University of Maryland Eastern Shore

 Division of Academic Affairs

Frederick Douglass Library

 Literary Criticism Pathfinder

 Literary criticism is the analysis and interpretation of literary works, be they poetry, drama, short story, or long fiction.  The Frederick Douglass Library has a wide-range of resources to support literature research.  The following is a guide to assist you with locating literary criticism, interpretation, and work analysis.  For assistance, please consult a Reference Librarian.

Print Resources

The following is a selected list of print sources located in the Reference Collection of the Library. 

There are many other print materials that contain criticisms and interpretations available in the library collection.  To locate them, search the online library catalog.  To locate additional print resources in the library, use the Online Library Catalog. 

To search the catalog, follow the steps below: 

1. To access the Online Library Catalog, go to the Library’s homepage at http://www.umes.edu/fdl
2. Under Finding Library Materials, click on the link for the Library Catalog
3. Enter your topic
4.  Suggested searches:
   Depending upon the work being researched, it is possible to perform a “words anywhere” search on the title of the desired work (i.e. A Rose for Emily).  At other times it is best to do a “words anywhere” search for the author and combine the author’s name with the word criticism (Faulkner and criticism or Tennessee Williams and criticism).
5. Click on the  button
6. Select the desired title

 In addition to the books available, the Frederick Douglass Library provides access to journals that are directly related to analyzing and interpretating of literary works.  These journals include but are not limited to: 

• African American Review Serials E185.5.N35
  The journal is also available online as a part of the Arts & Sciences I Collection available from JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org/journals/10624783.html). 

•  Callaloo SERIALS NX506.C34
  The journal is also available online as a part of the Arts & Sciences I Collection available from JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org/journals/01612492.html). 

• ELH
  The journal is also available online as a part of the Project MUSE e-journal collections (http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/elh/). 

• Explicator
  SERIALS PR1.E9

• Langston Hughes Review
  SERIALS PS3515.U274Z673 

• Literary Review
  SERIALS AP2.L6377 

•  Nineteenth-Century Literature
  The journal is also available online as a part of the Arts & Sciences I Collection available from JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org/journals/08919356.html).  

• Obsidian II
  SERIALS PR1110.B5O3 

•  Southern Review
  SERIALS AP2.S8555 

• Studies in Short Fiction
  SERIALS PN3311.S8

Online Databases

 In addition to the books collection, the library provides access to over 150 online databases.  Many of these databases contain literary criticism and work analysis.  The following databases are excellent tools for literature research.  To access these databases, follow the steps below: 

1. Go to the Library’s Homepage  (www.umes.edu/fdl)
2. Click on Databases (Find articles, full text, and more)
3. Select the category Arts & Humanities
4. Click on the subcategory Literature
5. Click on the desired database title

• Literature Resource Center - is a premier Internet resource for information on literary figures from all time periods including such genres as fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, history, journalism, and more.  LRC is enhanced by a strategic partnership with Merriam-Webster, Inc. LRC includes selected full-text, excerpted, and commissioned critical material from Gale's respected Literature Criticism and For Students Series.  When searching for a particular work, search this database by title.  For example, when looking for a critical review of the novel, The Color Purple:
   

  • Choose the desired search option (title)

  • Enter the title or title words, then click the radio button that reads:

  • All words entered

  • Click on the Search button
     

• LION (Literature Online) – is a collection of more than 350,000 works of English and American poetry, drama and prose, plus biographies, bibliographies and key criticism and reference resources.
   

  • In the quick search box enter the title of the work or author you are researching

  • Click on the   button
    
     

• MagillOnLiterature - is the definitive, online source for editorially reviewed critical analyses. This outstanding database also includes brief plot summaries of the most studied works in the history of literature. This database includes Masterplots, Masterplots II, Cyclopedia of World Authors, Cyclopedia of Literary Characters, Magill's Literary Annual 1990-2002, Magill's Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, Magill Book Reviews, and selected essays from World Philosophers and Their Works.

Additional Databases

The following databases may also be used to retrieve literary criticism. 

• Academic Search Premier contains full text for nearly 4,650 SERIALS, including more than 3,600 peer-reviewed publications. In addition to the full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 8,200 journals in the collection. This scholarly collection offers information in nearly every area of academic study including: computer sciences, engineering, physics, chemistry, language and linguistics, arts & literature, medical sciences, ethnic studies, and many more.

• Humanities Abstracts cites articles from more than 570 periodicals, including some of the best-known scholarly journals and numerous specialized magazines covering archaeology, classical studies, dance, journalism, linguistics, philosophy, theology and much more. Indexing goes back to 1984, and abstracts back to 1994.

• JSTOR contains full-text journals in arts and humanities.

• MLA (Modern Language Association) offers a detailed bibliography of journal articles, books and dissertations. Produced by the Modern Language Association, the electronic version of the bibliography dates back to 1963 and contains over 1.7 million citations from more than 4,400 journals and series, and 1,000 book publishers.

•  Project Muse a comprehensive selection of prestigious humanities, arts, and social sciences journals to support a core liberal arts curriculum at any academic institution.

Internet Resources

 The following web sites are another way to identify literary criticism on the Internet.  There are more sites available.  This is just a selected list of Internet sources.  

Web Directories

• Voice of the Shuttle (http://vos.ucsb.edu/)
  Voice of the Shuttle contains links to humanities and humanities-related resources on the Internet. Its mission has been to provide a structured and briefly annotated guide to online resources that at once respects the established humanities disciplines in their professional organization and points toward

•  Internet Public Library (http://www.ipl.org/div/litcrit/)
  Like the Voice of the Shuttle, the Internet Public Library (IPL) provides access to links of web sites that focuses on all areas of research, including literary criticism.  Of special note, the IPL contains a literary criticism pathfinder (http://www.ipl.org/div/pf/entry/48496).

• Literary Resources on the Net (http://www.andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Lit/)
  Literary Resources on the Net is a set of pages is a collection of links to sites on the Internet dealing with English and American literature.   

Web Sites

• Project CROW (http://www.millikin.edu/aci/crow/)
  Project CROW provides access to author chronologies that contain the themes used in the author’s work, annotated links to selected authors and their works, and links to American literature resources by period.

• LitLinks (http://www.smpcollege.com/litlinks/home.htm)
  LitLinks has biographies and short lists of links to authors in five literary genres: fiction, drama, poetry, essays, and critical theory.

• Luminarium (http://www.luminarium.org/lumina.htm)
  Luminarium provides access to biographical and critical essays on a range of authors from Medieval, Renaissance, and seventeenth century Europe.

• Shakespeare Resource Center (SRC) (http://www.bardweb.net/)
  The SRC is a mega webs site providing access to plethora of information on Shakespeare, his works, Elizabethan England, and more.

•  Modern American Poetry (MAPS) (http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/about.htm)
  MAPS serves as a clearing house of information on poets.

• VG: Voices From the Gap (http://voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/index.html)
  VG is an international website that focuses on women arts and writers providing bibliographies and critiques.

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