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This pathfinder will help you research and write a paper
that requires sources of literary criticism.
What is Literary Criticism and where do I find it?
Literary criticism is the evaluation, analysis, description,
or interpretation of literary works usually in the format
of a critical essay, but scholarly book reviews can also be
considered literary criticism. Criticism may focus on a particular
literary work or may look at an author's writings in their
entirety. Many sources of literary criticism are available
on the World Wide Web, but there are many sources not yet
available electronically-or that require a subscription. Therefore,
it is a good idea to begin your research using this pathfinder
adapted for the Smith Family Library resources.
Terms and concepts
Looking for a definition of roman-fleuve, romanticism,
rondelet, or other literary concept? There are plenty of books
that define literary concepts. Here are a few of those you
will find in our library.
Cuddon, J. A., A dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary
Theory (REF 803 CUD)
Perkins, G., Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia of American
Literature (REF 810.3 BEN)
Merriam Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (REF
803 MER)
Author Information
Need more information about the author of the work you are
researching, or the historical context in which it was written?
A good place to stare is in our selection of encyclopedias,
either in print in our reference section, or on-line in our
library WEB site on the Electronic Resources page.
Encyclopedia Britannica [In print & On-line through
the Searchable Databases page
of the Smith Family Library Web Site]
World Book [In print & On-line through the Searchable
Databases page of the Smith Family Library Web Site]
Encyclopedia of World Biography [On-line on your desktop]
Drabble, M., The Oxford Companion to English Literature
(REF 820.9 DRA)
Hamilton, The Oxford Companion to Twentieth Century Poetry
(REF 821.03 OXF)
Knox, Bernard, The Norton Book of Classical Literature
(REF 880 NOR)
Smith, V., African American Writers (REF 810.9 AFR)
Watson, M.C., The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature
(REF 880.9 HOW)
Criticism and Summaries
Looking for published criticism on an author or title? Need
a plot summary and character list for Zora Neale Hurston's
Their Eyes Were Watching God?
Magill, F. N., Masterpieces of American Literature
(REF 810.9 MAS)
Magill, F. N., Masterpieces of African American Literature
(REF 810.9 MAS)
Magill, F. N., Critical Survey of Short Fiction (809.3
CRI)
Harold Bloom's series of Modern Critical Views
is a gathering of contemporary criticism on various poets,
novelists and playwrights of the English language. Conduct
a search in our Library Catalog to see which titles are available
in our collection.
The Greenhaven Press' Literary Companion Series of
Readings On various authors and titles provides an
accessible resource for researching literary lives and works.
Every book contains an in-depth biography as well as introductions
and critical essays covering authors' literary themes and
insights. Conduct a search in our Library Catalog to see which
Readings On titles are available in our collection.
The Gale Group publishes several series of literary
criticism, a number of which are available in our Library.
Gale's Twentieth Century Literary Criticism includes
authors who died between 1900 and 1959 (REF 809.04 TWE)
GaleNet, available on the Searchable
Databases page of the Smith Family Library Web Site, includes
the Literature Resource Center, providing access to biographies;
bibliographies and critical analysis of authors form every
age and literary discipline.
By simultaneously searching Gale's Contemporary Authors and
Contemporary Literary Criticism Select, also available on
the Searchable Databases page
of the Smith Family Library Web Site, you'll retrieve biographical
and bibliographical information on more than 90,000 authors,
including a collection of critical essays licensed for online
access.
The Internet Public Library's Online
Literary Criticism Collection contains 4689 critical and
biographical websites about authors and their works that can
be browsed by author, by title, or by nationality and literary
period. http://www.ipl.org/ref/litcrit/
As the Internet Public Library states, good, authoritative
critical works can be some of the hardest kinds of information
to find on the Internet. To help retrieve relevant information,
they've gathered and described some of the best starting places
for finding online literary criticism. This Online
Literary Criticism Guide not only includes English-language
authors, but also many other authors whose works have been
translated into English. http://www.ipl.org/ref/litcrit/guide.html
Yahoo's Authors
Listing has a large collection of sites about particular
authors, including biographical and critical information.
http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Humanities/Literature/Authors/Literary_Fiction
Finding Books
Ready to look for a book about your author or ready to find
a volume of critical essays about a literary work?
When using the on-line catalog of the Smith Family Library,
you can do an effective keyword search, but the most precise
way to retrieve relevant information is to do a subject search.
In on-line library catalogs such as the one we use here at
Milken Community High School, the search engine looks for
the Library of Congress Subject Headings assigned to a particular
book. These headings help you find books that are specifically
about your topic and are particularly useful in larger and
academic libraries.
Most on-line catalogs allow you to do a simple subject search
for your author's name, and then browse a list of titles pertaining
to that name. Good subject heading for literary criticism
often include the words "criticism and interpretation." A
great way to find an effective subject heading for a subject
search is to look in the Red Books, the Library of Congress
Subject Headings books. The Smith Family Library has a set
of these Subject Headings in the Professional Collection and
they are available for student use.
Some examples of possibly useful subject headings:
American literature--History and criticism
American fiction--Jewish authors
Miller, Arthur--1914--Criticism and interpretation
Historical drama, American--History and criticism
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This pathfinder was created by Taylor Harris,
but it is based in part on work by Hilary Leon, Ken Irwin,
Nettie Lagace, and Sara Ryan
Esther and Sol Smith Family Library
Milken Community High School
15800 Mulholland Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90049
(310) 440-3500 (310) 440-5139 fax
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