Penman's Guide is a newly launched website essentially dedicated to the world of English literature. Focus is fully set towards adult university learners and providing them with ideas taken from in-depth text analysis, to then be used in both written and oral debate, and freely support or oppose their own conclusions. The ideas gathered here are from both old and new, and at no point wish to be considered as the “correct” interpretation. They are inspiration points to aid students in exploring different possibilities within the works of an artist.

This site has been designed by a former literary student who understands the frustration of having so much information and so many options at hand, that it is hard to make connections between it all. This is the motivation behind such tools as the search bar on the home page, which does not only search for authors and book titles, but also allows for characteristic searches which different authors and works may have in common, such as literary movement, year published, or author’s nationality (a full list is given in FAQ) with the hopes of being your first steps towards comparative literature essays and presentations.

Each literary work appears with some general information on the right-hand side, and on the left you will be able to find a menu of available options including both “Basic” and “Neoteric” analyses. “Basic” analyses include what are considered the main concepts to understand a piece, they can be ideas as old as the work itself or a more modern take. “Neoteric” is the name given to the ideas that originate from the mind behind this website, they tend to be more advanced and may even be alternative or progressive.

- At no point do any of the ideas found on this page wish to plagiarise and not give credit to others where due. When an idea has actively been taken from a source, the reference always follows, if this is not the case please contact us so it can be rectified -

The Neoteric section is the main drive behind this project. As students, we can all feel the struggle at times to relate to a notion that was put forth by other generations, and where it is important to value the past, it is also crucial to explore new angles to keep works relevant in the present day.