Blog | Vandana Sharma

Vocabulary & Usage Lieutenant: Meaning, Origin and Pronunciation Explained

Apr 8, 2026 · 2 min read

Lieutenant : Holding Someone Else’s Place The word “lieutenant” comes from the French lieu (place) and tenant (holding). The same lieu appears…

Wuthering Heights novel by Emily Brontë and the 2026 film adaptation poster

Literary Criticism The 2026 ‘Wuthering Heights’ and the Undoing of Emily Brontë’s Vision

Mar 19, 2026 · 6 min read

Devastation, Not Adaptation As someone who has spent decades reading and teaching the classics, I approached the newly released 2026 film adaptation…

English Literature Romeo and Juliet: A Simple Overview of Shakespeare’s Tragedy

Mar 6, 2026 · 3 min read

To understand the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, it helps to follow the story from beginning to end and see how each…

English Literature A Rose by Any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet: Meaning & Context (Romeo and Juliet)

Mar 2, 2026 · 3 min read

A Rose by Any Other Name In the soft glow of a moonlit balcony, Juliet begins to question something most people never…

English Literature A Short Personal Vignette: A Letter in My Coffee

Feb 19, 2026 · 2 min read

Today at McDonald’s, I ordered a cup of coffee, expecting nothing more than a nice drink, a little morning warmth, and a…

Vocabulary & Usage Coastline, Shoreline, Waterfront, Harbourfront, and Littoral: A Clear Guide to Coastal Terms

Feb 13, 2026 · 2 min read

Many English learners (and even fluent speakers) mix up words related to the sea. Terms like coastline, shoreline, waterfront, harbourfront, and littoral…

English Literature Heathcliff’s Origins in Wuthering Heights: Orphan or Earnshaw’s Illegitimate Son?

Feb 11, 2026 · 5 min read

Heathcliff is one of the most mysterious characters in English literature. When Wuthering Heights begins to unfold, we are told only one…

wuthering heights summary (Catherine & Heathcliff)

English Literature Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë: Summary, Themes, and Gothic Darkness

Feb 8, 2026 · 6 min read

Published in 1847, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë is a Gothic classic about obsessive love, revenge, and the haunting power of the…

English Literature Macbeth: a study of illegitimate power

Feb 3, 2026 · 3 min read

The play Macbeth opens with a brave and successful soldier who hears a prophecy that he will become king. Tempted by this…

English Literature A Personal Interpretation of Jack and Jill the nursery rhyme:

Feb 3, 2026 · 2 min read

A passing thought about Jack and Jill the nursery rhyme led me to read it more closely and to notice a meaning…

English Literature Machiavellian: A Word with a Knife Hidden Behind Its Smile

Feb 3, 2026 · 3 min read

Some words arrive politely. Machiavellian is not one of them. It slips into the language like a strategist walking into a crowded…

English Literature Irish Writers and the Remaking of English Literature

Feb 2, 2026 · 4 min read

Irish writers writing in English occupy a distinctive and historically charged position within English literature. The language they used emerged from political…

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Quotes Explained Maslow’s Quote on Hammer Explained

Jan 30, 2026 · 2 min read

“If the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem begins to look like a nail.”— Abraham Maslow Give someone a…

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Grammar Wuthering and Withering: A Small Vowel, a Large Difference

Jan 27, 2026 · 2 min read

English enjoys confusing people with words that look like twins but behave like strangers, and wuthering and withering are a neat example.…

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Grammar The –ing Form: Gerund or Verb?

Jan 27, 2026 · 2 min read

Same Ending, Different Jobs Before I begin, one quiet warning: not every word ending in –ing is a gerund. English uses the…

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The Reform Desk: Education The UGC’s ‘Equity’ Regulations: When Equity Turns into Surveillance

Jan 21, 2026 · 4 min read

For a General Category student navigating higher education in India today, the UGC’s (University Grants Commission’s) proposal to introduce “equity squads” does…