One peculiar thing about the City (in the first two parts of the novel, at least) is that everyone must switch their jobs every once in a while, the job being chosen by a machine based in the person's previous record. The punishment for refusing to change jobs or evading them is being sent to lab...

What poetic techniques are used in the farmer remembers the somme? I all ready have juxtaposition, personification, repetition and imagery. But i am looking for more. Will they never fade or pass! The mud, and the misty figures endlessly coming In file through the foul morass, And the grey flood...

We currently have several questions about auhorial-intent, for example, How much weight is given to authors' intentions in literary analysis? and How much weight should we give authors' declarations of their intent after the fact?. Some of these questions assume that statements by the author...

A poem by Emily Dickinson: We send the Wave to find the Wave— An Errand so divine, The Messenger enamored too, Forgetting to return, We make the wise distinction still, Soever made in vain, The sagest time to dam the sea is when the sea is gone— What is the meaning of "We mak...

I have come across this quote "the social judgment against the absurd is closer to the comic norm than the moral judgment against the wicked". What is meant by it? Can anyone explain it to a non-expert?

I have found a quote attributed to an author, but I have been unable to locate the source of the quote. Is it on-topic to ask for help identifying the source? In case it makes a difference, the quote is about an elephant's memory by Herb Caen.

The poem I'm trying to understand the following poem by Whitman, called Savantism. THITHER, as I look, I see each result and glory retracing itself and nestling close, always obligated; Thither hours, months, years--thither trades, compacts, establishments, even the most minute;...

I found the following quote, attributed to author Herb Caen. I have a memory like an elephant. I remember every elephant I've ever met. However, my efforts to identify the source of this quote via Google has come up empty. The search results push me toward quote collections that attribute t...

I attempted to post a question, but forgot to type in a title. After filling in a title, I was blocked by a 40 minute timer. Is this the intended behavior? Since my attempt was blocked because of incompleteness (and so, it was not actually posted), would it be reasonable to expect to be able to ...

Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction We don't have all that many questions about nonfiction here, so it could be good for site diversity. Plus, literary theory is always a good thing here.