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The fireside poets – also known as the schoolroom or household poets – were a group of 19th-century American poets associated with New England. These poets were very popular among readers and critics both in the United States and overseas. Their domestic themes and messages of morality presented in conventional poetic forms deeply shaped their era until their decline in popularity at the…

ULYSSES, ORDER, AND MYTH  A book review by T. S. Eliot, regarding: Ulysses. By James Joyce. 8 vo. 752 pages. Shakespeare and Company, Paris. Limited edition. James_Joyce_by_Alex_Ehrenzweig,_1915.jpg: Alex Ehrenzweigderivative work: RedAppleJack, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. MR JOYCE’S book has been out long enough for no more general expression of praise, or expostulation with its…

William Cullen Bryant, photographed by Charles DeForest Fredricks, c. 1860. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. Public domain. Poems by American poet William Cullen Bryant: “Thanatopsis” “To a Waterfowl” “March” (5th poem on this page of March Poetry) To read a humorous account of Bryant’s poetry, written by one of his peers, go to this page on our site (Fable for…

“The Waste Land” by T. S. Eliot can be a difficult poem. Here are some resources to help you understand it, starting with a video introduction by Dr. Timothy Bartel: The notes that follow were written by T. S. Eliot, upon the poem’s first publication in book form. For additional notes and an annotated version of the poem, see the resources available at Representative Poetry Online. [click on…

How to Analyze a Short Story What is a Short Story? A short story is a work of short, narrative prose that is usually centered around one single event. It is limited in scope and has an introduction, body and conclusion. Although a short story has much in common with a novel, it is written with much greater precision. You will often be asked to write a literary analysis. An analysis of a short…

Brief Biography Ernest Hemingway on his boat Pilar, c. 1950s, photographer unknown Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his adventurous lifestyle and public image brought him admiration from later generations. Hemingway produced…

The Language of Poetry Written by Carol Dwankowski A draft of “O Captain! My Captain!” in Walt Whitman’s own handwriting. The poet’s choice of words is extremely important because a lot needs to be said with few words. Language is the personal or private choice of words the speaker uses to express himself. Poetry makes pictures with words. Are there any words that are repeated or that stand…

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892), English poet, was born at Somersby, Lincolnshire, England, on the 6th of August 1809. He was the fourth of the twelve children of the Reverend George Clayton Tennyson (1778–1831) and his wife Elizabeth Fytche (1781–1865). The Tennysons were an old Lincolnshire family settled at Bayon’s Manor. Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennysonby Samuel Laurence, and Sir Edward…

Image: Aen Tan. CC BY-SA. The word genre is originally French and means kind or type. In this connection genre is used to classify literary forms. There are a number of genres and subgenres that will identify a literary work by certain criteria. In literary science and criticism this is a handy tool for defining a literary work. This brief introduction will present the most common genres used in…

Charlotte Maria Shaw Mason (1 January 1842 – 16 January 1923) was a British educator and reformer in England at the turn of the twentieth century. She proposed to base the education of children upon a wide and liberal curriculum. She worked for five years under Fanny Trevor at Bishop Otter College. Biography Charlotte Mason was born in the hamlet of Garth near Bangor on the Northwest tip of…

John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress is an allegory, meaning that each character, place, and event in the story represents something else. The allegorical elements in The Pilgrim’s Progress can be divided into two categories: literal and symbolic. Literal Elements The literal elements of The Pilgrim’s Progress are the things that are actually happening in the story. For example, Christian is a…

Emily Dickinson, c. 1848, artist unknownTodd-Bingham picture collection, 1837-1966 (inclusive). Manuscripts & Archives, Yale University Library Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, into a…

Rudyard Kipling, c. 1899, New Amsterdam Book Co.From the Library of Congress website, http://www.loc.gov Rudyard Kipling, whose full name was Joseph Rudyard Kipling (30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936), was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. Kipling’s works of fiction include the Jungle Book duology (The…

The Poet’s Calendar, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Joseph Keppler, c. 1882 (Public Domain). From the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian…

F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1937, Carl Van Vechten Brief Bio Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularized in his short story collection Tales of the Jazz Age. During his lifetime, he published four novels, four…

Brief Biography: Walt Whitman (1819-1892), age 35, frontispiece to Leaves of Grass, Fulton St., Brooklyn, N.Y., 1855, steel engraving by Samuel Hollyer from a lost daguerreotype by Gabriel Harrison. Walt Whitman, whose full name was Walter Whitman Jr. (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892), was an American poet, essayist, and journalist. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American…

Volume Cover, Designed By Emilé Bayard.Engraving by John Andrews & Son Co. 1891 (public domain) A Calendar of Sonnets, by Helen Hunt Jackson January O winter! frozen pulse and heart of fire, What loss is theirs who from thy kingdom turn Dismayed, and think thy snow a sculptured urn Of death! Far sooner in midsummer tire The streams than under ice. June could not hire Her roses to forego the…