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, January 31, 2025
Why Do Languages Die?
How does someone become the last known speaker of a language?
Diagnosing 9 of Charles Dickens’s Most Famous Characters
Dickens had a knack for expertly portraying human diseases.
Was there a feud between William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway?
Let the accusations of cowardice and drunkenness fly.
7 Everyday English Idioms and Where They Come From
How did the proof get in the pudding? Britannica spills the beans on some of the most common idioms!
English literature
English literature, the body of written works produced in the English language by inhabitants of the British Isles (including...
Portuguese literature
Portuguese literature, the body of writing in the Portuguese language produced by the peoples of Portugal, which includes...
children’s literature
Children’s literature, the body of written works and accompanying illustrations produced in order to entertain or instruct...
popular art
Popular art, any dance, literature, music, theatre, or other art form intended to be received and appreciated by ordinary...
Literature Quizzes
From What Language...
From "Ubuntu" and "vindaloo" to "syrup" and "pajamas", test your knowledge of word origins and world languages in this quiz.
Learning the Alphabet
How many characters does the Russian alphabet have? What is the ancestor of the Hebrew and Arabic alphabets? Test your knowledge...
From the Latin
See how much you really know about the Latin-derived words in this quiz.
Antonyms and Synonyms
You may know that opposites attract and likes repel, but how much do you know about synonyms and antonyms? Turn your knowledge...
English 101
What is the term for words that sound like themselves, such as "ding dong" and "purr"? From morphemes to homophones, see...
The Meanings of Words
From "paradise" to "substitute", test your knowledge of words and their meanings in this quiz.
Word Meanings and Origins
What is the word used in the American desert for a sun-dried brick? Test your knowledge of words and their international...
Grammar Quiz
In the sentence "John kicked the football across the yard," what is the verb? From modifiers to plural forms, see how well...
World Languages
You may be familiar with such words as "hamburger" and "pretzel", but do you know the formal pronoun in German? Test your...
Plain English
Does orthography refer to proper pronounciation? Can a colon be used to join two words into a single compound word? Dot your...
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.
Articles
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Brothers Grimm
German folklorists and linguists
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Erasmus
Dutch humanist
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African American folktale
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.
Articles
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James Bond
fictional character
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Don Quixote
fictional character
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Richard III
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.
Articles
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Bob Woodward
American journalist and author
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Ida B. Wells-Barnett
American journalist and social reformer
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Seymour Hersh
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.
Articles
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John Ray
English naturalist
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Paracelsus
German-Swiss physician
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Georgius Agricola
German scholar and scientist
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.
Articles
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Northrop Frye
Canadian literary critic
- literary criticism
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Samuel Johnson
English 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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picaresque novel
literature
- metaphor
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epic
literary genre
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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autobiography
literature
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Silent Spring
work by Carson
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Federalist papers
American political essays
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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The Great Gatsby
novel by Fitzgerald
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The Book of Negroes
novel by Hill
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Dracula
novel by Stoker
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.
Articles
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Winston Churchill
prime minister of United Kingdom
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Demosthenes
Greek statesman and orator
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St. Basil the Great
bishop of Caesarea
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
