Literature
With the development of language, the human imagination has found a way to create and communicate through the written word. A literary work can transport us into a fictional, fantastic new world, describe a fleeting feeling, or simply give us a picture of the past through novels, poems, tragedies, epic works, and other genres. Through literature, communication becomes an art, and it can bridge and bond people and cultures of different languages and backgrounds.
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Featured content, May 12, 2025
Why Is There an R in Mrs.?
There’s no r in missus, so what’s it doing in the abbreviation?
Diagnosing 9 of Charles Dickens’s Most Famous Characters
Dickens had a knack for expertly portraying human diseases.
10 Failed Doomsday Predictions
Predictions for the end of the world that (obviously) didn’t come true.
What were Sir Walter Scott’s influences?
What were Sir Walter Scott’s influences?
Japanese literature
Japanese literature, the body of written works produced by Japanese authors in Japanese or, in its earliest beginnings, at...
African American literature
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent. Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary...
American literature
American literature, the body of written works produced in the English language in the United States. Like other national...
Yiddish literature
Yiddish literature, the body of written works produced in the Yiddish language of Ashkenazic Jewry (central and eastern European...
Literature Quizzes
A Study of Writers
What country was William Butler Yeats from? Stephen King is generally associated with what genre? From knighthood to the...
Literary Hodgepodge
Who is the only one of Milton’s contemporaries to be mentioned by name in Paradise Lost? What Hemingway novel is...
Read Between the Lines
What is Japan’s oldest major novel? In the Odyssey, what term is used to describe the goddess Dawn? From Ivanhoe...
Writer’s Block
What name was given to the generation of writers Ernest Hemingway belonged to? Test your literary knowledge in this study...
Getting Into (Fictional) Character
What is the name of the schoolteacher in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"? Where does Sherlock Holmes live? Test your knowledge...
Open Books
In which decade did Anne Frank write her diary? To which literary genre does The War of the Worlds belong? Test...
Writer’s Digest
With which U.S. state is the writer John Steinbeck closely associated? Test the "state" of your literary knowledge in this...
Greek and Roman Literature: Fact or Fiction?
Was the Trojan Horse a real horse? Did Homer really write the Iliad? Test your knowledge of Greek and Roman literature...
Sherlock Holmes: Fact or Fiction?
Was the first Sherlock Holmes story "The Hound of the Baskervilles?" From London addresses to famous quotes, grab your magnifying...
Shakespearean Plays: Fact or Fiction?
Is the title character of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet a prince of England? From Twelfth Night to The...
Literature Videos
Literature Subcategories
Folk Literature & Fable
Step into the world of folklore, fables, legends, tall tales, and epics, in which heroes are known to undertake arduous journeys and dragons, fairies, and giants abound. Stories such as these circulated long before systems of writing were developed; ballads, folktales, poems, and the like were transmitted exclusively by word of mouth before written languages took over, and they continue to captivate listeners and readers to this day.
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Jean de La Fontaine
French poet
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vampire
legendary creature
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fable
literature
Fictional Characters
Here you'll find some of your favorite fictional characters from literature, film, television, and the like, whether it's the analytical mastermind Sherlock Holmes and his endearing associate Dr. Watson or the menacing and helmeted Darth Vader, the ill-tempered Donald Duck, or the teenage sleuth Nancy Drew.
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Fantastic Four
fictional characters
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Wonder Woman
fictional character
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James Bond
fictional character
Journalism
Extra, extra! Although the content and style of journalism and the medium through which it is delivered have varied significantly over the years, journalism has always given us a way to keep up with current events, so that we always have our fingers on the pulse.
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Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö
Swedish journalists and authors
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Dorothy Thompson
American journalist and writer
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Nellie Bly
American journalist
Libraries & Reference Works
Looking to impress your friends with your expansive knowledge of historical events, philosophical concepts, obscure words, and more? We may be biased, but it seems fair enough to say that reference works such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, and textbooks have provided such a service for years (in some cases, hundreds or even thousands of years). You can look for them at your local public library, which likely stores books, manuscripts, journals, CDs, movies, and other sources of information and entertainment.
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almanac
book
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Conrad Gesner
Swiss physician and naturalist
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Newberry Library
library, Chicago, Illinois, United States
Literatures of the World
Literature knows no geographical bounds; authors can be found in nearly all corners of the globe. Find out more about regional literary styles and forms.
Articles
Literary Criticism
Everyone's a critic. But not all literary criticism involves judging the quality of a text; it can also focus on interpreting the meaning of a work or evaluating an author's place in literary history.
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Edward Said
American professor and literary critic
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Harold Bloom
American literary critic and author
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Charles Baudelaire
French author
Literary Terms
Want to be able to distinguish your limericks from your haikus and your paeans from your panegyrics? Dive deep into literary terms and forms.
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- nonfictional prose
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tragedy
literature
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sonnet
poetic form
Nonfiction
The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth! Or that's the idea, at least. Nonfiction works center on facts and real events. Although there is some debate about which kinds of literature qualify as nonfiction, the genre typically includes books in the categories of biography, memoir, science, history, self-help, cooking, health and fitness, business, and more.
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epitaph
poetic form
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slave narrative
American literature
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The Abolition of Man
work by Lewis
Novels & Short Stories
novels and short stories have been enchanting and transporting readers for a great many years. There's a little something for everyone: within these two genres of literature, a wealth of types and styles can be found, including historical, epistolary, romantic, Gothic, and realist works, along with many more.
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A Farewell to Arms
novel by Hemingway
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Emma
novel by Austen
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Around the World in Eighty Days
novel by Verne
Oratory
speech and Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, quoted above, are two iconic examples of successful oratory, as are Elizabeth I's speech to the troops at Tilbury and Winston Churchill's first speech as prime minister to the House of Commons.
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Cicero
Roman statesman, scholar, and writer
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Patrick Henry
American statesman
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Meister Eckhart
German theologian and mystic
Plays
; and the stage is where you'll find performances of works by such famed playwrights as Anton Chekhov, Eugene O'Neill, and the Bard himself, among many others.
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Hamlet
work by Shakespeare
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Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
play by Albee
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Henry IV, Part 1
work by Shakespeare
Poetry
; sonnets, haikus, nursery rhymes, epics, and more are included.
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ballade
poetry and song
- light verse
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Beowulf
Old English poem
