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Love potions are tricky business (not that we've ever tried using one, of course). They can make you fall in love with the wrong person…or, in th...

And you thought a nymph was a naturally lovely woodland creature. To be fair, so did we. But boy did Jonathan Swift prove us wrong.

The Constitution of the United States is the highest law in the land: it's a written statement of the core principles of the American government. I...

Ever heard of a "living document"? They eat and breathe just like the rest of us! They even walk around on their own two legs. Okay, fine—maybe t...

Meet the Lady of Shalott. Not to be confused with the Lady of Shallot, who is frequently in a pickle.

It may be the best of times for Chuck Darnay, but it's pretty much constantly the worst of times for Sydney. Poor guy.

Meet Charles Darnay, the nobleman who spends more time on trial and in prison than attending balls and drinking expensive wine. Don't feel too bad...

When you think about it, chess could be a metaphor for just about anything, really.

Brace yourselves, this one's going to get sad fast. Not all war stories are tales of heroism and saving privates named Ryan. 

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is an American classic. Hope you're not expecting any exciting shower scenes though. It's not that kind of book.

This ain't your run-of-the-mill summer camp.

We get it: Jennifer Lawrence is awesome. We think so, too. That being said, we wouldn't actually want to see her killing other kids in a bloodthirs...

It's not your everyday teenager that volunteers to enter a fight to the death, but then again not every teenager has a cool name like "Katniss Ever...

“Happy Hunger Games!” Or not. Katniss’s Hunger Games experiences left a not-so-happy effect on her. This video will prompt you to ponder if...

Do we need creative arts to survive, or is logic enough? And how can The House on Mango Street help us decide? Check out this video to find out.

We get it: Jennifer Lawrence is awesome. We think so, too. That being said, we wouldn't actually want to see her killing other kids in a bloodthirs...

Old English is just English, right? Can’t be more difficult than reading Shakespeare, right? Hah. Yeah...no. Click on the video to find why tra...

Who is it about? Who told it? Who wrote it? Who are we? What’s the meaning of life? Do you know the Muffin Man? All these answers and more can be...

The characters in Beowulf knew the importance of bling. Watch the video to learn more about the place of material goods in the wonderful world of B...

"Come out, come out, wherever you are..." and watch this video about Stephen King's The Shining. After it's over, we may or may not axe you some qu...

Meet Charles Darnay, the nobleman who spends more time on trial and in prison than attending balls and drinking expensive wine. Don't feel too bad...

Brave New World is supposed be an exciting book about a negative utopia and the corrupt powers of authority. So where’s the big car chase? What's...

What is Dracula really about? Just Count Dracula? Or is there more to it than vampires? This video addresses some major ideas in Bram Stoker’s cl...

Was the marriage plot a bunch of folks who schemed and conned their way into marriage? Hit play to find out.

How did Americans and Brits feel about Dickens' comedy? Eh...let's just say it was the best of comedy, it was the worst of comedy. 

How has Dickens impacted culture today? We don't know about you, but we watch A Muppet's Christmas Carol every year, so...that's probably the answe...

Whale, whale, whale...what have we got here? Looks like a question about what Kipling was trying to achieve in "How the Whale Got His Throat." Fun...

Common Core 8th Grade 1.3 Reading Literary Texts. Which evidence from the text best supports the inference that Gorgons are dangerous?

Welcome...to The Road. Hope everyone remembered to bring their cannibal repellent.

Time to explore Sylvia Plath's "Daddy" and "Ariel." Those are both poems, by the way. We're not that interested in her actual dad, Otto. No offense...

Vlad the Impaler was an appropriately named guy, until he went on tropical vacations. Then, he went by Vlad the Imtanner. For some facts that are a...

Readers may be already be familiar with Dracula, but what about the mathematician and author, Bram Stoker? And yes, he graduated with a degree in m...

Looks, wealth, and a super cool castle to live in… Well...maybe not live in, if you happened to be Dracula. But for the most part, this guy had...

Brave New World is supposed be an exciting book about a negative utopia and the corrupt powers of authority. So where’s the big car chase? What's...

Are humans civilized, or are we just savages waiting to come out? William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies tackles that question.

Well, if this book doesn't make you want to tape over your laptop camera, we don't know what will.

You might be hearing a chorus of farewells if you recommend A Farewell to Arms as the next read for your Fabulously Feisty Feminist Book Club.

Guy in a black leotard. In a cage. Not eating. Weird? Yes. Popular? Absolutely. Kafka's short story includes iconic artist-figures: a mouse singer...

We’ll preface this video about Frankenstein’s preface by saying that Mary Shelley is an awesome woman, and she wants everybody to be aware. Che...

Is Victor Frankenstein a: Romantic Hero? b: Byronic Hero? c: Satanic Hero? d: Guitar Hero? All of the above (but maybe not D…) We don�...

What is Gothic Romanticism? It's when two goths fall in love. Duh. Wait, that’s not what it is? Oh. We should probably watch the video and figure...

Join us for part one of the Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell. We'll find out who he is, what he's responsible for, and if he has anything to do with...

Join us for part two of the Hero's Journey: The Three Stages. It'll be way less fun than watching the Three Stooges. 

Join us for part three of the Hero's Journey: Archetypes. Then, feel free to send us a letter about your favorite archetype, which we may or may no...

Sure, Edgar Allan Poe was dark and moody and filled with teenage angst, but what else does he have in common with the Twilight series?

You'd have to be a Grinch not to acknowledge what a huge effect Dr. Seuss had on all of us. Horton may have heard a Who, but hey... we heard it, t...

Imagine yourself going to see a show. The cushy red seats. The talented orchestra. The body odor and animal abuse. Not what you pictured? Be thankf...

Moby-Dick - una ballena extraña. Nuestro amigo capitán Ahab la había perseguido para años, pero no es el mejor lider en el mundo. Piensas que p...

Si alguna vez te encuentras en una balsa flotando en el río Mississippi, usted va a querer hacer algo. Lectura clásico de Mark Twain, Las aventur...

Whoa, fifty different ways to say the word “whale” just in the Preface? Something tell us we’re in for a whale of a time. Yeah, we know, th...

The combination of religious and seafaring imagery in Moby-Dick is just like the peanut butter and the chocolate in a Reese's Cup––you can’t...

Queequeg. Cool name, but is he a cool guy? Guess you’ll have to check out the video to find out. Because surprisingly enough, Googling, “is Q...

A distraught and helpless Oedipus questions fate and free will when he discovers that he's killed his father and married his mother. 

Well, if this book doesn't make you want to tape over your laptop camera, we don't know what will.

By the end of this video, you will be brainwashed. There's nothing you can do about it; we just wanted to let you know. We like to think we're bigg...

Three scantily clad young girls enter a store. No, this isn’t your grandfather about to tell an inappropriate joke. And no, you’re not watching...

Find out the meaning behind "a fool's paradise."

Find out the meaning behind "a foregone conclusion."

Find out the meaning behind "A piece of work."

Aren't midsummer night dreams the worst? You wake up all sweaty and gross, and for a minute there, you can't even remember where you are. And also,...

Love potions are tricky business (not that we've ever tried using one, of course). They can make you fall in love with the wrong person…or, in th...

We're not sure if good ol' Shakespeare would endorse The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, but that's not going to stop us from hosting themed viewing...

What would YOU do if the heart of the person you buried under the floorboards started making noise? Only one way to find out... (Note: Shmoop does...

This video defines symbolism and analyzes the use of symbolism in stories like The Great Gatsby and To Kill a Mockingbird. What effect do symbols h...

The micro setting: Enterprise. The macro setting: “Space, the Final Frontier!”

Call me Shmoop...er, we mean, Ishmael. It’s time to catch a whale. ...Just kidding, we’ll read about it instead. The WWF told us we can’t d...

Ready for a horror story that isn’t about a bad hair day? Pick up a Southern Gothic novel like Moby-Dick or As I Lay Dying instead. Though now th...

Add half a cup of post-Civil War, a pinch of Reconstruction, a cup full of race issues, toss it in a Crock Pot called “The South,” and you’ve...

In High School we were usually told to "Make like a tree…" Melinda here has to make, like, a tree. Art stuff. We're painting with a broad-brush t...

AP English Literature and Composition 1.4 Passage Drill 3. How is Burne's view of pacifism best characterized in lines 57 through 67?

He or she that answereth this question shall...answereth it. And hopefully feel kind of accomplished. Hit play and figure out the primary rhetorica...

AP English Language and Composition 4.9 Passage Drill. The syntax of the third paragraph suggests that the speaker...what?

It's the roaring 20s. A time of wealth, partying, and a huge inequality gap. Fun, fun, and, uh...not-so-fun. Hit play to discover more about the se...

East Egg: East coast, old money, and ponies. Maybe unicorns. Those snotty East Eggers won’t tell us anything. West Egg: West coast, new money, an...

Gatsby’s a man who throws huge parties and still has zero friends. Maybe they’re all like...Tupperware parties or something. Check out the vide...

Frederick Douglass was an impassioned public speaker. So are we: we're impassioned about never speaking in public.

Why did Douglass write the book? Easy. Because TV wasn't a viable medium yet. 

When we see it at the movies, our eyes roll. But are we guilty of the same? Shmoop!: The Movie, a Shmoop production, written by Shmoop, starring Sh...

Well, the world has ended, which is a total bummer. We didn’t even get a chance to sell our super valuable Beanie Baby collection. We hope you’...

The Road is full of emptiness and nobody knows where they’re going. So make a note to self, Shmoopers: when the apocalypse hits, grab a GPS.

Always read The Road with a dictionary at hand, because you’re going to need it. Seriously. We’re not known to be perfidious (though we do have...

Free will vs. Predestination. One of the many interpretations for the title Their Eyes Were Watching God. We personally like, “Stop Staring at Me...

Their eyes might’ve been watching God, but our eyes are watching Zora Neal Hurston. Hit play to learn more about Hurston and the Harlem Renaissance.

Their Eyes Were Watching God is about Janie’s coming of age story towards the path of self-discovery, just like Luke from Star Wars. Seriously, J...

Time to learn about metaphors in To Kill A Mockingbird. Yup. We know how to get a party started. 

Folk tales are all about conveying a deeper meaning—no banjos required. Arabian Nights is one of the most famous collections, so get ready to lea...

Crime and Punishment is all about a boy killing for money, literally, and then spending the rest of the book trying to hide it. Although the book c...

No HBO? Well then, how does a horror short story writing contest sound? And the winner is...drum roll, please...Mary Shelley. You go, girl. And tha...