1,098 Answered Questions for the topic literature

Literature Poetry

04/05/19

I need help identifying poetic devices

To tell the truth, those brick Housing Authority buildingsFor whose loveliness no soul had planned,Like random dominoes stood, worn out and facing each other,Creating the enclosure that was our... more
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04/05/19

Is Deeper Magic something more than God (the Emperor beyond the Sea) in Narnia?
When Aslan is asked why he has to die in the *The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe*, he answers something in the sense that there is a "deeper magic" that he has to obey. What exactly is this... more
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04/04/19

In Margeret Atwood's "Hag-Seed," where is Caliban?
Margeret Atwood's _Hag-Seed_ is a metafictional retelling of Shakespeare's _The Tempest_. Many elements of _The Tempest_ are clearly recognizable (e.g. Felix is very obviously Prospero), while... more
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04/03/19

How does paracetamol work?
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04/02/19

Am I reading this wrong? Or is my understanding anachronical?
I started reading this short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, *What to Do About It*, published in 1933. And the story starts with a character trying to free a wheel from a tirelock:> [...] he... more
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Literature Beowulf

04/01/19

What was the political system in the tale Beowulf? and how did the activity of pillaging condition the political system?
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04/01/19

why does the author use the simile “Jake steps into the throw and chucks the ball like a middle tied to a tightrope wire”?
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03/29/19

What's the significance of Faust's meeting being on Easter Day?
In Goethe's *Faust*, the eponymous (anti?)hero meets the demon Mephistopheles on what seems to be Easter Sunday, during local celebrations of Easter. Given the religious themes in the story, this... more
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03/29/19

What is the significance of the Grand Inquisitor in The Brothers Karamazov?
In the *The Brothers Karamazov*, Ivan tells a long story to Alyosha about the *Grand Inquisitor*. I have been trying to grasp its meaning for sometime, but what is the significance of that story?
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03/27/19

Did Lady Macbeth communicate signs of her instability prior to the blood scene?
I'm looking back on Macbeth, and I'm wondering something that's piqued my interest again. There's a very well-known scene in Macbeth: the blood-spot scene, the hand-washing scene, and other such... more
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03/27/19

Did Lenore in Edgar Allen Poe's poem *The Raven* merely leave or is she dead?
Edgar Allen Poe's poem *The Raven* has the narrator mourning the loss of his love Lenore. But it's actually not entirely clear to me if Lenore merely *left* the narrator (for whatever... more
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03/27/19

Is there any textual evidence that this death in Deathly Hallows symbolized the end of childhood?
In the beginning of *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*, we see that Hedwig is killed by the Avada Kedavra curse. >"No - HEDWIG!" The broomstick spun to earth, but he just managed to seize... more
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03/27/19

Identify a possible quote by Shakespeare?
To those familiar with Shakespeare, do you know where this phrase comes from? > Robust grass endures mighty winds; loyal ministers emerge through ordeal
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Literature

03/27/19

What is "This is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams about?
In ["This is Just to Say"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_Just_To_Say) by William Carlos Williams, the speaker appears to deliver an apology for stealing the plums of the person at whom the... more
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03/27/19

What is the pun in Kipling's poem "The Three-Decker"?
In the poem *The Three-Decker*, by Rudyard Kipling, there is one line where the meter is slightly different from all the other lines. I Googled that line, not expecting to find anything, and Google... more
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03/27/19

Did the mechanical hound signify anything in Fahrenheit 451?
Ray Bradbury's *Fahrenheit 451* is written with many recurring symbols. After reading the book, I never thought that the mechanical hound was one of them, though my friend told me otherwise. **Did... more
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03/27/19

What is the meaning of Blake's poem "The Sick Rose"?
William Blake's very short poem "The Sick Rose", from his [*Songs of Innocence and of Experience*](http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1934/1934-h/1934-h.htm), runs as follows: > O rose, thou art... more
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Literature English Poem

03/21/19

How do I find the meter and the number of syllables in my poem?
Here is my poem1 Two paths I can run on,2 One is short and sweet3 The other is long and hard.4 Sorry I could not take both,5 Looking as far as I could down one path6 My heart raced like a cheetah7... more
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Literature English Syntax

03/21/19

How does syntax contribute to tone?
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Literature English Syntax

03/21/19

What does syntax mean in poetry?
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03/19/19

What does "in the Ring" mean in Because I could not stop for Death?
3rd stanza: > We passed the School, where Children strove > At Recess – **in the Ring** – > We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain – > We passed the Setting Sun – I've heard of... more
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03/19/19

How does scansion work in Arabic poetry?
I was reading about Arabic poetry on [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_poetry), and specifically the description of scansion: > The rhymed poetry falls within fifteen different... more
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03/19/19

What is meant by "came to practice" in John Manningham's description of Twelfth Night?
In the earliest mention of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night"; John Manningham's Diary: > A good practice in it [was] to make the Steward believe his Lady . . . in love with him, by counterfeiting... more
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Literature

03/19/19

Is Dorothea's nickname metaphorical in "Middlemarch"?
In Middlemarch by George Eliot Dorothea Brook's nickname is Dodo. Or actually to be exact her sister, Celia Brook's nickname for her is Dodo. **Is this an allusion to Dorothea's almost extinct... more
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03/19/19

What are "smoking-room stories"?
I recently started reading C.S. Lewis's book *That Hideous Strength*, the third in his Space Trilogy (and I'm devouring it - what a story!) The following passage, from when Mark first meets Miss... more
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