Classic Literature Study Guide

Fourteen novels, each broken down into the things an essay actually needs. Pick a work to open it.

Filter by period:

Compare Novels

Pick any two and the same questions are asked of both. Comparison essays are won on shared criteria, not on parallel summaries.

versus

A comparison that alternates whole paragraphs about one book and then the other is not a comparison, it is two essays stapled together. Choose three or four of the rows above, and structure each paragraph around the row rather than around the novel. The reader should be unable to tell which book you like more until you tell them.

Character Tools

A framework that works on any character in any novel, plus the recurring types and what each is usually doing structurally.

QThe five questions

TRecurring types and what they do

Theme Tracker

Select a theme to see which novels carry it and how each one treats it differently. Difference is where the argument lives.

Essay Method

Eight moves that separate a top band literature essay from a competent summary.

One rule underlies all eight. A literature essay is judged on argument, not on coverage. An answer that makes one contestable claim and defends it against the strongest objection will beat an answer that mentions three times as much and asserts nothing anyone could disagree with.