For all the debates that have roiled literature departments over the past 60 years, the history of the discipline itself is a source of surprising consensus. According to the standard narrative, ...

In my humanities-dominated circles, I risk being labeled a heretic by admitting that I think AI prose can be quite skillful, often better than what most college students are capable of.

J onathan Kramnick’s book Criticism and Truth is more modest than its title suggests. Essentially an apologia for the nuts-and-bolts work of literary studies, it is best described not as “ambitious” — ...

“C riticism” is a curiously protean word. In academic discourse, as in ordinary speech, it can refer simply to the act of appraisal, sometimes with a censorious edge. It’s used to describe reviews, ...

Perhaps, you may have caught a glimpse of me milling around campus these past few weeks. If so, you would likely have noticed my trendsetting new accessory: a rotund, corpulent book. If you were ...

Anyone who has taught a college literature course has likely heard a student say, “Can’t I just enjoy the book?” This frustration with literary theory is common. Many undergraduates feel that theory ...

Enjoy an audio version of this article. T. S. Eliot’s essay “The Function of Criticism” (1923) is a work of angry intelligence: it reads as if it were written under duress. Apparently Eliot would ...

What if every book was worth reading? Not just the books with silver medallions on their covers, but every hardcover featured at Barnes & Noble, every paperback foisted upon you by a friend or a ...

Among the books that entered the public domain in 2022: Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, Franz Kafka’s The Castle, T. E. Lawrence’s The Seven ...

Literary analysis is more than summarizing a story — it’s about uncovering how language, structure, and perspective create meaning. From close reading to crafting strong thesis statements, the process ...

AI is changing how students and researchers approach literature analysis, offering faster reading, deeper insights, and better organization. From summarizing texts to mapping themes and characters, ...