First,
remember that your first draft should generally focus on the primary
source (story/novel itself). Thus, you should refer to outside sources
only after you have figured out for yourself what you want to say about
the literary work.
Quick Hits
Use
these books for quick information on a particular topic or author.
Generally, you wouldn't use these in a research paper -- but if you do,
you'd need to quote and cite them.
- The Reader's Companion to World Literature.
Excellent basic reference book: belongs on every English Major's
bookshelf. Covers American, English, and world literature. Though
dated, it's a great place to get an overview on a literary work,
figure, or concept.
- Bennett's Reader's Encyclopedia ( 803 B465 reference section)
A fine compendium of terms, phrases, authors, and works. Short
(paragraph or two) entries provide you with a quick overview.
- Encyclopedia of American Literature (810.3 E563 reference section) Short entries on authors, movements, and topics in American literature.
- A Handbook to Literature ( 803 H236 reference section)
Strictly definitions and terms.
Reference Books
These
should be your first choice. The essays included in these volumes are
generally short and to the point -- perfect for the busy undergraduate.
These are found in the reference section, 1 st floor.
- American History Through Literature 1820-1870 - 810.9358 A512H V. 1
As the title suggests, it's a
great source for a cultural view of literature. - The Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century Vol. 1-3. 973.5 E564U V. 1
- Encyclopedia of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era Vol. 1-3 973.803 E564GA V. 1
- Dictionary Of Literary Biography Documentary Series: An Illustrated Chronicle 810.9 D554
- American Writers in Paris 1920-1939 810.90052 A512
- American Humorists, 1800-1950 817.009 A512 1982
- Literature and Its Times. 809 L776 (reference section, 1 st floor)
A great source for historical and cultural backgrounds on a variety of texts.
- The Reader's Companion to American History. by Eric Foner. 973.03 R285 1991.
Great source for quick historical background
- Victorian America 1876 to 1913 (973.8 S555v) and Modern America 1914 to 1945 .(973.9 G823m)
Both of these are almanacs, which means they are a compendium of facts
and statistics instead of essays -- though they have short descriptive
writings on specific topics. - Nineteenth Century Literary Criticism (NCL on spine of volume)
A great source (111 volumes) for writers from the nineteenth century.
You'll find here excerpts from articles by a variety of critics on a
variety of writers. Use the index in the last volume to find references
to the writer you are looking for. - Twentieth Century Literary Criticism (TCLC on the spine of volume) Similar to the above -- different century.
- Poetry Criticism (809 P745 reference section, 1 st floor)
Books from the Stacks
- Cultural History of Reading (028.9 C968R V. 2)
An overview of reading - from bibles to zines' -- in America . A fine
source for a general idea of the intellectual and aesthetic history of
America.
- A Norton Critical Edition (like your copy of Ragged Dick)
of any of the works we've read is a great source. Each of the essays is
considered a separate source. Find these in the library's catalog.
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Online Sources
General
web sites (the kind you get when you conduct an online search via
Yahoo, AOL, AltaVista, etc.) are notoriously unauthoritative. However,
there are databases which the college subscribes to (and pays big bucks
for) that collect articles originally written in paper form and
repackaged for the net.
The four sites below are
databases containing articles that you may use in your essay; any other
sites must be approved by me before being used in your essay. Failure
to check source with me will result in a automatic "D." All of these
databases can be accessed by clicking on the Library Links from the menu on the left.
Literature Resource Center
A
great site for general research in literature. It consists of several
parts -- bibliographical, critical, etc. -- which are accessed by
clicking on the tabs. Not to be confused with the Literature Reference Center, which is a subset of EBSCOhost noted below.
JSTOR
One of the premier academic resources. Use this to find rich, scholarly essays on a variety of topics.
EBSCOhost
Another
online database is EBSCOhost, which you may be familiar with from
English 151. You'll have to prompt the site to access the Academic
Search Elite to find literary articles. While the articles can be a bit
dense, this is the place to go for up to date research. Oxford Reference Collection
This database contains many volumes -- the main ones for our work include
The Concise Oxford Companion to African American Literature
The Concise Oxford Companion to American Literature
The Oxford Companion to American Literature
The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature
The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
The Oxford Companion to United States History
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America
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