Posted on: 18 Mar 2024
A regular on the AP Lit List, Hamlet (The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark) is one of the most famous of Shakespeare’s plays. (Coincidentally, it’s also the longest.) It’s a great compelling read – full of violence, poison, pirates, and madness. At the same time, Shakespeare’s language can be difficult to parse. With this […]
Posted on: 01 Mar 2024
Written in 1949 at the height of Stalinism, George Orwell’s 1984 is a prescient examination of totalitarianism, government surveillance, and state violence. The events that befall 1984’s protagonist – Winston Smith – continue to speak to the uneasy relationship between government and the individual. In this blog post, I’m going to be talking about some […]
Posted on: 09 Jan 2024
If you’re about to start reading 1984, this article will introduce the main characters of George Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece. The main characters include Winston Smith, his lover Julia, and O’Brien, the Inner Party member who tortures Winston into betraying everything he loves. Minor characters include Mr. Charrington, a member of the Thought Police who rents […]
Posted on: 01 Jan 2024
If you’re trying to analyze George Orwell’s seminal 1984, it’s not enough to summarize the plot – you’re going to need quotes. (But if you’re looking for a good, chapter-by-chapter summary, I’d look here.) This article will move through the text and give you textual evidence from every chapter that you can use to analyze […]
Posted on: 27 Dec 2023
Even if you’re currently reading Orwell’s classic 1984, it can be helpful to have a summary of the novel. I’ve gone ahead and written a chapter-by-chapter summary of Orwell’s text to keep you focused. If you’re looking for important quotes from the text, check out this 1984 book summary. 1984 Book Summary Part One: Chapter […]
Posted on: 08 Dec 2023
Much ink has been spilled (perhaps too much) trying to explain what the green light symbolizes in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. For those of you who read the book in high school (and those of you who pretended to), you likely remember at least one lengthy class discussion dedicated to the significance of […]
Posted on: 28 Sep 2023
If you’re writing a paper on Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, you’re probably familiar with the plot of the novel – mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby is in love with Daisy Buchanan, throws lavish parties, then gets shot in his own pool. But knowing the plot isn’t enough. If you’re writing a paper, you’re going to need […]
Posted on: 25 Jun 2023
If you ask someone to tell you what The Great Gatsby is about, there’s a good chance they’ll say – “the American Dream.” They would be correct – kinda. If you read the book in high school (or pretended to) you probably remember that the protagonist, Jay Gatsby, has “made it.” He owns a hydroplane […]