of modern life. In order to und...
Lit Guide
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
It’s 1860, and Roger Button’s wife has just given birth to their first child. The Buttons are respected members of Baltimore society, so it’s surprising that their family doctor, Doctor Keene, brus...
Lit Guide
A Mystery of Heroism
by Stephen Crane
“A Mystery of Heroism” takes place during an unnamed battle. The artillery for one regiment is stationed on the hill above the meadow that has become a battlefield, and the infantry shelters behind...
Poetry Guide
The Fish
by Elizabeth Bishop
"The Fish" first appeared in Elizabeth Bishop's 1946 collection North & South. In this poem, a speaker catches a huge, astonishing fish and becomes fascinated with its primordial strangeness. W...
Poetry Guide
Song (When I am dead, my dearest)
by Christina Rossetti
The Victorian poet Christina Rossetti wrote "Song (When I am dead, my dearest)" in 1848 at the age of 18, though it wasn't published until 1862 in her collection Goblin Market and Other Poems. The ...
Poetry Guide
On Aging
by Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou's "On Aging" calls on younger people to treat their seniors with understanding and respect. Published in the collection And Still I Rise in 1978, the year the poet turned 50, "On Aging...
Poetry Guide
Crossing Brooklyn Ferry
by Walt Whitman
"Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" is Walt Whitman's reflection on the glory of the shared human experience. Crossing New York's East River one day, the poem's speaker is struck by the realization that the ...
Lit Guide
How Democracies Die
by Steven Levitksy and Daniel Ziblatt
In How Democracies Die, political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt examine democratic breakdowns around the world in order to assess the dangers that President Donald Trump poses to th...
Lit Guide
Twilight
by Stephenie Meyer
Seventeen-year-old Bella Swan hugs her Mom goodbye in Phoenix. She boards the plane that will take her to the rainiest place in the U.S.: the tiny town of Forks, Washington, where Bella will live w...
Lit Guide
Heart of a Dog
by Mikhail Bulgakov
In the early days of the Soviet Union, a mad scientist (Prof. Preobrazhensky) implants a human pituitary gland into a stray dog (Sharik) and accidentally turns him into a man. In Heart of a Dog, Mi...
Lit Guide
The Boat
by Alistair MacLeod
The narrator of the story, a middle-aged professor at a Midwestern university in the United States, recalls how he often wakes up at 4 a.m., afraid that he has overslept and that his father will be...
Lit Guide
The Queen’s Gambit
by Walter Tevis
Eight-year-old Beth Harmon is orphaned when her mother dies in a car crash; she then moves into the Methuen Home in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. Methuen is a strict and tense place for Beth, but she f...
Lit Guide
Weapons of Math Destruction
by Cathy O’Neil
In Weapons of Math Destruction, mathematician and writer Cathy O’Neil explores the world of Big Data—and its insidious, fast-growing control over almost every aspect of modern life. In order to und...
Lit Guide
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
It’s 1860, and Roger Button’s wife has just given birth to their first child. The Buttons are respected members of Baltimore society, so it’s surprising that their family doctor, Doctor Keene, brus...
Lit Guide
A Mystery of Heroism
by Stephen Crane
“A Mystery of Heroism” takes place during an unnamed battle. The artillery for one regiment is stationed on the hill above the meadow that has become a battlefield, and the infantry shelters behind...
Poetry Guide
The Fish
by Elizabeth Bishop
"The Fish" first appeared in Elizabeth Bishop's 1946 collection North & South. In this poem, a speaker catches a huge, astonishing fish and becomes fascinated with its primordial strangeness. W...
Poetry Guide
Song (When I am dead, my dearest)
by Christina Rossetti
The Victorian poet Christina Rossetti wrote "Song (When I am dead, my dearest)" in 1848 at the age of 18, though it wasn't published until 1862 in her collection Goblin Market and Other Poems. The ...
Poetry Guide
On Aging
by Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou's "On Aging" calls on younger people to treat their seniors with understanding and respect. Published in the collection And Still I Rise in 1978, the year the poet turned 50, "On Aging...
Poetry Guide
Crossing Brooklyn Ferry
by Walt Whitman
"Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" is Walt Whitman's reflection on the glory of the shared human experience. Crossing New York's East River one day, the poem's speaker is struck by the realization that the ...
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