Finding Literary Criticism

Learning Resources Center
on the web at www.nv2.commnet.edu/library/

Finding Literary Criticism


Searching the NVCC Circulating Collection

Search for library materials by accessing the NVCC online catalog from our website. We have books, and sometimes videos and DVDs, of original works as well as criticism of authors and their works. Use authors, titles, or keywords to start. For example, start with:
short stories poetry epic poetry fiction folk tales literature (or literary) drama plays (put author’s names & phrases in quotes; put a plus sign in front of required words)

Then add one or more specific words, depending on what you want to retrieve. For example: criticism history and criticism essays women writers United States

Your search should end up looking like this: +poetry +criticism +"United States"
or this: +Poe +fiction +criticism

The NVCC Reference Collection

The library at NVCC has several titles that provide compilations of both condensed and full reviews as well as background information on writers. Look in a recent volume for a cumulated author and/or title index. Reference books can’t be checked out so photocopy the section you need. The most frequently used Reference books for criticism are listed here for your convenience:

Contemporary Literary Criticism REF PN 771 .C59
Critical Survey of Drama REF PR 623 .C75
Critical Survey of Long Fiction REF PR 821 .C7
Critical Survey of Poetry REF PN 1111 .C7
Critical Survey of Short Fiction REF PN 3321 .C7
Drama Criticism REF PN 1601 .D59
Drama for Students REF PN 1601 .D595
Encyclopedia of the Essay REF PN 6141 .E53
Masterplots II various
Poetry Criticism REF PN 1010 .P499
Poetry for Students REF PN 1101 .P756
Short Story Criticism REF PN 3373 .S386
Short Stories for Students REF PN 3373 .S3844
Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism REF PN 771 .G27
Twentieth-Century Short Story Explication REF PN 3373 .W35

For short stories…if you know the year your story was first published and the title of the book it was published in (these are often two different titles), you can look in older print indexes for contemporaneous reviews (i.e., if book published in 1940, use 1940 index):

New York Times Index - check “Book Reviews” for the title of the book that the story was published in
Readers’ Guide - look under author’s name or title of book that the story was published in
Book Review Digest - look under author’s name or title of book that the story was published in

Places to Go On the Internet
American Literature on the Web http://www.nagasaki-gaigo.ac.jp/ishikawa/amlit/index.htm

Perspectives in American Literature http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/TABLE.HTML

Internet Public Library http://www.ipl.org/div/litcrit/

Yahoo’s Book Reviews http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Humanities/Literature/Reviews/

OR, you can...
...use a search engine such as Yahoo, or Google, to search the Internet on your own. In the search engine’s text box, type in the author’s name (enclosed in quote marks) and the title you’re looking for (again, enclosed in quotes).

For example: “Stephen Crane” and “Blue Hotel”

Keep in mind that anyone and everyone can and does publish on the Internet. Review whatever material you find for accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency and coverage, to determine if it is academically appropriate. For help on this, see the handout entitled “Evaluating Web Sites.”

Periodical databases available from our website

EBSCOhost’s MagillOnLiterature is our 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, and includes and cross-indexes Masterplots, Masterplots II, Cyclopedia of World Authors, Cyclopedia of Literary Characters, Magill's Literary Annual, Magill's Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature and Magill Book Reviews.

General interest databases, such iCONN’s Expanded Academic ASAP and EBSCOhost’s MasterFILE Premier, also contain excellent critical articles from literary journals.

If you're off campus, you'll need to access the databases through your myCommNet page.

Ask the Reference Librarian for any help you might need locating and using these resources.
Reference Desk phone: 575-8244.
EJF 08/06