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Use our guides to learn or teach any of the 2293 titles and topics we cover.
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Poetry Guide
Living in Sin
by Adrienne Rich
"Living in Sin" is an early-career poem by Adrienne Rich, first published in The New Yorker in 1954 and later collected in The Diamond Cutters and Other Poems (1955). It depicts a young woman "livi...
Poetry Guide
The Collar
by George Herbert
The British poet George Herbert first published "The Collar" in his famous 1633 collection of devotional verse, The Temple. In this autobiographical poem, a clergyman rages against all the limitati...
Poetry Guide
Siren Song
by Margaret Atwood
"Siren Song" is a poem by the Canadian poet and novelist Margaret Atwood. Told from the perspective of a siren—a half-woman, half-bird creature from Greek mythology whose singing lures sailors to t...
Poetry Guide
Living in Sin
by Adrienne Rich
"Living in Sin" is an early-career poem by Adrienne Rich, first published in The New Yorker in 1954 and later collected in The Diamond Cutters and Other Poems (1955). It depicts a young woman "livi...
Poetry Guide
The Collar
by George Herbert
The British poet George Herbert first published "The Collar" in his famous 1633 collection of devotional verse, The Temple. In this autobiographical poem, a clergyman rages against all the limitati...
Poetry Guide
Siren Song
by Margaret Atwood
"Siren Song" is a poem by the Canadian poet and novelist Margaret Atwood. Told from the perspective of a siren—a half-woman, half-bird creature from Greek mythology whose singing lures sailors to t...
Poetry Guide
Rite of Passage
by Sharon Olds
Published in The Dead and the Living in 1984, Sharon Olds's "Rite of Passage" is a poem about the roots of male violence. The poem's speaker, the mother of a boy in first grade, observes the aggres...
Poetry Guide
Living in Sin
by Adrienne Rich
"Living in Sin" is an early-career poem by Adrienne Rich, first published in The New Yorker in 1954 and later collected in The Diamond Cutters and Other Poems (1955). It depicts a young woman "livi...
Poetry Guide
The Collar
by George Herbert
The British poet George Herbert first published "The Collar" in his famous 1633 collection of devotional verse, The Temple. In this autobiographical poem, a clergyman rages against all the limitati...
Poetry Guide
Siren Song
by Margaret Atwood
"Siren Song" is a poem by the Canadian poet and novelist Margaret Atwood. Told from the perspective of a siren—a half-woman, half-bird creature from Greek mythology whose singing lures sailors to t...
Poetry Guide
Rite of Passage
by Sharon Olds
Published in The Dead and the Living in 1984, Sharon Olds's "Rite of Passage" is a poem about the roots of male violence. The poem's speaker, the mother of a boy in first grade, observes the aggres...
Lit Guide
The Enemy
by V. S. Naipaul
“The Enemy” is a coming-of-age story about a young Trinidadian boy (who’s the story’s narrator) and his relationship with his father and mother. His mother hates his father and considers the narrat...
Poetry Guide
Sympathy
by Charles Mackay
The Scottish poet Charles Mackay's "Sympathy" is a fable-like poem with a strong moral lesson. The speaker, suffering from illness and poverty, receives help from two different people: a "proud man...
Lit Guide
Inside Out and Back Again
by Thanhhà Lai
Ten-year-old Hà lives in Vietnam with Mother and her three brothers: Brother Quang, who’s studying engineering at college; Brother Vū, who idolizes Bruce Lee; and Brother Khôi, who loves animals. H...
Poetry Guide
The Canonization
by John Donne
John Donne's witty, punny, passionate "The Canonization" was first published in his posthumous 1633 collection, Poems. The poem's speaker, a middle-aged man who has fallen deeply in love, tells a m...
Lit Guide
Dopesick
by Beth Macy
On a hot day in 2016, Beth Macy goes to a federal prison in West Virginia to interview the former heroin dealer Ronnie Jones. Many have blamed Jones for bringing tragedy to the region, due to the d...
Lit Guide
The Lais of Marie de France
by Marie de France
In her Prologue, the author, Marie de France, argues that a person who’s gifted with eloquence shouldn’t hide their talent but is obligated to share it. For this reason, and in order to resist vice...
Lit Guide
The Taste of Watermelon
by Borden Deal
The sixteen-year-old narrator wants to fit in with his new community. Although he is friends with Freddy Gray and J.D., they don’t completely trust him yet, because his family has just moved to the...
Lit Guide
Report on the Threatened City
by Doris Lessing
A group of six alien envoys sends a priority broadcast back to their base: all programs and plans must be cleared pending the information in their report. In the report, the envoys explain that the...
Lit Guide
Under Milk Wood
by Dylan Thomas
On a dark Spring night, all the townspeople of Llareggub, a small fishing village, are fast asleep. Two omniscient narrators, First Voice and Second Voice invite the listener to gaze inside the tow...
Poetry Guide
Desert Places
by Robert Frost
"Desert Places" can be read both as a meditation on humanity's isolation in the grand scheme of the cosmos and as a reflection of the speaker's personal loneliness. This speaker, traveling at night...
Poetry Guide
The Planners
by Kim Cheng Boey
Singaporean-Australian poet Boey Kim Cheng's "The Planners" suggests that ceaseless expansion and development may cost a country its very heart and soul. The poem's speaker, disillusioned with the ...
Lit Guide
The Enemy
by V. S. Naipaul
“The Enemy” is a coming-of-age story about a young Trinidadian boy (who’s the story’s narrator) and his relationship with his father and mother. His mother hates his father and considers the narrat...
Poetry Guide
Sympathy
by Charles Mackay
The Scottish poet Charles Mackay's "Sympathy" is a fable-like poem with a strong moral lesson. The speaker, suffering from illness and poverty, receives help from two different people: a "proud man...
Lit Guide
Inside Out and Back Again
by Thanhhà Lai
Ten-year-old Hà lives in Vietnam with Mother and her three brothers: Brother Quang, who’s studying engineering at college; Brother Vū, who idolizes Bruce Lee; and Brother Khôi, who loves animals. H...
Poetry Guide
The Canonization
by John Donne
John Donne's witty, punny, passionate "The Canonization" was first published in his posthumous 1633 collection, Poems. The poem's speaker, a middle-aged man who has fallen deeply in love, tells a m...
Lit Guide
Dopesick
by Beth Macy
On a hot day in 2016, Beth Macy goes to a federal prison in West Virginia to interview the former heroin dealer Ronnie Jones. Many have blamed Jones for bringing tragedy to the region, due to the d...
Lit Guide
The Lais of Marie de France
by Marie de France
In her Prologue, the author, Marie de France, argues that a person who’s gifted with eloquence shouldn’t hide their talent but is obligated to share it. For this reason, and in order to resist vice...
Lit Guide
The Taste of Watermelon
by Borden Deal
The sixteen-year-old narrator wants to fit in with his new community. Although he is friends with Freddy Gray and J.D., they don’t completely trust him yet, because his family has just moved to the...
Lit Guide
Report on the Threatened City
by Doris Lessing
A group of six alien envoys sends a priority broadcast back to their base: all programs and plans must be cleared pending the information in their report. In the report, the envoys explain that the...
Lit Guide
Under Milk Wood
by Dylan Thomas
On a dark Spring night, all the townspeople of Llareggub, a small fishing village, are fast asleep. Two omniscient narrators, First Voice and Second Voice invite the listener to gaze inside the tow...
Poetry Guide
Desert Places
by Robert Frost
"Desert Places" can be read both as a meditation on humanity's isolation in the grand scheme of the cosmos and as a reflection of the speaker's personal loneliness. This speaker, traveling at night...
Poetry Guide
The Planners
by Kim Cheng Boey
Singaporean-Australian poet Boey Kim Cheng's "The Planners" suggests that ceaseless expansion and development may cost a country its very heart and soul. The poem's speaker, disillusioned with the ...
Poetry Guide
Rite of Passage
by Sharon Olds
Published in The Dead and the Living in 1984, Sharon Olds's "Rite of Passage" is a poem about the roots of male violence. The poem's speaker, the mother of a boy in first grade, observes the aggres...
Lit Guide
The Enemy
by V. S. Naipaul
“The Enemy” is a coming-of-age story about a young Trinidadian boy (who’s the story’s narrator) and his relationship with his father and mother. His mother hates his father and considers the narrat...
Poetry Guide
Sympathy
by Charles Mackay
The Scottish poet Charles Mackay's "Sympathy" is a fable-like poem with a strong moral lesson. The speaker, suffering from illness and poverty, receives help from two different people: a "proud man...
Lit Guide
Inside Out and Back Again
by Thanhhà Lai
Ten-year-old Hà lives in Vietnam with Mother and her three brothers: Brother Quang, who’s studying engineering at college; Brother Vū, who idolizes Bruce Lee; and Brother Khôi, who loves animals. H...
Poetry Guide
The Canonization
by John Donne
John Donne's witty, punny, passionate "The Canonization" was first published in his posthumous 1633 collection, Poems. The poem's speaker, a middle-aged man who has fallen deeply in love, tells a m...
Lit Guide
Dopesick
by Beth Macy
On a hot day in 2016, Beth Macy goes to a federal prison in West Virginia to interview the former heroin dealer Ronnie Jones. Many have blamed Jones for bringing tragedy to the region, due to the d...
Lit Guide
The Lais of Marie de France
by Marie de France
In her Prologue, the author, Marie de France, argues that a person who’s gifted with eloquence shouldn’t hide their talent but is obligated to share it. For this reason, and in order to resist vice...
Lit Guide
The Taste of Watermelon
by Borden Deal
The sixteen-year-old narrator wants to fit in with his new community. Although he is friends with Freddy Gray and J.D., they don’t completely trust him yet, because his family has just moved to the...
Lit Guide
Report on the Threatened City
by Doris Lessing
A group of six alien envoys sends a priority broadcast back to their base: all programs and plans must be cleared pending the information in their report. In the report, the envoys explain that the...
Lit Guide
Under Milk Wood
by Dylan Thomas
On a dark Spring night, all the townspeople of Llareggub, a small fishing village, are fast asleep. Two omniscient narrators, First Voice and Second Voice invite the listener to gaze inside the tow...
Poetry Guide
Desert Places
by Robert Frost
"Desert Places" can be read both as a meditation on humanity's isolation in the grand scheme of the cosmos and as a reflection of the speaker's personal loneliness. This speaker, traveling at night...
Poetry Guide
The Planners
by Kim Cheng Boey
Singaporean-Australian poet Boey Kim Cheng's "The Planners" suggests that ceaseless expansion and development may cost a country its very heart and soul. The poem's speaker, disillusioned with the ...
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