A sampling of iconic poems by Gwendolyn Brooks, Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet, with links to analyses following each one.

The term "literary fiction," is a bit of a loaded one. Defined as any fictional work that holds "literary merit," the phrase is undeniably subjective. After all, what does it mean for something to hold literary merit? Who decides such things? Why are some works better than others

Biography of Ann Petry (1908 – 1997), first Black woman whose book (The Street) sold more than a million copies. She also wrote The Narrows.

Brief biography or Isak Dinesen (1885-1962), the pen name of Danish novelist and memoirist Karen Blixen, best known for Out of Africa.

Time Out of Mind by Rachel Field (1894 – 1942) was this American author’s first novel for adults (1935) and a National Book Award winner.

5 things to love about Gwendolyn Brooks, a highly honored poet who broke ground speaking to the black and female experience in America.

Will we ever see the likes of Babitz and Didion again, or will we be stuck with the sad literary girl forever?

Liebig's Beef Extract "Literary Leading Ladies" Italian issue, 1905 Dante's "Beatrice" from The Divine Comedy

In our Craft Lessons and Writing Prompts series we take a quick look at a craft element and pair it with a writing exercise. It's a great way to learn and inspire yourself. Writing exercises are wonderful for generating new material and working outside your comfort zone. In our first of these mini-lessons, we'll take

Literary fiction writers tend to avoid plot. We’re trained to be plot snobs, focused only on character development and description and point-of-view amongst other things. But your story can’t be plotless. Plot is tension, plot is drama, plot IS story. So we must learn to fuse plot and character seam

Here are 13 essential works of classic feminist fiction, from Jane Eyre (1847), through Parable of the Talents (1998).

A selection of quotes by bell hooks are arranged by themes of love, intersectionality, race, patriarchy, feminism, and resistance.

This year has brought a lot of things, and most of them have been bad. One good thing, though, is there has been quite been a lot of innovative, beautiful, and fascinating book cover design, includ…

It’s been just over three months since the lists of books started proliferating. There were lists of short books (“read it in one sitting”), lists of long books (“you’ve got nothing but time on you…

Facts about Julia Ward Howe (1819 – 1910), American poet, essayist, editor, speaker, and activist remembered for "Battle Hymn of the Republic."

An author offten described as eccentric and morbid, it's no wonder that quotes by Djuna Barnes (author of Nightwood) can be described the same way.

Brief biography of Kay Boyle (1902 – 1992), prolific American author of novels and short stories, and later in life, a political activist.

"Dive into the Sensation and Scandal of 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' by D.H. Lawrence" "Lady Chatterley's Lover," a novel by D.H. Lawrence, holds a monumental place in literary history, not just for its narrative and thematic daring, but also for the considerable controversy it garnished upon its publication. Written in the late 1920s and published in

I've written about Teaching Channel before, and I'll be writing from time to time about a particular great idea I've found there. If you haven't already joined, remember that it's FREE, and signing up takes less than a minute! One of the many great Tch video clips shows middle school teacher Meagan Berkowitz teaching a poetry lesson using the SIFT Method - Symbol, Imagery, Figurative Language, and Tone or Theme. It's less than 5 minutes long, and well worth watching to see her interaction with her students, and the focus they have on the poems they are reading while using bookmark cue cards. Close analytic reading is an important feature of the Common Core; here's a tool for you to try out to see if it fits your needs! Besides the bookmark, you are given the lesson plan, a copy of the two poems used, and a transcript of the lesson. If you're a language arts teacher, you're all set to try this lesson yourself, or to adapt it to your grade level! And don't forget to "pin" the lesson by clicking "Save this in my Lesson Planner." (A note: there is a typo on the SIFT bookmark that you'll want to change before printing - "attitude and author" should be "attitude an author." I changed it in the image above. Since it's an open Word document, it's no problem!)

Clive Staples Lewis, known to most of us as Narnia's creator C.S. Lewis, was an English man of letters who made theology entertaining. Besides the world of Narnia, he was famous for a little volume entitled The Screwtape Letters. Perhaps less famous, but most intriguing is his science fiction trilogy that is comprised of Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra and That Hideous Strength. Posted here is a vision of Perelandra, which is actually the planet Venus. And 'under its eternal mantle of clouds, he imagines it as a place of endless oceans, floating islands and diffused golden light. And the green woman his hero encounters there is not the Aphrodite of this watery world, but its Eve. A new Eve, confronted with temptation. In this exotically beautiful world of rippling, floating islands on vast warm seas, the forbidden act is to stay overnight on the fixed lands before an appointed time has come' — envisioned here, somewhat surrealistically in a painting by James Lewicki. As I say, most intriguing.

This study guide and infographic for D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover offer summary and analysis on themes, symbols, and other literary devices found in the text. Explore Course Hero's library of literature materials, including documents and Q&A pairs.

Action beats, like any literary device, distract readers if abused. Overreliance on them weakens writing. Here’s how to eliminate extraneous beats. #WritingTips

Isak Dinesen was a Danish author who was best known for her work "Out of Africa", her poetic writing style and her aristocrat background.

Jordan in purple Jordan Summer yellows Reading and texting Together time New book Three friends Comi...