Literary Criticism Research Paper

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Literary Criticism Research Paper

• Spring 2008

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Objectives

• Students will be able to
• Locate Media Center Online Resources web page
  for this assignment.
• Access secondary materials using Gale Literary
  Index.
• Print out personal list of resources from Gale
  Research.
• Browse materials for likely sources.
• Locate and replace all book sources.
• Locate full-texts of critical materials via the
  Student Resource Center Gold and ProQuest
  Learning Literature.

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Resources for this Assignment

• Books
• Online Index
• Databases
• Online Research Tools
• Media Center Handouts

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Books

• Background or Supplementary Reading
• Combination Reference Sources
• Critical Sources
• Single-Volume critical sources

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Background Reading

• Why use background reading?
• It is often easier to read even though chapters
  may be long.
• It might present an overall sense of different
  critical opinions.
• To get historical or psychological insight on an
  author or times.

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Background Sources from Gale
Dictionary of Literary Biography (DLB)
Concise Dictionary of American Literary
Biography (CDALB)
Concise Dictionary of British Literary Biography
(CDBLB)
American Writers
Beachams
British Writers
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Reference Background Sources

• Best accessed using Gale Literary Index.
• The Its Times series will have different call
  number ranges.
• Call numbers begin with REF 800

• World Literature and Its Times
• Latin American literature
• African literature
• British Irish literature
• Spanish Portuguese literature

Literature and Its Times
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Combination Sources

• Why use combination sources?
• Present an overview of the authors works and
  link the novels events to events in history.
• Present plot overviews, character sketches, and
  important themes in the work.
• Each chapter presents a critical overview and 2
  or 3 particularly accessible articles of
  criticism. Each critical article is a different
  source.

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Combination Sources
Shelved in ReferenceRequires Gale Literary Index
Drama for Students
Nonfiction Classics for Students This set is only
available as an e-book
Novels for Students
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Critical Sources from Gale

• Provide excerpts and full texts of literary
  criticism.
• Represent a variety of opinions over time.
  Consult multiple volumes. Chapters contain many
  entries each is considered a source.
• Requires use of Gale Literary Index to find
  pertinent volumes.
• Entries are dense and may require background
  reading for fuller comprehension.
• Some entries are duplicated in online sources,
  but most will require note-taking and
  photocopying.

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Critical Sources from Gale
Nineteenth Century Literary Criticism (NCLC)
Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC)
Twentieth Century Literary Criticism (TCLC)
Hispanic Literature Criticism
Black Literature Criticism
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Single-Volume Works

• Housed on Reserve Carts
• Most are anthologies of critical essays.
• May be entirely on one literary work, the body of
  an authors works, or a genre.
• Each chapter or entry by a different author
  constitutes a different source.

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Online Sources

• Gale Literary Index will provide access only to
  relevant Gale titles.
• Student Resource Center Gold will provide full
  texts of background and critical essays.
• ProQuest Learning Literature will provide full
  texts of background and critical essays.
  Username 81-7306 password bigchalk

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Whats Next

• Quick Walking Tour of Reference Section
• Print out personal list of relevant Gale titles
• Browse for either print or online sources
• Re-shelve Reference place single-volume titles
  on Reserve Cart