English Literature - Read Mode
Browse questions and answers at your own pace
Explanation
‘War and Peace’ is a historical novel (fiction) by Leo Tolstoy. It chronicles the history of the French invasion of Russia and the impact of the Napoleonic era on Tsarist society.
Explanation
‘Pride and Prejudice’ is a novel of manners by Jane Austen, published in 1813. It follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet and explores themes of morality, education, and marriage.
Explanation
A sonnet is a specific form of poetry that always consists of exactly 14 lines. This structure is constant across different variations like the Shakespearean or Petrarchan sonnet.
Explanation
‘Sons and Lovers’ is a 1913 novel by D.H. Lawrence. It is highly autobiographical and delves into the complex and often suffocating emotional bonds between a mother and her sons.
Explanation
The idiom ‘birds of a feather flock together’ implies that people who have similar characters, backgrounds, or interests (persons of a nature) tend to associate with one another.
Explanation
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet. He, along with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ‘Lyrical Ballads’.
Explanation
A poem of fourteen lines is technically defined as a sonnet. It is one of the oldest and most enduring forms of poetry in European languages, used famously by Shakespeare, Milton, and Keats.
Explanation
‘Philanthropy’ is the desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially by the generous donation of money to good causes. Etymologically, it means ‘love of humanity’.
Explanation
‘A Christmas Carol’ is a novella (short novel) by Charles Dickens. Published in 1843, it tells the famous story of Ebenezer Scrooge's transformation after being visited by three Christmas ghosts.
Explanation
This is the most celebrated soliloquy in English literature, spoken by Prince Hamlet in Shakespeare's ‘Hamlet’. It reflects his deep existential crisis and contemplation of life and death.