SHORT STORY LITERARY CRITICISM - Learning Resource Center

Learning Resources Center
Circulation Desk- 729-5318
Reference Desk- 729-5395
SHORT STORY LITERARY CRITICISM
The following are resources to use in locating information about authors and short stories.
For further assistance, ask at the Reference Desk, call 729-5395 or use the Ask-a-
Librarian on the Learning Resources Center’s (LRC) web site at .
Using “Find Books”
To locate a criticism about a short story, click on the Browse Lists option, select
Subject begins with from the menu, and then type the author’s last name.
For example:
Subject Begins with
Steinbeck
Look at entries under: Steinbeck, John, 1902-1968 – Criticism and Interpretation
Scan the titles of the books listed and select books that focus on short stories.
Next, locate the book and look up the title of the short story in the index of the book.
If there is no index, or if the short story is not listed in the index, consult the table of
contents for chapters about the author’s writings.
Another way to locate information about the short story is to broaden your search by
looking under such subject headings as the following using Subject Begins with from the
menu.
Short stories
Short stories, American (or English, French, etc.) – History and criticism
Short story
Western stories
Consult reference books such as these that may provide information on your short story:
Dictionary of Literary Biography
REF PN 451 D543
Contemporary Literary Criticism
REF PN 771 C59
Critical Survey of Short Fiction REF PN 3321 C7 2001
Short Story Criticism
REF PN 3321 S56
Masterplots II: Short Story Series REF PN 3326 M27 2004
Reference Guide to Short Fiction REF PN 3373 R36 1998
Short Story Writers REF PN 3373 S398 1997
World’s Best Short Stories: Anthology & Criticism REF PN 3373 W76 1989
Explicator Cyclopedia, Vol. 3 Prose REF PR 401 E9 v.3
over

Using “Find Articles”
Another direct way to find criticisms is to search for journal articles that can be found
on-line via the LRC Homepage .
*Note* To access the databases from your home computer, you must first activate your
Raider card by stopping at the Niceville Campus LRC Circulation Desk or calling 729-5318
for telephone activation. Then you may use “Find Articles” from home by entering your
Borrower ID number, which is the 14-digit number below the barcode on your student ID
card, and your PIN, which is the last four numbers of your social security number.
Use the following databases to locate articles about authors and their works:
Academic Search Complete – Full-text articles on a variety of topics
Omnifile Full Text Mega – Full-text articles on a variety of topics
Literary Reference Center – Documents including full-text plot summaries, criticism,
biography, and many more topics
Literature Resource Center – Full-text critical analyses of authors
JSTOR – Full-text articles on a variety of topics
Biography Research Center – Full-text biographies, articles and websites
Academic Onefile – Full text articles on a variety of subjects
Choose an appropriate database and follow the on-screen instructions to locate full-text or
abstracts of articles. If only an abstract is available on-line, the LRC may own the journal
in another format or be able to obtain the article through interlibrary loan. To determine
which periodicals are available at the LRC, consult the NFSC Periodicals Holdings- the red
notebooks located throughout the library.
Using “The Web”
The Internet provides information on short stories that is accessible on Web sites.
However, some Web resources may not be accurate or timely. There may not be any peer
review or validation of information. Some criteria for evaluating Web resources are to look
at the domain, the author, objectivity, content, and currency.
To locate some web sites that might be useful click on Virtual File and select Literature.
These web sites are selected by at least two librarians to support the OWC curriculum.
Using “The LRC”
The best way to locate criticisms about a specific short story is to use indexes to look up
the author’s name, then the short story under the author’s name, in the following indexes:
Magill Index to Critical Surveys. INDEX PN 524 M34 1994
Short Fiction Criticism
INDEX Z 5917 S5 T5
Twentieth–Century Short Story Explication INDEX Z 5917 S5 W33 1977
Remember, this handout serves only as a starting point for your research. Additional
assistance is always available from the library staff.
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