Read deeply. Understand clearly.
The blog November 2026
Study notes, close readings and exam-focused essays on English literature, literary theory and poetry.
Latest Essays 8 min read
Bertrand Russell‘s essay “Knowledge and Wisdom” is one of the most profound philosophical examinations of the crucial distinction between accumulating information and gaining true understanding. In an era...
Introduction Thomas Gray’s 1757 poem “The Progress of Poesy” stands as a celebrated work in the canon of English literature. As a complementary piece to his more famous...
Introduction Thomas Gray’s narrative poem “The Bard” (1757) is one of the most haunting and evocative works of mid-18th-century English literature. Written in blank verse, Gray’s poem dramatizes...
Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is one of the most important poems in English literature. Written in 1751, this poem explores death, memory, and lost...
Introduction Robin S Ngangom’s “A Poem for Mother” is one of the most poignant explorations of the mother-son relationship in contemporary Indian poetry. While Ngangom is primarily known...
Journey to the Interior is one of Atwood’s most thought-provoking explorations of the human psyche, using the metaphor of a physical journey to represent an inward psychological expedition....
Introduction “The Hour of Truth” is one of the most compelling examinations of moral integrity in American one-act plays. Written by Percival Wilde in the early 20th century,...
"A Dissertation upon Roast Pig" is a comic essay by Charles Lamb from the Essays of Elia (1822). Lamb tells a mock-Chinese tale: the boy Bo-bo accidentally burns down a house, tastes roast pig for the first time, and people start burning houses to cook pigs until someone discovers a simpler way.
Introduction Mac Flecknoe is one of the most cutting pieces of literary satire ever penned in English literature. Written by John Dryden around 1678 and published in 1682,...
Charles Lamb’s “Dream Children A Reverie” is one of the most poignant and exquisite examples of personal essay writing in English literature. This masterpiece blends autobiography, imagination, and...