Four of the Best Apps for Literature Students

If you’re studying English Literature and haven’t yet discovered Project Gutenberg, then you need to visit it now! Project Gutenberg has attempted to collate all freely available literature (ie. literature which isn’t copyrighted or which has an expired copyright) and put it into one place. These e-books are high quality, published by respected publishers and properly proofread. The project was actually started in 1971 by Michael Hart, who wanted to digitize and distribute the great works of history. Before spending money buying any text for your course, take a look and see if Gutenberg has it. 

Technology has provided us with countless opportunities, but for word geeks having an entire dictionary in your pocket has surely got to be one of the most exciting ones.  Your university will probably subscribe to the OED (you can’t get it for free), but for easy access it’s worth downloading the Merriam-Webster app, which is free and comprehensive. Handily, it saves your past searches (so if you hear a word you don’t know in a lecture you can check what it means when you’re writing up your notes), allows you to ‘favorite’ definitions (if you really want to nerd out) and has a ‘word of the day’ function.

Struggling with Shakespearean language? This useful app lets you swipe across any text to show a modern language translation, and then swipe back to show the original text. Swipespeare is not recommended for use all the time; after all, you do ultimately want to be able to read and delight in the original Jacobean phrases. But it is useful for the odd passage if you’re really struggling, or to perhaps throw new light on a text. If you’re tutoring younger students to earn some extra money, this could also be one of the best apps to get them engaged and interested in the world of Shakespeare.

Written by Catherine from Claypenny Student Properties, UK.