Humanities Help & Critical Reading

AI can help you wrestle with ideas, not just facts. In humanities, understanding why something means what it does is more important than just knowing what it is.

This page shows how to use AI to define concepts, analyze texts (books, essays, primary sources), compare perspectives, and sharpen your critical thinking—not replace it.

After going through this page, you’ll be able to use AI to help interrogate arguments, explore themes, understand deeper meaning, and raise questions, instead of reading summaries only.

1. Clarify Concepts & Context

What it is: Use AI to define philosophical, historical, and literary concepts, and to provide background/context so you understand where ideas come from.

Example:

Define the term ‘existentialism’ in literature, include its historical background, main thinkers, and some example works.

What was happening politically/culturally in Victorian England that shaped Gothic literature?

2. Engaging with Texts — Ask Questions, Compare Interpretations

What it is: Rather than asking “What is the summary?”, ask AI to help you analyze. What themes? What contradictions? What possible readings?

Example:

What are three possible themes in *Frankenstein*, and how can one argue for or against each?

The narrator sounds unreliable. Find evidence in the text that supports and challenges that interpretation.

3. Socratic Dialogue & Writing Practice

What it is: Use AI as a conversation partner: ask “why?”, “how?”, and “what if?” to dig deeper. Then practice writing based on that.

Example:

Pretend you are a professor and question my essay draft. Ask me to defend my thesis with evidence.

If I changed the ending/theme of this novel, how would that affect its message?

4. Supporting Essay & Argument Structure

What it is: Use AI to help you plan essays: thesis, supporting arguments, counterarguments, evidence, and structure.

Example:

Give me three thesis statement ideas for an essay on *1984* focusing on surveillance and power.

Here's my outline; suggest counterarguments I should address.

5. Deep Reading Analysis

What it is: Use AI to examine style, symbols, character relationships, themes, and tone.

Example:

Find metaphors related to light and darkness in this poem and explain how they contribute to theme.

You can also use AI to extract character relationships or social networks from long novels.

6. Source Analysis, Interpretation, & Critique

What it is: Humanities often care about whose view, why, and how it fits historically. AI can help surface these, but you need to interpret.

Example:

Compare two historians’ interpretations of the French Revolution, and note their biases or viewpoints.

For philosophy:

What objections does X philosopher raise against Y, and how do others reply?

7. Prompts & Templates You Can Reuse

Explain concept X with examples and compare how two authors treat it.

Give me thematic questions for a book I’m reading (list themes, possible essay topics, relevant quotes).

I wrote this paragraph; can you critique it: clarity, evidence, connection to thesis.

8. Applying It!

Say you are reading The Great Gatsby. You could:

Ask AI:

Define ‘the American Dream’ historically and in 1920s America.

Then ask:

What are themes in Gatsby related to illusion vs. reality, and how does Fitzgerald’s style (tone, symbols) support those themes?

Write your thesis ideas and have AI suggest counterarguments.
Draft a paragraph; ask AI to highlight weaknesses (e.g., missing quote, unclear link to thesis).

9. Why This Matters

Helps you go beyond surface comprehension. You learn to think, not just absorb.
Prepares you for essay writing, class discussion, thesis defense.
Helps you appreciate nuance, context, disagreement—not just facts.

10. Research & Evidence

Digital humanities use AI tools for style/authorship detection, character networks, etc.
Humanities courses are starting to use AI to help students revise AI-generated drafts, fostering critical thinking about voice and expression.

11. Summary

In humanities, AI works best as a helper: giving context, probing ideas, and helping with analysis—not replacing your own interpretation. Use it to clarify, question, compare, and write—but always with your own thinking front and center.