This pathfinder will help you find sources for literary criticism for a particular work, or a particular genre.  It will guide you to both journal articles and essays found in electronic and paper formats.  If you need further assistance, please ask at the Reference Desk.

• Electronic Indexes
• Print Indexes
• Books
• Reference Materials (general and subject)
• Dictionaries and Handbooks (print)
• Biographical Material (electronic and print)
• World Wide Web Resources

ELECTRONIC INDEXES

The following indexes are available at the SuperSearch link on the Library’s Webpage. Here is a SuperSearch Tutorial.

Humanities Full Text
Indexes and abstracts 350 journals covering, among other topics, literary criticism, language and literature, folklore and classical studies.  Full-text is offered from 95 of the journals beginning in 1995.

Academic Search Premier
Indexes and abstracts more than 8,200 scholarly journals and provides full-text coverage for over 4,650 of them.

Project Muse
Provides full-text coverage from over 40 humanities and social science journals.

JSTOR
Provides full-text coverage of scholarly journals in the humanities and social sciences disciplines, some going back into the nineteenth century.

PRINT INDEXES

The following print indexes are available at the index tables near the Reference area.

Book Review Digest
Provides citations and excerpts from book reviews, 1905 to the present.

Book Review Index
Provides citations to book reviews, 1965 to the present.

New York Times Book Review Index
Coverage for the years 1896-1970.  Consult the print index for the New York Times for reviews from 1970 to the present.  More recent articles can also be found by searching the newspaper online through ProQuest (see above).

Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature
Provides citations for the years 1900 to the present.

BOOKS

Go to online catalog and search using the authors name as a subject term.  To do this, enter authors name in search box (e.g., hemingway, ernest), and, from the “Search by” drop-down menu, choose “subject,” then hit “search.”  Scan the entries until a heading indicating criticism is found (e.g., Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961 Criticism and interpretation).  Click on heading to find relevant materials.

REFERENCE MATERIALS

The following are a selected list of books located in the Reference section dealing with literature and literary criticism.  Other books are available and may be located by searching the online catalog of the library's holdings or by browsing the shelves where the following are located.

General

Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism   REF PN 761 .N56
Provides excerpts from criticism on the works of authors who died between 1800 and 1900.

Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism   REF PN 771 .G27
Provides excerpts from criticism of the works of authors who died between 1900 and 1960.

Contemporary Literary Criticism   REF PN 771 .C59
Provides excerpts from criticism of work by well-known authors who are either living or have died since 1960.

Library of Literary Criticism   REF PR 83 .M73

Masterplots   REF PN 44 .M34

American Literature

Masterplots II: American Fiction Series   REF PN 846 .M37

Library of Literary Criticism: Modern American Literature   REF PS 221 .C8

American Writers   REF PS 129 .A55

British Literature

British Writers   REF PR 85 .B688

Library of Literary Criticism: Modern British Literature   REF PR 473 .T4

Ethnic Literature

American Ethnic Writers   REF PS153 .M56 A414

African American Writers   REF PS 153 .N5 A344

Latin American Writers   REF PQ 7081 .A1 L37

Chicano Literature   REF PS 501 .C61

Women

Women in Literature: Criticism of the Seventies   REF PN 56.5 .W64 F3

Bloomsbury Guide to Women’s Literature   REF PN 471 .B57

Articles on Women Writers   REF PR 111 .S73

Short Stories

Short Story Criticism   REF PN 3373 .S39

Masterplots II: Short Story Series   REF PN 3326 .M27

Twentieth-Century Short Story Explication   REF PN 3373 .T89

Poetry

Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics    REF PN 1021 .E5

Poetry Explication   REF PR 502 .K8

Guide to American Poetry Explication   REF PS 312 .G85

Drama

McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama   REF PN 1625 .M3

Dramatic Criticism Index    REF PN 1707 .D72

Masterplots II: Drama Series   REF PN 6112.5 .M37

Critical Survey of Drama   REF PR 623 .C75

Guide to American Drama Explication   REF PS 332 .O84

Drama Criticism   REF Z5781 .C65

Genre Fiction

Supernatural Fiction Writers   REF PN 3435 .S96

Science Fiction Writers   REF PS 374 .S35 S36

Fantasy Literature   REF PR 830 .F3 T9

Fantasy and Horror   REF PN56 .F34 F36

Children’s Literature

Children’s Literature Review   REF PN 1009 .A1 C5139

DICTIONARIES/HANDBOOKS

Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism   REF PN 81 .J554

Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable   REF PN 43 .B65

Poetry Handbook   REF PN 44.5 .D4

Dictionary of Literary Terms   REF PN 44.5 .S46

BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS

Contemporary Authors and Biographies Plus Illustrated are available online. 

Available in print in the Reference Stacks:

World Authors, 1950-1970   REF PN 451 .W3

Major Authors and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults   REF PN 497 .M35

American Women Writers   REF PS 147 .A4

Dictionary of Literary Biography   REF PS 129 .D53

Contemporary Authors   REF PN 501 .C61

WORLD WIDE WEB

The following are just examples of the many web sites devoted to literary criticism. 

Online Literary Criticism Collection 

Atlantic Monthly Magazine Search   

Literary Resources on the Net