This guide suggests resources and strategies for locating literary criticism and understanding the role of the critic in Literature. 

Background Information  |  Facts & Figures  |  Find Articles  |  Find Books  |    Organizations  |  Web Resources 

Background Information (Overview Sources)

Encyclopedias and other reference works are an excellent place to start a research project or simply learn more about a particular topic.  They provide topic summaries, context, and bibliographies for further reading.

The Critical Temper; a Survey of Modern Criticism on English and American Literature from the Beginnings to the Twentieth Century 
   (R 820.9 C869)
A Library of Literary Criticism:  Modern American....
   (R 810.9004 N98913)
The Library of Literary Criticism of English & American....
   (R 820.9 M8621)
Encyclopedia of Allegorical Literature
   (R 809.915 L517e)
Encyclopedia of Literary Critics and Criticism
   (R 801.95 C8684 1999)
Encyclopedia of Feminist Literary Theory 
   (R 801.95082 En19)
Encyclopedia of Traditional Epics
   (R 398.22 J135e)

Use dictionaries, statistical works, atlases, handbooks and similar works to find and check facts about topics, people, or events.

Dictionary of  Concepts in Literary Criticism and Theory.
   (R 801 H244d)
A Grammar of Literary Criticism; Essays in Definition of Vocabulary, Concepts, and Aims 
   (R 809 H144g)
Literary Criticism Index. 
   (R 016.809 W431l)
Reader's Index to the Twentieth Century Views Literary Criticism Series.
   (R809.0804 T918)

Search indexes, abstracts, and databases to find journal, magazine, and newspaper articles.

To find historical/source materials, such as newspaper and magazine articles use the following print sources:

Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, 1900+
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Humanities Index, 1974 -
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
New York Times Index, 1851+
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)

To find recent articles and scholarly/peer-reviewed articles use the following online databases:

Academic Search Elite
MLA Bibliography (FirstSearch)
PA Research II
Wilson Web Omni File

Use the Kent Library Catalog to find books, periodicals (journals, magazines, & newspapers), videos, government documents and other materials.

Keyword searches allow you to use your own words as search terms.
Subject heading searches use Library of Congress subject headings. Printed volumes of these headings are located near the Reference Desk on the main floor.
Literary Criticism is NOT a Subject Heading.  One may use the following:

American Literature--History and Criticism
English Literature--History and Criticism
"Author's Name" and Criticism and Interpretation
    e.g.  Hemingway, Ernest--Criticism and Interpretation

American Comparative Literature Association
   http://www.acla.org
Association of Literary Scholars and Critics (ALSC)
   http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~wcd/alsc!.htm
MLA (Modern Language Association)
   http://www.mla.org
Society for Textual Scholarship (STS)
   http://www.textual.org

Early Modern Literary Studies
   http://www.sch.ac.uk/emis/emishome.html
Guide to Reference Resources for Literary Criticism
   http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/Lit_Crit_Russo.htm
Internet Public Library Criticism Collection
   http://www.ipl.org/div/litcrit/
The Libyrinth
   http://www.libyrinth.com
PAL: Perspectives in American Literature: A reference and Research Guide
   http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/table.html