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Love potions are tricky business (not that we've ever tried using one, of course). They can make you fall in love with the wrong person…or, in th...

The Constitution of the United States is the highest law in the land: it's a written statement of the core principles of the American government. I...

Ever heard of a "living document"? They eat and breathe just like the rest of us! They even walk around on their own two legs. Okay, fine—maybe t...

In this video, you'll learn about the original Constitutional Convention and why our Founding Fathers felt it was necessary. Who would you invite t...

How did Scrooge go from being naughty to nice so quickly, and why? (Hint: contrary to popular belief, it has nothing to do with the ghost of Santa...

What would YOU do if the heart of the person you buried under the floorboards started making noise? Only one way to find out... (Note: Shmoop does...

Meet the Lady of Shalott. Not to be confused with the Lady of Shallot, who is frequently in a pickle.

Brace yourselves, this one's going to get sad fast. Not all war stories are tales of heroism and saving privates named Ryan. 

Do not go gentle into that good night. In fact, if it's past your curfew, don't go at all into that good night. You just stay in your good bed and...

Who wants to read another story about a kid going off to boarding school? Apparently, pretty much everybody.

We volunteer you as tribute to watch this video analysis of Katniss in the second book of the Hunger Games series. After the berry suicide attempt...

“Happy Hunger Games!” Or not. Katniss’s Hunger Games experiences left a not-so-happy effect on her. This video will prompt you to ponder if...

“Happy Hunger Games!” Or not. Katniss’s Hunger Games experiences left a not-so-happy effect on her. This video will prompt you to ponder if...

Sure, Edgar Allan Poe was dark and moody and filled with teenage angst, but what else does he have in common with the Twilight series?

Would would the world be like without books? Ray Bradbury tackles that question—and many more— in Fahrenheit 451. Go ahead; read it on your Kin...

Old English is just English, right? Can’t be more difficult than reading Shakespeare, right? Hah. Yeah...no. Click on the video to find why tra...

Who is it about? Who told it? Who wrote it? Who are we? What’s the meaning of life? Do you know the Muffin Man? All these answers and more can be...

The characters in Beowulf knew the importance of bling. Watch the video to learn more about the place of material goods in the wonderful world of B...

Meet Charles Darnay, the nobleman who spends more time on trial and in prison than attending balls and drinking expensive wine. Don't feel too bad...

Brave New World is supposed be an exciting book about a negative utopia and the corrupt powers of authority. So where’s the big car chase? What's...

What is Dracula really about? Just Count Dracula? Or is there more to it than vampires? This video addresses some major ideas in Bram Stoker’s cl...

Was the marriage plot a bunch of folks who schemed and conned their way into marriage? Hit play to find out.

What important part of America did Dickens not understand? We're going to guess NASCAR, but that's just us. 

How did Americans and Brits feel about Dickens' comedy? Eh...let's just say it was the best of comedy, it was the worst of comedy. 

Whale, whale, whale...what have we got here? Looks like a question about what Kipling was trying to achieve in "How the Whale Got His Throat." Fun...

Common Core 8th Grade 1.3 Reading Literary Texts. Which evidence from the text best supports the inference that Gorgons are dangerous?

Contemporary works of literature such as The Help reference important historical events in order to reflect on themes and challenges that have...

Welcome to Contemporary Literature. It's not old and banal like all that ancient literature. It's hip and cool. It wears Warby Parker glasses. 

Vlad the Impaler was an appropriately named guy, until he went on tropical vacations. Then, he went by Vlad the Imtanner. For some facts that are a...

Readers may be already be familiar with Dracula, but what about the mathematician and author, Bram Stoker? And yes, he graduated with a degree in m...

Looks, wealth, and a super cool castle to live in… Well...maybe not live in, if you happened to be Dracula. But for the most part, this guy had...

Well, if this book doesn't make you want to tape over your laptop camera, we don't know what will.

Imagine a world in which all literature was dystopian. Okay, so we may be getting to that point, 1984 and V for Vendetta helped start it all.

By the end of this video, you will be brainwashed. There's nothing you can do about it; we just wanted to let you know. We like to think we're bigg...

You might be hearing a chorus of farewells if you recommend A Farewell to Arms as the next read for your Fabulously Feisty Feminist Book Club.

You'd have to be a Grinch not to acknowledge what a huge effect Dr. Seuss had on all of us. Horton may have heard a Who, but hey... we heard it, t...

We’ll preface this video about Frankenstein’s preface by saying that Mary Shelley is an awesome woman, and she wants everybody to be aware. Che...

Is Victor Frankenstein a: Romantic Hero? b: Byronic Hero? c: Satanic Hero? d: Guitar Hero? All of the above (but maybe not D…) We don�...

What is Gothic Romanticism? It's when two goths fall in love. Duh. Wait, that’s not what it is? Oh. We should probably watch the video and figure...

Join us for part one of the Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell. We'll find out who he is, what he's responsible for, and if he has anything to do with...

Join us for part five of the Hero's Journey: The Collective Unconscious. Otherwise known as every slumber party, ever. 

Join us for part thirteen of the Hero's Journey: There's A Part Thirteen? Just kidding. It's actually called "The Return." But seriously, thir...

Dr. Seuss was a failure to start, but he soon learned to follow his heart. He wrote books about things that he knew, and soon enough, his book sale...

Sure, Edgar Allan Poe was dark and moody and filled with teenage angst, but what else does he have in common with the Twilight series?

Emily Dickinson was a New England poet/hermit with a fascination with death and immortality. She wrote over 1000 poems in her lifetime, most of the...

Si alguna vez te encuentras en una balsa flotando en el río Mississippi, usted va a querer hacer algo. Lectura clásico de Mark Twain, Las aventur...

Moby-Dick - una ballena extraña. Nuestro amigo capitán Ahab la había perseguido para años, pero no es el mejor lider en el mundo. Piensas que p...

Whoa, fifty different ways to say the word “whale” just in the Preface? Something tell us we’re in for a whale of a time. Yeah, we know, th...

The combination of religious and seafaring imagery in Moby-Dick is just like the peanut butter and the chocolate in a Reese's Cup––you can’t...

Nature: it’s the only path you can take to God without that whole pesky “death” thing.

A distraught and helpless Oedipus questions fate and free will when he discovers that he's killed his father and married his mother. 

Well, if this book doesn't make you want to tape over your laptop camera, we don't know what will.

By the end of this video, you will be brainwashed. There's nothing you can do about it; we just wanted to let you know. We like to think we're bigg...

Have you ever pretended to be super happy for your BFF when they win an award when, really, you just wanted to rip it out of their undeserving, ung...

Find out the meaning behind "...he took one of his ribs..."

Find out the meaning behind "a fool's paradise."

Find out the meaning behind "a foregone conclusion."

Aren't midsummer night dreams the worst? You wake up all sweaty and gross, and for a minute there, you can't even remember where you are. And also,...

Love potions are tricky business (not that we've ever tried using one, of course). They can make you fall in love with the wrong person…or, in th...

We're not sure if good ol' Shakespeare would endorse The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, but that's not going to stop us from hosting themed viewing...

This video defines symbolism and analyzes the use of symbolism in stories like The Great Gatsby and To Kill a Mockingbird. What effect do symbols h...

The micro setting: Enterprise. The macro setting: “Space, the Final Frontier!”

This video defines theme and investigates how it’s used in literature—is it intentional? In this video, we discuss the difference between theme...

Ugh, John is just like Catherine from Wuthering Heights, always thinking he’s so much better than we are. All he’s missing is a house on a spoo...

It’s time to become mind readers and get into the heads of stream of consciousness writers, and order some chicken for Tuesday, because last week...

Ever wake up to find that you’ve transformed into a giant bug? Just say, “I woke up like this,” and post a picture on Instagram. Works every...

In High School we were usually told to "Make like a tree…" Melinda here has to make, like, a tree. Art stuff. We're painting with a broad-brush t...

AP English Literature and Composition 1.2 Passage Drill 4. As which of the following is the object being personified?

AP English Literature and Composition 1.4 Passage Drill 3. How is Burne's view of pacifism best characterized in lines 57 through 67?

AP English Literature and Composition 1.6 Passage Drill 5. Death is primarily characterized as what?

It's the roaring 20s. A time of wealth, partying, and a huge inequality gap. Fun, fun, and, uh...not-so-fun. Hit play to discover more about the se...

East Egg: East coast, old money, and ponies. Maybe unicorns. Those snotty East Eggers won’t tell us anything. West Egg: West coast, new money, an...

Gatsby’s a man who throws huge parties and still has zero friends. Maybe they’re all like...Tupperware parties or something. Check out the vide...

Frederick Douglass was an impassioned public speaker. So are we: we're impassioned about never speaking in public.

Why did Douglass write the book? Easy. Because TV wasn't a viable medium yet. 

When we see it at the movies, our eyes roll. But are we guilty of the same? Shmoop!: The Movie, a Shmoop production, written by Shmoop, starring Sh...

Well, the world has ended, which is a total bummer. We didn’t even get a chance to sell our super valuable Beanie Baby collection. We hope you’...

The Road is full of emptiness and nobody knows where they’re going. So make a note to self, Shmoopers: when the apocalypse hits, grab a GPS.

Always read The Road with a dictionary at hand, because you’re going to need it. Seriously. We’re not known to be perfidious (though we do have...

Free will vs. Predestination. One of the many interpretations for the title Their Eyes Were Watching God. We personally like, “Stop Staring at Me...

Their eyes might’ve been watching God, but our eyes are watching Zora Neal Hurston. Hit play to learn more about Hurston and the Harlem Renaissance.

Their Eyes Were Watching God is about Janie’s coming of age story towards the path of self-discovery, just like Luke from Star Wars. Seriously, J...

What is the mad dog a symbol for? If we give it a Snausage, will it calm down? 

What were Jim Crow laws, and why weren't they changed? Hit play to find out, and to also count your blessings that you're growing up in the present...

Who was Mary Rowlandson? What was her book about? Why are you reading this description when you could be watching the video? Honestly, sometimes we...

Folk tales are all about conveying a deeper meaning—no banjos required. Arabian Nights is one of the most famous collections, so get ready to lea...

Crime and Punishment is all about a boy killing for money, literally, and then spending the rest of the book trying to hide it. Although the book c...

No HBO? Well then, how does a horror short story writing contest sound? And the winner is...drum roll, please...Mary Shelley. You go, girl. And tha...