Literature Resource Center - provides "access to biographies, bibliographies, and critical analyses of authors from every age and literary discipline. Combining ... core literary databases in a single online service, the Literature Resource Center covers more than 120,000 novelists, poets, essayists, journalists, and other writers, with in-depth coverage of 2,500 of the most-studied authors."
LitFinder contains over 125,000 full-text poems, stories, biographies, and the best-known speeches. Also included are explanations, study guides, a glossary, pictures, etc.
Academic Search Premier. EBSCO is LPC's largest academic multi-disciplinary database, which provides full text for more than 4,600 scholarly publications, including full text for more than 3,500 peer-reviewed journals. Coverage spans virtually every area of academic study and offers information dating as far back as 1975.
Dictionary of Literary Biograpy
(Gale)
- A list of the DLB volumes by volume number, title, and call
number owned by LPC Library and shelved in the Reference section.
Literary Index (Gale) - comprehensive free index online to print literary resources. Once you search for an author, it will list the resources that contain information. Look up those titles in the online catalog to see if LPC Library owns them.
LPC Library Shakespeare Materials
Shakespeare
at LPC - Studies in Shakespeare
You may want to explore some Internet resources to supplement or enhance your research. Always be cautious of information you find on the Web since the quality of sources varies tremendously on the Internet. It is always a good idea to check the information against another source. As with all information resources, whether in print or on the Internet, you evaluate its quality based on the following criteria:
The following resources are useful links to literature and grammar information on the Web. The citations are adapted from the annotated links of the Librarians' Internet Index, ill.org.
Blue Book of Grammar
and Punctuation - provides commonsense guidance to the
grammatically confused and the punctuation impaired.
Conciseness:
Methods of Eliminating Wordiness - tips, examples, and
exercises from the Purdue University Online Writing Lab
Dr.
Grammar - "Your Rx for Writing Ills" - grammar,
usage, punctuation, spelling, and general language concerns;
including links to grammar, English as a second language,
word origins, Fun With Words, and plagiarism resources
Getting
an A on an English Paper (Jack Lynch, Rutgers University)
- tips to help you with the elements of a good paper: thesis,
research, close reading, style and mechanics
Guide
for Writing Research Papers based on Modern Language Association
(MLA) Documentation
Guide
to Grammar and Style - Jack Lynch, Rutgers University
Guide
to Indispensable Writing Resources - "...everything
on and off the Net that you could possibly need in writing
or researching a paper, including links to all sorts of reference
material, links to writing labs, links to Web search engines,
and links to writing-related Web sites"
Plagiarism
Court: You Be the Judge - presents basic information
on avoiding plagiarism, includes topics such as documentation,
quoting, paraphrasing, and citation styles
Plagiarism:
What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It - Indiana University
Sources: Their
Use and Acknowledgement - Dartmouth College guide on
why, when, and how to cite print or electronic sources; clearly
defines plagiarism. Shows four citation styles
Strategies
for Reducing Wordiness - tips for concise writing Literacy
Education Online
Student Writing Models from Writers Inc: samples of personal essays, descriptive writing, news features, eyewitness accounts, interview reports, persuasive writing, creative writing, cause/effect, comparison, writing about literature, research wrting,etc. Other links to writing topics, judging sources (MLA & APA), research links, etc.
Wordiness:
Words and Phrases to Purge from your Writing - "Keep
the good stuff, and get rid of the useless clutter that's
been hanging around in your writing. Clean up your act" is
the advice of this page
Writing
Tutorial Services - Indiana University's guide to citing
sources, thesis statements, paragraphs and topic sentences, proof reading, plagiarism, outlines, book reviews,
essay exams, resumes and cover letters
AskOxford.com -
frequently asked questions about grammar, spelling, symbols
and word origins and everything else possible from the Oxford
English Dictionary publishers
Bartleby.com: Great Books
Online - Includes Columbia Encyclopedia, American
Heritage Dictionary, Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, American
Heritage Book of English Usage, Simpson's Contemporary
Quotations, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, Oxford
Shakespeare, Gray's Anatomy, Strunk's Elements
of Style, and more
Cambridge History
of English and American Literature - - "An Encyclopedia
in Eighteen Volumes ... considered the most important work
of literary history and criticism ever published on writings
in the English language ... with essay topics ranging from
poetry, fiction, drama and essays to history, theology and
political writing ... [and] a wide selection of writing on
orators, humorists, poets, newspaper columnists, religious
leaders, economists, Native Americans, song writers, and
even non-English writing, such as Yiddish and Creole".
Glossary
of Literary Terms - "the site that extends the study
of literature online for Michael Meyer's introductory literature
texts"
Glossary
of Rhetorical Terms with Examples - simple list of 45
rhetorical terms used in literature with definitions and
some links to further information
Norton
Anthology of English Literature - companion to the print
resource of the same name features "annotated texts
and contexts grouped by topic, over 1000 illustrations, ...
hundreds of annotated links to related sites [and] The Norton
Online Archive, a searchable electronic library of over 150
literary texts and downloadable audio files, annotated by
the editors."
Notes
in the Margin: Glossary of Literary Terms - "These
notes are meant to provide basic definitions of frequently
used literary terms," such as archetype , hero, realism,
and symbolism. Comments on books and reading by Mary Daniels
Brown, St. Louis, Missouri
SparkNotes -
study guides for nearly 100 literature classics created by
Harvard University students and alumni, containing sections
on context, characters, overall summary, chapter-by-chapter
summary and commentary, study questions. Free registration
required.
Many of these links were found through Librarians' Internet Index and the annotations were adapted from
the LII list (Copyright 2008 by Librarians' Internet Index, lii.org.)
The following reference works are just a few of the most useful literary resources in the LPC Library:
Contemporary Authors. Ref PS128.C6 Index v.1-186
and index.
Contemporary Authors: New Revision Series. Ref PS128.C6
CANR v. 1-91.
Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ref PN771.C59 v.
1-133 and index.
Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800: Excerpts from
Criticism of the Works of Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth,
and Eighteenth-Century Novelists, Poets, Playwrights, Philosophers,
and Other Creative Writers, from the First Published Critical
Appraisals to Current Evaluations. Ref PN86.L53 v.1–21.
Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ref PN761.N56
v.1-38 & index.
Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ref PN771.T85
v. 1-98 and index. 19th & early 20th century.
Drama for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context and
Criticism on Commonly Studied Dramas. Ref PN1701.D73
2001 v.1-10. Each entry contains author biography, plot summary,
characters, themes, style, historical context, critical overview,
and criticism.
Epics for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context, and
Criticism on Commonly Studied Epics. Ref PN56.E65 E67
v.1-2. Each entry includes author biography, plot summary,
characters, media adaptations, themes, topics for further
study, style, historical context, comparison and contrast,
critical overview, criticism, and suggestions for further
reading and study.
Novels for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context and
Criticism on commonly Studied Novels. Ref PN3385.N68
1997 –2 000 v. 1 – 10. Each entry contains author
biography, plot summary, characters, themes, style, historical
context, critical overview, and criticism.
Poetry for Students : Presenting Analysis, Context and
Criticism on Commonly Studied Poetry. Detroit: Gale,
1998. Ref PN1101.P64 2001 v. 1-10. Each entry contains author
biography, poem text, poem summary, themes, style, historical
context, critical overview, and criticism.
Shakespeare for Students: Critical Interpretations of
Henry IV, Part One, Henry V, King Lear, Much Ado about Nothing,
Richard III, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, Twelfth
Night. Ref PR2987.S468 1997.
Short Stories for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context
and Criticism on Commonly Studied Novels. Ref PN3373.S56
2000 v.1-9. Each entry contains author biography, plot summary,
characters, themes, style, historical context, critical overview,
and criticism.
American Nature Writers. Ref PS163.A6 1996 v. 1-
2. v. 1: Edward Abbey to John McPhee; v. 2: Peter Matthiessen
to Western geologists and explorers.
American Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide from
Colonial Times to the Present. Ref PS147.A4 v.1 – 4.
American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies.
Ref PS129.A55 v. 1 – 4, Supplement 1-4, Pt. 1&2.
v. 1, Henry Adams to T.S. Eliot; v. 2. Ralph Waldo Emerson
to Carson McCullers; v. 3. Archibald MacLeish to George Santayana;
v. 4. Isaac Bashevis Singer to Richard Wright; Supplement[s]:
1, pt. 1. Jane Addams to Sidney Lanier. 1, pt. 2. Vachel
Lindsay to Elinor Wylie. 2, pt. 2. Robinson Jeffers to Yvor
Winters.
Asian American Literature: Reviews and Criticism of Works
by American Writers of Asian Descent. PS153.A84 A82
1999.
Black American Writers Past and Present: A Biographical
and Bibliographical Dictionary. Ref PS153.N5 R87 v.1 – 2.
Black American Writers: Bibliographical Essays.
v. 1: The beginnings through the Harlem Renaissance and Langston
Hughes; v. 2: Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin,
and Amiri Baraka. Ref PS153.N5 B55 v. 1 – 2.
British Writers. Ref PR85.B688 v.1-8 and index.
Chicano Literature: A Reference Guide. Ref PS153.M4
C46 1985.
Companion To Literary Myths: Heroes and Archetypes.
Ref PN56.M95 D4813 1992.
Critical Survey of Drama: English Language Series.
Ref PR623.C75 1985 v. 1- 6. English and American drama and
dramatists.
Critical Survey of Poetry: English Language Series.
Ref PR502.C85 1982 v. 1-8. English and American poetry and
poets.
Critical Survey of Short Fiction. Ref PN3321.C7
1981 v. 1-7. Author biographies, and history and criticism
of short stories.
Cyclopedia of Literary Characters II. Ref PN44.M43
1990 v.1 – 4. Characters and characteristics in literature;
stories, plots, etc.
Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature. Ref PQ7081.A1
E56 1997.
Hispanic Writers: A Selection of Sketches from Contemporary
Authors. Ref PQ7081.3.H58 1991. Contains more than four
hundred entries on Twentieth-Century Hispanic writers, all
originally written or updated for this volume.
Magill's Literary Annual ... : Essay-Reviews of 200 Outstanding
Books Published in the United States ... , with Annotated
Categories Index. Ref PN44.M35 1974 - PN44.M35 1992.
Magill's Survey of American Literature. Ref PS21.M34
1994 v. 1-8
Magill's Survey of World Literature. Ref PN523.M29
1993 v. 1 – 8. v. 1: Achebe-Chekhov; v. 2: Christie-Gogel;
v. 3: Golding-Kipling; v. 4: Kundera-Osborne; v. 5: Ovid-Sophocles;
v. 6: Spark-Zola; v. 7: Abe-MacDiarmid; v. 8: MacNeice-Yourcenar.
Masterplots II. Ref PN846.M37 1994 v.1-6. American
literature and fiction (20th century), stories, plots, history
and criticism.
Masterplots II: Poetry Series. Ref PN1110.5.M37
1992 v. 1 - 6. Poetry theme and motives.
Masterplots: 2010 Plot Stories & Essay Reviews from
the World's Fine Literature. Ref PN44.M33 1976 v. 1 – 9.
Thematic Guide to the American Novel. Ref PS373.A33
2002 "...Systematic guide to central themes in 150 of
the most commonly taught American novels."
Thematic Guide to the American Poetry. Ref PS303.P7.B87
2002 "The main section of the guide contains narrative
essays on 21 alphabetically arranged themes that recur throughout
the rich history of American poetry"
Twayne Companion to Contemporary Literature in English
from the Editors of the Hollins critic. Ref PS225.T88
2003 v. 1-2. "The essays in this anthology constitute,
then, a series of critical examinations of the work of 101
writers who were working or influencing the work of other
writers over the past quarter of a century. ...If you're
just looking for a new angle on a single author to get you
through that looming term paper, I hope that you'll find
what you're looking for here -and a great deal more that
you're not looking for, too."
Suggestion: keep the printouts of your sources, or write out all pertinent information on author, title, publisher, date, Internet location, or whatever is necessary to identify where you got the information. Follow the format recommended by your instructor or ask a librarian to show you a "style manual". There is a link to instructions for MLA citations, as well as the online resource, NoodbleBib, a bibliography composer, on the LPC Library Homepage: Citation Style Guides.
Email
a Librarian
Library Telephone: 925.424.1150
Library Fax: 925.606.7249