Brit Lit Crit Tips
- Brit Lit Crit TipsSame as the above Word document, but saved as a Google Doc.
Selecting your books and authors
- Library CatalogUse your British Literature resource lists to browse through possible titles. Sort by author. We have most, but not all of the titles on your master list. Sometimes, we have substitute titles. Or, just search on title or author.
Here are the links to catalogs to find the books you'd like to read. But before you commit, you should learn about your options. Good Reads or Amazon can help you to select the perfect reading fit.
- Access PALooking for a book we don't have? We can borrow any book from almost any library in PA. But, you can't keep these books all semester, so be careful. Email Ms. Miller (rmiller@kcsd.org) to place an order.
- Good ReadsYou can find brief summaries of books here along with reader reviews.
- AmazonIf you want to purchase copies of your books, you can often find them used and cheap from Amazon, and you can buy titles in ebook format for your Kindle, ipad, or iphone, too. Amazon also provides book summaries, and both professional and customer reviews.
- Project GutenbergFree ebooks, good for books no longer covered by copyright. Many of the books that we don't have in our collection, for example, the Fanny Burney titles, can be downloaded free from this site for both ereaders, and in html for computers.
- 100 Best NovelsProduced by Modern Library. Their list of the best, plus readers' choices.
- Nobel Prize Winners in LiteratureNot all British, but feel free to skim if you're looking for more literary authors to study.
- TheGuardian's Top ListAn English perspective on "best of" novels.
Gale Literature Resource Center
Your VERY best bet for critical essays about your authors and their writing. In addition to critical essays, Gale provides Topic Overviews which may help you better understand your reading and your author. Author biographies are also available for you. You need an ID&PW to access this resource from home. They are available at the library desk, and on your teacher's wiki.
Other Literary Criticism Resources:Databases
- Salem PressThese articles are very scholarly. Yet, coverage is limited. Salem provides both free content, and articles in sources that we have bought. ID&PW needed from home.
- Ebsco's ebooks via Power LibraryMany of the Bloom's titles are accessible via Ebsco on Power Library. Only one student can access each ebook at a time, just like a "regular" library book. There are lots of titles available here. You may need to search broadly, i.e., criticism and mystery fiction. Also, we own may of the titles in print format, so be careful not to double dip.
- Victorian WebScholarly articles from the VW for any author from this time period (Bronte, Carroll, Dickens, Doyle, Gaskell, Hardy, Stoker, etc.).
- Shakespeare Resource CenterGood starting point for Bard research.
- Power Library EcardPower Library Resources require access via the free Power Library ecard.
Looking for journal articles?
- SIRS ResearcherSirs is hit or miss on authors, but the authors included in their database are often covered very well. ID&PW needed from home.
- Academic One FileThis is a database with journal articles across disciplines, including the humanities and literature. Use this resource to look for articles within the New York Times, just do an advanced search, choose Publication title, and type in New York Times. For your second line, search on author or title of work.
- Power Library's Academic Search Main EditionAn academic database with journal/magazine/ebook articles. Power Library ecard needed for access out of school.
- Power Library EcardPower Library Resources require access via the free Power Library ecard.
Google scholar
You can always try to locate additional academic articles using Google scholar. However, you are often directed to subscription only databases like our Literature Resource Center, which you can't access without $, or to ebooks that you can buy. You can try searching for your author's papers or special academic projects devoted to the study of your author/work/theme/genre.
Print Resources
British Writers' Supplement by ISBN: 068431312XPublication Date: 2004-09-22- Contemporary Literary Criticism byISBN: 0787610607Publication Date: 1996-12-20
We have a very good print collection of literary criticism resources. Many of these books are reference books which don't circulate, but Mrs. Miller can help you copy/scan them . MANY additional circulating titles are available to you from your class cart and from the stacks. You can also search the Catalog.
Need Help?
Your teachers and librarian are here to help you with this process. However, the following links may also provide you with guidance on researching and writing a literary paper.
- OWL at PurdueA very clear discussion about writing about literature, lots of great hints about developing and supporting your thesis.