LitCharts

LitCharts

LitCharts is a literature guide service that offers downloadable literature guides, analysis, quotes, themes, symbols, and character analysis for common books and plays studied in high school and college English classes.
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literature study-guides analysis themes symbols

LitCharts: Literature Guide Service

Downloadable literature guides, analysis, quotes, themes, symbols, and character analysis for common books and plays studied in high school and college English classes.

What is LitCharts?

LitCharts is an online literature guide service designed to help students understand books, plays, poems, and stories commonly studied in high school and college English classes. It was founded in 2013 by Andrew Simmons.

LitCharts provides downloadable literature guides for over 500 fiction works and plays. For each work, the guides contain the following elements:

  • Chapter-by-chapter analysis and summarization
  • Themes, motifs, and symbols analysis
  • Detailed analysis of characters
  • Important quotes explained
  • Discussion of writing style and structure
  • Historical context
  • Suggested essay topics

The analysis aims to unpack not just plot and events, but deeper meanings and literary techniques used in the texts. The guides help readers understand subtext, symbolism, irony, and more in order to facilitate deeper engagement with the original work.

In addition to PDF downloads, LitCharts also offers an online only version of the guides for easier searching, highlighting, and notation. Accounts start with a free trial before a paid subscription is required.

LitCharts is intended for students, teachers, book clubs, and casual readers looking to quickly understand the deeper and sometimes complex elements of influential works of literature across genres. With its comprehensive guides and insightful commentary, LitCharts has become a popular literature analysis site for academics and literature enthusiasts.

LitCharts Features

Features

  1. Detailed chapter-by-chapter summaries
  2. In-depth analysis of themes, symbols, characters
  3. Visual theme tracking
  4. Audio pronunciations of characters and places
  5. Teacher resources and lesson plans
  6. Mobile app
  7. Searchable quotes database
  8. Available for over 900 titles

Pricing

  • Subscription-Based

Pros

Helps students understand complex literature

Saves teachers time creating lessons

Engaging visual format

Audio feature aids pronunciation

Works on any device

New titles frequently added

Cons

Requires subscription for full access

Limited free content

Not all books/plays available yet

May discourage critical thinking if over-relied on


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