Morris County Library Assignment: Literary Criticism - GTI Internet

Morris County Library Assignment: Literary Criticism
What is literary criticism?
Literary criticism is the term applied to the study and analysis of a literary work. Students examine a
literary work to determine its attributes such as meaning, structure, and worth by comparison to other works.
Literature is also analyzed to increase our understanding and appreciation of a creative work. The
observations of other critics and authors may be useful in developing your own interpretation. The purpose
of a critical essay is not simply to summarize the plot, reconstruct the author's life or restate another critic's
comments. Although all of these are useful in developing your ideas on the work, the main purpose of your
paper is to state and attempt to support your views on the literary work.
This guide, while not covering every literary research source available at the Morris County Library, will
direct you to the types of sources useful in completing your literary criticism paper.
Getting Started:
For sources with guidelines on writing and organizing a literary criticism paper:
*Webster's New World Student Writing Handbook.. "Literary Analysis" pgs.294-331(R808.042Sor)
*Form & Style: Research Papers... Chapter 1:Writing Research Papers (RefDesk808.02For)
*Literary Reference Center (Database)
Click on "Reference Shelf" to find the detailed guide: "A Step by Step Approach to Writing Your
Research Paper"
Gathering Sources: Databases
To access all of these sources while in the Morris County Library click on the Literary Criticism
bar on the computer screen menu. Some databases are available from home with your local
library card at: http://www.mclib.info/remote.html
Gale’s Literary Index: This is a master index to the major literature products
published by Gale. It combines and cross-references over 165,000 author names,
including pseudonyms and variant names and listings for over 215,000 titles into
one source.
Literary Reference Center: Many full-text sources for biographies, literary
criticism, plot summaries, reviews, reference books, periodicals and images.
Contemporary Authors: Biographical information on more than 120,000 U. S. and
international authors. It can be searched by author name, title, nationality of author,
date and place of birth and death, subject/genre, career, awards and honors.
LitFinder: Full text works of literature. Click on “Explanations” for analysis of
poems.
Bloom’s Literary Reference Online: In addition to providing some of Professor
Bloom’s literary criticism essays this database also includes: author biographies,
literary criticism, video segments, entries on literary movements, historical events
that help place literature in context, definitions of literary terms, timeline of world
literature, literary dictionary, and character studies.
Online Catalog:
To find books on literary criticism about an author or his/her work in our online catalog
http://catalog.mainlib.org use a subject search:
Austen, Jane-Criticism and interpretation
Pride and Prejudice
Literary criticism/Morris County Library (NJ) 1

Gathering Sources: Criticism Arranged by Author’s Era
Modern
Contemporary Literary Criticism (R809Con)
Great American Writers: Twentieth Century (R810.9Gre)
Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism (R809.04Twe)
1800’s
Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism (R809.04Nin)
1400’s to 1800’s
Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800 (R809Lit)
Classical and Medieval
Ancient Writers: Greece and Rome (R809.02Anc)
Classical and Medieval Literary Criticism (R809.02Cla)
Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism (R809.02Anc)
In Historical and Social Context
Background to English Literature (R820.9Bac)
Literature and Its Times (R809Lit)
Where Queen Elizabeth Slept and What the Butler Saw (R422Dur)
World Literature and Its Times (R809Lit)
Non-Fiction
Nonfiction Classics for Students (R809Non)
Biographical
Dictionary of Literary Biography (R810.9Dic)
Contemporary Authors (Database)
Short Stories
Critical Survey of Short Fiction (R809.301Cri)
Short Stories for Students (R809.301Sho)
Short Story Criticism (R809.301Sho)
Drama
Drama for Students (R809.2Dra)
Critical Survey of Drama (R809.2Cri)
Masterplots II: Drama (R809.2Max)
Poetry
Poetry for Students (R809.1Poe)
Poetry Criticism (R809.1Poe)
Masterplots II: Poetry Series (R809.1Mas)
Multicultural: General
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American Literature (R809.3Gre)
Multicultural: Black Authors & Slave Narratives
Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance (809.89607Abe)
Harlem Renaissance (R809.896073Har)
African American Literary Criticism 1745-1945 (R809.896073Afr)
African American Writers (R809.896073Afr)
African American Slave Narratives (R809.896073Afr)
Voices of the Fugitives: Runaway Slave Stories (R809.896073Bla)
Masterplots II: African American Literature Series (R809.896073Mas)
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Literature (R810.9384)
Multicultural: Women Authors
Feminism in Literature: a Gale Critical Companion (R809.89287Fem)
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Multicultural: Asian-American Authors
Asian American Literature (R809.895Asi)
Asian American Novelists: a Bio-Biographical Critical Sourcebook (R809.895Asi)
Encyclopedia of Asian American Literature (R809.896Ohi)
Multicultural: Gay & Lesbian Authors
The Gay & Lesbian Literary Heritage (R809.892066Guy)
Historical Dictionary of Lesbian Literature (R809.892066Mil)
Gay & Lesbian Literature (R809.892066Gay)
Multicultural: Jewish Authors
Jewish Writers of the Twentieth Century (R809.8924Jew)
Reference Guide to Holocaust Literature (R809.89Ref)
Holocaust Literature: an Encyclopedia of Writers and Their Work (R809.89Hol)
Multicultural: Native-American Authors
Native American Literatures: an Encyclopedia of Works, Characters,
Authors...(R809.891Whi)
International Authors
Cyclopedia of World Authors (R809.89Cyc)
Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20 th Century (R809.89Enc)
European Writers (809.89Eur)
Literature of Developing Nations for Students (R809.891724Lit)
Science Fiction & Mystery
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy (R809.387Gre)
Magill's Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy (R809.387Mag)
St. James Guide to Crime & Mystery Writers (R808.387St)
Censored
Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on…Political , Religious , Sexual and Social
Grounds (R809Lit)
Graphic Novels
A distinct literary form where author/artists combine pictures with words to tell a story.
UXL Graphic Novelists (R809.3Pen)
Epics
A long narrative poem about the adventures of a legendary or historic hero.
Epics for Students (R809.132Epi)
Literary Movements
A term commonly applied to a trend or development in literature, such as romanticism,
magic realism, transcendentalism, etc.
Literary Movements for Students (809.91Lit)
Encyclopedia of Transcendentalism (810.9384Way)
The Beat Generation (R810.90054Bea)
Themes
The theme of a work is not its subject, but rather its central idea, which may be stated
directly or indirectly. For example, the theme of Othello is jealousy.
Literary Themes for Students (R809.933355Lit)
Dictionary of Literary Themes and Motifs (R803Dic)
Allusions
A reference, to another work of literature or art or person or event. The writer assumes a body of
common knowledge and expects his audience to recognize the reference.
Allusions-Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: a Thematic Dictionary (803All)
Literary criticism/Morris County Library (NJ) 3

Symbols
A literary symbol combines an image with a concept. Mirrors, for example, can symbolize
vanity, truth, the ideal, an illusion or even magic depending on the context.
A Dictionary of Literary Symbols (R803)
Character Sketches
The Original: An A-Z of Fiction's Real-Life Characters (R809.927Amo)
Cyclopedia of Literary Characters (R809.92703)
Dictionary of Real People and Places in Fiction (R809.3927Rin)
Writers Collection
This collection is shelved at the end of the Reference 800's and includes whole books or sets of
volumes on individual authors. The collection is filed alphabetically by the author's last name
from Chinua Achebe to W.B. Yeats. It also includes volumes on:
Shakespeare
Shakespeare Criticism (R822.33Sha)
Shakespeare for Students (R822.33Sha)
All Things Shakespeare (R822.33Ols)
Shakespeare: an anthology of criticism and theory 1945-2000 (R822.33Sha)
PROBLEMS: NO LITERARY CRITICISM?!
After searching the library’s print and online sources sometimes no scholarly evaluation of
the work can be found. Possible reasons for lack of literary criticism are: the work is too current,
the work is considered popular, light reading or the author is unknown or considered unworthy of
scholarly consideration. Just because a book is on a bestseller list or made into a movie or being
widely read does not guarantee that criticism will be found. But, if contemporary, there will
probably be a book review in a current magazine or newspaper.
Book reviews: Online
Use the online magazine and newspapers databases such as EBSCO and ProQuest (available
from home as well as in the library) and the literary databases for reviews of popular fiction,
drama and poetry. The full text of the New York Times (in library use only) is available from
1851-2003 with its book reviews.
Book reviews: Print
Book Review Index 1965- (Index R028.1)
Book Review Digest 1905-(Index R028.1)
Kliatt (reviews of works recommended to libraries for young adults) (Index)
Magill’s Literary Annual 1967- (essay-reviews of outstanding U.S. books) (R809Mag)
Citing Sources: print
Most schools have established which citation style they want their students to use. Check with
your teacher to make sure which one is required for your assignment. Style sheets cannot
possibly cover every situation you might encounter in conducting research and assembling a
paper. When you encounter a problem not specifically covered in a style manual you should
follow the general principles that govern the style sheet you are using, and make consistent use
of whatever format you select. For literary research papers these style books are often used:
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (RefDesk808.02)
A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (R808.02Tur)
Form & Style: Research Papers, Reports, Theses (RefDeskFor)
Literary criticism/Morris County Library (NJ) 4

Presents frequently used citation styles in separate chapters for: The Chicago Manual of Style;
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association; MLA Handbook for Writers of
Research Papers
The Columbia Guide to Online Style (R808.27Wal)
Online Resources
Literary Reference Center, click on "citation help" for an overview of the Modern Language
Association (MLA), Chicago Manual of Style, American Psychological Association with links to
websites that can provide guidance in preparing your citations. Also online:
Citation Machine: an Interactive Web Tool
http://citationmachine.net
Online! Citation Styles-Index
http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/citex.html
Citing Sources: documentation guidelines for citing and avoiding plagiarism
http://library.duke.edu/research/citing
Internet
In addition to databases provided by the library there are many Internet sources of literary
criticism. The sources of these sites may be academic institutions, literary societies, libraries,
bookstores, publishers or even literary publications. But the Internet can also include fan sites on
an author. These are maintained by anyone with an interest in an author's life or work and can
range from quality researched information to amateurish with unreliable information. As with all
Internet sources look at the provider of the information and their intentions to make sure it is
worthy of inclusion in your research. For an overview of using the Internet in your assignment
see:
Literature and the Internet: a Guide for Students, Teachers, and Scholars(R802.85Bro)
There are too many Internet sources to list, but these sites are starting points:
Online Literary Criticism Collection
Links to over 4,000 critical and biographical resources dealing with American and British
literature from pre-1500 to the 20th century. The links are selected for their overall
usefulness for high school and college students. http://www.ipl.org/div/litcrit/
Literary Resources on the Net
Index of literary resources focusing on those of interest to scholars.
http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Lit/
American Authors on the Web
Links to author biographical and critical sites.
http://www.lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/AmeLit.html
An end note:
It has been argued that analysis spoils an intuitive and spontaneous response to a work of
literature. Those in favor of analysis contend that, on the contrary, it enhances the reader’s
enjoyment. Did you enjoy reading the book, the play or the poem?
Reference Department
Morris County Library
Whippany, NJ 07981
http://www.mclib.info
August 2008
Donna Burkey, Reference Librarian
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