LitAide

In my academics, there is one thing that I learnt the hard way. Before enlightenment, I used to believe that being very knowledgeable is prerequisite to score highest marks.  Later, with experience, I came to know that Presentation plays a greater role in disciplines of Language & Humanities. Here, in these fields, subjectivity is the norm with multiple point-of-views. These are my findings which will help you fetch more marks in literature exams:- Remember the themes - The main thing about a literary text, apart from the story, are the prominent themes associated with the text. For example, Albert Camus' The Stranger has Absurdism as a philosophical theme of the novel. It is a must to mention it in an exam essay related to the novel.  The conventional structuring of your essays or long answers should be kept in mind.              -Introduction - Begin with a few lines about author, the novel, themes, then deal with the demand of question...

The poem is a ballad which refers to a song narrating a story in short stanzas. Ballads are part of folk culture and passed orally for generations. Summary This ballad depicts a folk tale popular in the northern region of the earth. "Northland" countries are Norway, Canada, Greenland and northern regions of Russia. In the northern part of our earth, there is immense frigid temperature. In such an area, days are short due to the low reach of the sun, and hence, nights are very long in winter. Such harsh extreme cold prevents them from having a sound sleep. Due to intense snow, people use sledges carried by reindeers for transportation. Children are compared to bear cubs in their clothes made of fur. Children are told an old tale, which the narrator finds fictional. But still, he tells the tale because it is imbued with morality. It concerns Saint Peter, one of the apostles (twelve chief disciples of Jesus Christ). Once upon a time, Saint Peter used to travel on foot and ...

The story begins with Margie, an eleven-year-old girl who has just discovered an actual book. To give you the context of the story, it is set in the year 2157, in the far future in which technological advancement has reached its pinnacle. Consequently, it has impacted every aspect of their life, especially education. The school system has been overhauled. There is no separate infrastructure for schools. Students are given education in their homes, by Robotic teachers instead of human ones. One crucial feature of the system is that every student learns at his/her own pace as assessed by their robot teacher. Coming back to our story, Margie came across a physical book for the first time. She found that the book belonged to her great-grandfather. It made her curious to think that paper was used in place of, then prevalent screens and as she had been habitual to reading from the screen on which one can read all the pages on a single screen, one at a time, unlike books whose get old and yel...

This story is concerned with a doctor's encounter with a snake. What amused the doctor was the snake's astonishment at its own reflection in the mirror. It begins with an anecdote by the narrator, a homeopathic doctor to a group of listeners. It was a time when he was a rookie doctor just starting out, staying at a rented house with a minuscule income. One night, he returned to his home after having his dinner outside. After changing clothes, he went to bed. Unable to fall asleep, he got up and tried to read a book. Coincidentally, a mirror was placed besides the study table. Being a young bachelor, he was obesessed with his outward appearance. He came up with different styles and promised himself to take more care of his looks. In the backdrop, an uneven hustle and bustle of rats on the roof could be heard by the doctor. But he remained unconcerned by it. He imagined that he would marry a rich doctor, who is overweight as it would be easy for him to get away from her if he com...

James Harold Kirkup was a English poet, translator and travel writer  of the twentieth century. In his poem, the poet highlights the mistrust that divides the people of different country. Being patriotic is good, but treating people of other nations as "alien" and "enemy" won't help. An ancient sanskrit verse: "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (Sanskrit: वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम्) teaches us that we are all part of a Global family. Today, All countries are interdependent on other countries for various economic resources. The poem tries to depict the similarities we share with each other. Stanza 1 The poem begins with the narrator emphasizes the point that we, human beings, are all alike and we share so many similarities with each other. Our dresses might be different to each other's , but our bodies are similar. Even the soil on which we walk has the same constituents as the soil of a country which we consider alien. All of us will be scattered one day in the same soil...

 The poem was written by Wilfred Owen, a distinguished poet and foremost, a soldier of the first world war.  The poem alludes to a biblical "parable", which refers to a short religious/morality-based story. The biblical character of Abraham climbs to Mount Moriah along with his son, Isaac. It is the command of the Almighty that Abraham shall offer his firstborn, i.e. Isaac as a sacrifice at Mount Moriah. Abraham doesn't flinch at this unusual and pitiless command, but as he begins to undertake this act, an Angel appears and points to a ram and says that it could be offered as a sacrificial gift in place of his son, and thus Isaac's life is saved. Owen amended the parable and compares it to mass death and destruction due to the erstwhile first world war (1914-19). The poem begins with Abraham and Isaac approaching near their destination, Mount Isaac. Abraham carries a knife and a fire with him. Isaac is done with the preparation of the sacrifice and his asks his father...

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night is one of the most famous poems of Dylan Thomas, who wrote this poem for his father who was suffering from a deadly disease.  The narrator urges his apparent dying father to resist the ensuing death. The metaphorical line "Do not go gentle into that good night" acts as a refrain throughout the poem guiding his father to keep up his fighting spirit. It is a known fact that no one can escape death. But mankind has been gifted with infinite courage and perseverance. The virility and strong will of man have pushed him to survive in worst case scenarios. Thomas exhorts him to give a tough fight to death. His old age should burst with vigour at its end and it will push through the final closing of eyes with as much effort as possible. Wise and sagacious people are aware of the inevitability of death and it is conspicuous that all are destined to die. They know the limits of their knowledge and no matter how great or persuasive they may sound...