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Literary Topics Videos


Who's Seuss?

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 sales flew. Although the doc is now long passed, his stories are still selling fast. So now today the real question is: what can we learn from a writer in the biz? Is it love, friendship, or compassion? Let's have a debate in orderly fashion.


Author Highlights Videos 22 videos

Who's Seuss?
959 Views

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...

Edgar Allan Poe: The Twilight Connection
3339 Views

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?

Dr. Seuss: Changing the Way We Read
935 Views

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...

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Critics Videos 4 videos

What are Shmoop Literary Critic Resources?
460 Views

If there weren’t literary critics to help us understand what we’re reading and why, our copy of The Sound and the Fury might as well function a...

Donne Criticism
311 Views

Critics started attacking Donne's works only after he had passed away. Talk about kicking a guy when he's already down.

Michel Foucault
2444 Views

Who was Michel Foucault? This video introduces the French philosopher and social theorist who focused on discipline, discourse, and power. What are...

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Literary Forms Videos 43 videos

What is Poetry?
12260 Views

That's a good question. Maybe this is poetry. A haiku, perhaps.

Sonnets
9326 Views

This video defines sonnets, a favorite of William Shakespeare. What are the different types of sonnet? How do you identify different kinds of sonne...

Scansion 101
1018 Views

This video explains how to scan and diagram a poem or other work of literature for meter and line length and identifies the metrical description of...

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Special Interest Videos 21 videos

How to Read Bestsellers
562 Views

You should enjoy a bestseller as you would a delicious slice of pepperoni pizza: slowly, savoring each bite, sharing happily with your friends. Oka...

Bestsellers: Thrillers
738 Views

Click on the "play" button...if you dare. Wow, you don't seem very scared. Well, we did what we could. Guess thrillers aren't our forte.

Bestsellers: The Help
9609 Views

Historical fiction novels like The Help can whisk you back to a place and time that you may have only read about in history books. Or... a place an...

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Themes Videos 151 videos

1984
135200 Views

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

1984 and V for Vendetta
17173 Views

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.

1984 Summary
136192 Views

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...

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