Morris County Library Assignment: Literary Criticism - GTI Internet

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