Create ChatGPT prompts to learn more about literature topics 📚

How can you use ChatGPT prompts to learn more about literature?

If yo're not a literature buff yourself, the topic might be a bit daunting. You can change that with the help of your new AI friend, ChatGPT!

By asking this tool specific prompts that range from general questions to specific ones, you'll gain some important insights into the topics you need to learn.

Photo by Afif Ramdhasuma on Unsplash

Imagine you come across a book that won the Nobel Prize in Literature. You want to know more about the prize itself.

Photo by Ravi Sharma on Unsplash

Question 1: How can I learn about the Nobel Prize in Literature?

ChatGPT provides a comprehensive list of 8 bullet points to help you get started. Here is a selection of the first 3 to show you what to expect and how to take your curiosity further:

Question 2: What are the selection criteria for the Nobel Prize in Literature?

Interestingly, for this question ChatGPT offers a general intro and also outro for this question, describing suitable criteria.

Have a look at the intro and the first 2 criteria in detail:

Maybe you're already familiar with some literary genres but don't know exactly what's what. Ask ChatGPT and then take its answers to find out more.

Question 1: What literary genres are there?

If you're not too well-versed in literary genres, why not ask ChatGPT in a very straightforward way what it can offer?

The result provides a lot of relevant information: 14 different genres and a general outlook that it might have missed out on some.

Here are the first 5 genres:

And here is the AI’s outlook, which outlines ChatGPT’s work method and ethics:

With the help of this informative reply, you can now ask ChatGPT specific questions about a particular genre.

For example, you focus on drama and ask about different playwrights (also across countries or eras), different types of drama, a historical overview of drama since antiquity, etc.

Similar to the previous example, you can also find out more about specific literary eras of a given country, with the question provided helping you understand how to further explore the topic with the help of ChatGPT’s reply.

Question 1: What eras in English fiction are there?

As before, there will be a general intro and outro and some more specific information on eras squeezed in between.

 Here is the short intro:

Here is a sample of what ChatGPT knows about some eras of interest in English fiction:

You can now start delving further into a given era.

With a general and brief overview of the topic, you can now explore the Romantic Era by asking two more specific questions.

Question 1: What are typical elements of fiction of the English Romantic period?

By now you already know what to expect from the AI, as you'll find the familiar pattern with intro, outro, and a list of 9 elements to enlighten you about English Romanticism. Here is the intro and the first 2 elements:

From here, you can take your research further:

• Ask ChatGPT about famous authors.

• Learn about their literary techniques, styles, and topics.

• Discover their outlook on the society of their time.

Imagine you're a fan of the Magical Realism genre. It's interesting to see the detail ChatGPT is able to describe on this particular — or any — literary style.

If you enjoy the works of Haruki Murakami, an established Magical Realist authors, you can have some fun! Turn an old classic into a modernized version.

Take Samuel Coleridge’s most famous Romantic poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and ask ChatGPT to write it in the style of Haruki Murakami.

Here is how the first three verses of the two versions compare:

Original: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Coleridge

It is an ancient Mariner,

And he stoppeth one of three.

'By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,

Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?

The Bridegroom's doors are opened wide,

And I am next of kin;

The guests are met, the feast is set:

May'st hear the merry din.'

He holds him with his skinny hand,

'There was a ship,' quoth he.

'Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!'

Eftsoons his hand dropt he.

AI version: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in Haruki Murakami's style

In the deepest realms of time's embrace,

Where souls entwined with cosmic grace,

I chanced upon a tale profound,

In Murakami's surrealistic playground.

An ancient mariner's weary eyes,

Haunted by truth, devoid of lies,

Whispered secrets of a fateful morn,

When his ship embarked, its sails reborn.

Bound by destiny's enigmatic call,

He sailed through waves, vast and tall,

A voyage unveiled, of fortune and strife,

Wrought with mystique, the tapestry of life.

If you compare the two poems, you can see the difference between Romantic poetry and Magical Realism. This will help you understand different literary styles and techniques in more depth.

Now over to YOU! Never worked with ChatGPT before?

Follow these simple steps and dive into the world of literature and beyond: