Get every quote explanation for Like a House on Fire Plus so much more...

Footsteps, muttering, the sound of fingers stirring through ceramic debris. A tightly constrained hiss of frustration and fury. You get good at listening to sounds in a household when you're prone; it gets so you can almost hear a head shaking in pained disbelief, or distant teeth grinding in the silence.

Explanation and Analysis:

Through her use of onomatopoeia and sensuous language—“muttering,” “hiss,” and “grinding”—Kennedy captures the degree to which the narrator’s senses have become heightened since he’s been “prone.” Trapped inside the house, and confined to his b...

Monthly

Annual (Best Value)

$5⁹⁵USD/mo

Charged $71.40 USD every year

Quote explanations & citation info

Every PDF download

One-page Quick Lit Guides

Detailed chapter analysis

Line-by-line poetry analysis

Literary & poetic device analysis

Unlimited quizzes

Advanced search

Ask LitCharts AI

Theme comparisons across books

Highlight, take notes, & save guides

Teacher

$7⁹⁵USD/mo

Charged $95.40 USD every year

Quote explanations & citation info

Every PDF download

One-page Quick Lit Guides

Detailed chapter analysis

Line-by-line poetry analysis

Literary & poetic device analysis

Unlimited quizzes

Advanced search

Ask LitCharts AI

Theme comparisons across books

Highlight, take notes, & save guides

Teacher editions

Printable classroom resources

Discussion question generator

Essay prompt generator

Quiz question generator

Literature Guide PDFs

LitCharts PDFs for every book you'll read this year.

Instant PDF downloads of all 2267 LitCharts literature guides and of every new one we publish. Try a free sample literature guide.

"Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!"

Quotes Explanations

Find the perfect quote. Understand it perfectly. Then rock the citation, too.
For all 50,591 quotes we cover.

Find. Search every LitChart by chapter, theme, or character to find just the quote you need.

Understand. Grasp the quote's significance with our detailed Explanation and Analysis.

Cite. Get the quote's page or line number, or a perfect citation with our Cite this Quote button.

Teacher Editions

Close reading made easy for students.
Time saved for teachers.
For every book we cover.

Common Core-aligned

Try a free and complete sample Teacher Edition.

PDFs of modern translations of every one of Shakespeare's 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 3 longer poems.

Every translation available to download as a PDF. Try a free sample Shakespeare translation.

"Every teacher of literature should use these translations. They completely demystify Shakespeare. Students love them!"

Original

Romeo

(aside) She speaks.
O, speak again, bright angel! For thou art
As glorious to this night, being o’er my head,
As is a winged messenger of heaven
Unto the white, upturnèd, wondering eyes
Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy-puffing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air.

Juliet

O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art though Romeo?
Deny they father and refuse they name.
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

Modern

Romeo

(to himself) She speaks. Speak again, bright angel! For tonight you are as glorious, there up above me, as a winged messenger of heaven who makes mortals fall onto their backs to gaze up with awestruck eyes as he strides across the lazy clouds and sails through the air.

Juliet

O Romeo, Romeo! Why must you be Romeo? Deny your father and give up your name. Or, if you won’t change your name, just swear your love to me and I’ll give up being a Capulet.

Literary Terms and Devices

Definitions and examples for every literary term and device you need to know.
Plus a quick-reference PDF with concise definitions of all 136 terms in one place.