Starting Points - Literary Criticism

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Starting Points: Guide to Literary Criticism

REFERENCE BOOKS - Available for your use in the library, these books cannot be checked out.

R 808.1 Poe	Poetry Criticism	Poetry criticism by author.
R 808.3Sho	Short Story Criticism	Short story criticism by author.
R 808.8 Mas	Masterplots	American Fiction; Drama; Poetry; Short Stories; Revised Series.
R 809 C	Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC)	Criticisms of authors living or who have died since 1960.
R 809 T	Twentieth-Century Literature Criticism (TCLC)	Annual publication on authors who died between 1900-1999.
R 809.03 B	Book Review Index	An annual reference to periodical reviews from 1971–present.
R 809.03 Lit	Literature Criticism from 1400 - 1800 (LC)	Criticism excerpts of authors who died between 1400 & 1799.
R 809.034 Nin	Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism (NCLC)	Criticism on authors who died between 1800-1899.
R 809.2 Dra	Drama Criticism	Drama criticism by playwright.
R 810.9 Afr	African American Writers	Criticism and biographic information on major Black American writers.
R 810.9 Ame	American Writers	Biographical information & criticism of major American writers and poets.
R 820.9 Bri	British Writers	Biographical information & criticism of major British writers and poets.

FINDING BOOKS AND OTHER LIBRARY MATERIALS/ Dewey Decimal browsing numbers: 808-860

In addition to reference books, you may want to search for other books and materials (videos, audiobooks, etc.) on your topic. The best way to find good sources of information is to do a subject search in our Library catalog. You can access the Library’s online catalog from the Library or home by going to our Web page (www.wppl.org), then to Search Our Catalog. Good subject headings for this topic are American literature – history and criticism or English criticism – history and criticism; Keats, John – criticism and interpretation, etc.

eBOOKS

You may also want to check out the collection of thousands of online books (eBooks) the Library offers located on the Web site www.netlibrary.com. Initially, you must open an account from Library computer terminals, but you will then be able to use the account from home as well. See a reference librarian for more details.

FINDING ARTICLES

The following sources can be used to find magazine articles dealing with your topic:

· The Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature - Adult Reference R 050 R Search for articles on a subject within any given year.
· EBSCOhost and InfoTrac OneFile - Access from the Library or at home using your library card number at www.wppl.org.

Search for full text articles on these online databases using your choice of keywords. You can limit your search to a certain year or even a certain magazine.

WEBSITES

Classic Notes	Detailed summaries, studies, essays, character discussions, theme discussions and more for over 300 study guides. A free registration required for some access. See also Spark Notes.
Critical Reading: A Guide	A guide to critical thinking about literature. Includes analyses of literature types, & instructions to writing analytical essays.
Literary Criticism	Library Spot's links to helpful author and litcrit sites.
Online Literary Criticism	Internet Public Library's critical & biographical websites about authors and their works. Browse by author, title, and nationality & literary period. See also IPL's Online Literary Criticism Guide.
Modern American Poetry	A scholarly forum concentrating on essays addressing the works of over 160 poets.
The Library also offers a collection of literature-related sites at Literature. See also these other Library Starting Points: Poetry, Shakespeare, and Citing Resources & Style Manuals.

Page maintained by Courtney Moore - cmoore@wppl.org

Updated: December 11, 2007