Starting Points
It's useful when you are first reading a new author to take a look at background information sources on the literary culture s/he was writing from. The online sources listed below will give you reliable and authoritative information on specific authors, genres, or terms and movements in literature. Spending time with these as you start reading will repay itself in a better understanding of what you are reading.
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Gale Literature This link opens in a new window
Provides a single search site for several different and full-text resources in literature.
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Johns Hopkins guide to literary theory & criticismThe Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism is recognized as the most authoritative and even-handed reference to the intellectual traditions of literary theory, from the margins to the mainstream. Contains articles on various literary styles and trends, regional literature (Irish literature, for example), and definitions of the various ways to critique literature (semiotics, psychoanalytic, etc.)
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Cambridge companions to literature and classics This link opens in a new window"Cambridge Companions are lively, accessible introductions to major writers, artists, philosophers, topics and periods. All are collections of specially commissioned essays, shaped and introduced to appeal to student readers. . . . each title is supported by reference features such as a chronology and guide to further reading."
Also allows you to select chapters to send to your Amazon Kindle account (if you have a Kindle reader or the Kindle app, you have a Kindle account).
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The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
by
Call Number: e-book link providedISBN: 9780691154916Publication Date: 2012-08-26Through three editions over more than four decades, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics has built an unrivaled reputation as the most comprehensive and authoritative reference for students, scholars, and poets on all aspects of its subject: history, movements, genres, prosody, rhetorical devices, critical terms, and more. Entries range in length from brief paragraphs to major essays of 15,000 words, offering a more thorough treatment--including expert synthesis and indispensable bibliographies--than conventional handbooks or dictionaries. International coverage includes articles on the poetries of more than 110 nations, regions, and languages Expanded coverage of poetries of the non-Western and developing worlds
Finding Scholarly Journal Articles, Books, & Essays
Use these databases to find scholarly articles on your topic.
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MLA international bibliography This link opens in a new window
Provides a subject, author, and title index for books and articles published on modern languages, literatures, folklore, and linguistics.
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JSTOR: the scholarly journal archive This link opens in a new window
Provides online access to important scholarly journals and books in many different disciplines.
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Project Muse This link opens in a new window
Provides searching and full-text access to scholarly journals from a wide variety of not-for-profit organizations (university presses, scholarly societies, historical associations, and religious communities).
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Literature Online (LION)Covers literary criticism, biography, and reviews of authors from all genres and around the world. Overlaps MLA International Bibliography but has fuller coverage of scholarly journals from Great Britain. Does provide abstracts of the articles and some full text.
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Humanities source This link opens in a new windowThe extensive collection features full text for journals, high-quality indexing and in-depth abstracts for thousands of journals, and indexing for hundreds of thousands of articles, including book reviews. It also provides full text plus abstracts and bibliographic indexing for the most noted scholarly sources in the humanities, including feature articles, interviews, obituaries, bibliographies, original works of fiction, drama and poetry, books review, and reviews of ballets, dance programs, motion pictures, musicals, operas, plays, radio and television programs
