Literature
The Literature Desk
Name an author and a work — Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal or Shakespeare, King Lear. The desk returns the author's books in brief, a close reading in the school you choose — the French lycée commentaire composé or English practical criticism — a full analysis, and then expands one topic into a dissertation of up to 200,000 words — and turns any study into a critical-thinking workshop for high-school or college classes anywhere in the world. Every claim is written against retrieved library and archive records; where the record runs out, the desk says so.
Suggestions come from a curated canon and only fill the box — you can type any author and work, including ones not listed, and the desk will search catalogues for it.
Critical tradition
Lycée and khâgne method: situation de l'œuvre, problématique, axes de lecture built on procédé and effet de sens, conclusion with ouverture.
The close reading, analysis and dissertation are written in this language. Quotations stay in the original, with a rendering in brackets.
What the desk returns
The works in brief
A bibliographic blitz of the author's books — dates, forms and a line on each — drawn from library records.
Close reading
A commentaire composé in the lycée method, or English practical criticism, with thesis and evidence held to a rubric.
Full analysis
Situation of the work, problématique, axes de lecture, and the procédés that carry the effet de sens.
Dissertation
One topic expanded section by section, up to 200,000 words, written against retrieved sources.
Critical-thinking workshop
Case studies, MCQs and essay questions with long didactic answers for high-school and college classes.
Listen, export, share
Native-speaker narration with a synced transcript, plus PDF, DOCX and Markdown exports in 99 languages.
Nothing is written until you name a work. Studies you start are saved on this device, so a refresh keeps your place.