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, May 20, 2025
Why Is There an R in Mrs.?
There’s no r in missus, so what’s it doing in the abbreviation?
In the Sea-Language: Sailing Terms in Britannica's First Edition
Do you know your “bonnet” from your “shivers”?
How did Albert Camus die?
How did Albert Camus die?
11 Banned Books Through Time
Some books have been banned for reasons that may surprise you.
Icelandic literature
Icelandic literature, body of writings in Icelandic, including those from Old Icelandic (also called Old Norse) through Modern...
rhetoric
Rhetoric, the principles of training communicators—those seeking to persuade or inform. In the 20th century it underwent...
French literature
French literature, the body of written works in the French language produced within the geographic and political boundaries...
folk literature
Folk literature, the lore (traditional knowledge and beliefs) of cultures having no written language. It is transmitted by...
Literature Quizzes
12th-Grade Vocabulary Quiz
Can you accurately match definitions to their words? Take this quiz to find out. Words in this quiz are at a 12th-grade level....
Match the Definition to the Word: 12th-Grade Vocabulary Quiz
Can you correctly match 12th-grade–level vocabulary words to their definitions? Take this quiz to find out. Definitions and...
Spanish Idioms in English
Put your knowledge of Spanish to the test. See whether you know these phrases common among native speakers. Be careful of...
Challenging Words You Should Know Vocabulary Quiz
This is not a quiz for the pusillanimous.
Slang Through the Ages Vocabulary Quiz
Find out if you’re a space cadet or the bee’s knees.
Words Named After People Vocabulary Quiz
Find out who’s behind leotard, morphine, and more.
The Great British Vocabulary Quiz
Make sure you know the difference between a loo and a lift.
What’s on the Menu? Vocabulary Quiz
Sink your teeth into these questions about food.
Face Your Fears Vocabulary Quiz
Everybody's scared of something, from insects to a whole country. See if you can figure out these phobias.
Figure Out the Acronyms ASAP Vocabulary Quiz
Acronyms are abbreviations that can be said as words, such as AWOL, NASA, and ASAP. See if you can figure out the words within...
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.
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The Thousand and One Nights
collection of Middle Eastern and Indian stories
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Brothers Grimm
German folklorists and linguists
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Erasmus
Dutch humanist
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.
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Wonder Woman
fictional character
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James Bond
fictional character
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Don Quixote
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.
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Joseph Moses Levy
British journalist
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Christiane Amanpour
journalist
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William Randolph Hearst
American newspaper publisher
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.
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Claude Bernard
French scientist
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Noah Webster
American lexicographer
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John Ray
English naturalist
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
- literary criticism
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Samuel Johnson
English author
- textual criticism
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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haiku
Japanese literature
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picaresque novel
literature
- metaphor
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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diary
literature
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Unsafe at Any Speed
work by Nader
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autobiography
literature
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 Sound and the Fury
novel by Faulkner
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Catch-22
novel by Heller
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The Awakening
novel by Chopin
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.
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St. Augustine
Christian bishop and theologian
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St. Ambrose
bishop of Milan
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Isocrates
Greek orator and rhetorician
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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Henry IV, Part 1
work by Shakespeare
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Pygmalion
play by Shaw
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A Raisin in the Sun
play by Hansberry
