The English Victorian era, dating from about 1832 to 1901, gave birth to many of the works we now call “classic,” some of the best literature ever written in English. Now we think of the Victorian Age as quaint and old-fashioned, but in reality it was the era in which our own modern age began. […] The post Reading English Victorian Literature: A Brief Guide to the Classics appeared first on Read Great Literature ..read more

The literary era we now call the English Romantic Period was short, only the 40 years or so between 1789 and 1832; yet many of the loveliest poems and innovative fictions in our treasury of great literature were written during this time. For indeed, who can forget, once they read them, so many great moments […] The post Reading 19th Century English Romantic Literature: Nature and Revolution appeared first on Read Great Literature ..read more

“Tone” in fiction guides our emotional responses. Is the story funny, sad, tragic, or ironic, or all these? Let’s take a look at the gamut of Tone in Fiction, with examples and clues to distinguishing tone and irony.    How to Read Fiction Step 6: Distinguishing Tone When teaching Tone and Irony in fiction, I […] The post Distinguishing Tone in Fiction: Tragedy, Pathos, Comedy, Irony appeared first on Read Great Literature ..read more

Literature of the English Enlightenment: Courage to Use Your Own Reason Our newest Timeline and Reading List features literature from the English Enlightenment. Lasting from 1660 to the late 1700s, the era often referred to as “The Long Century”  is an incredibly rich period, not only for innovations in literature, but also for developments in […] The post Reading Restoration and 18th Century English Literature appeared first on Read Great Literature ..read more

With Christmas season upon us, book lovers the world over must think yet again of that familiar holiday story by Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. Whatever winter festival you celebrate, A Christmas Carol endorses its most lavish version. As the miserly Scrooge is instructed by his ghostly visitors, this winter celebration should be brimful of […] The post The Virtues of a Quiet Christmas: What Vintage Writers Tell Us appeared first on Read Great Literature ..read more

How to Read Fiction Step  5: Narrators and Point of View  Wading into a new fiction, it’s natural to size up the characters and get a bead on the story line. Who’s the central character? What is her problem or goal? Then off we go, following the storyline up and down until we find out […] The post All About Narrators: Who’s Telling This Story, Anyway? appeared first on Read Great Literature ..read more

Realism in the Novel is an old story today. But at the beginning of the eighteenth century, Realism was something new, and Daniel Defoe was one of the first writers to practice it. In the early 1700s, a metamorphosis in English fiction writing took place. Fewer stories featured high-born princes and gorgeous ladies, clever rogues, […] The post Defoe and the Invention of Realism in the Novel appeared first on Read Great Literature ..read more

Who says you can’t read poetry?  And why bother? Here’s why and how: If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a hundred times: “Poetry just isn’t my thing!” My response to that: Don’t be so sure! Could it be that you just haven’t met the right poem? I can well believe that some particular […] The post Give Reading Poetry Another Try with Guided Reading Questions appeared first on Read Great Literature ..read more

Here’s a list of great 19th Century Novels to try. You can find inexpensive copies, or download and read for free! With a pandemic raging, many of us are in official or self-imposed quarantine. I send you prayers and hopes that you and your loved ones are well, or soon will be, and that this […] The post Is Now the Time to Read That Beefy Classic 19th Century Novel? appeared first on Read Great Literature ..read more

The most well-known day to celebrate romantic love, Valentine’s Day, is upon us again, so it may be a bit contrarian to focus on poems about Love Lost.  But let’s be realistic: sometimes–a lot of times–love goes wrong; and probably, no theme inspires more heartfelt verse than Love Lost. When Love is Lost, how do […] The post Poems Lamenting Love Lost: Is it Really Un-Valentine Poetry? appeared first on Read Great Literature ..read more