Literary Criticism Revised

• This guide will help you to find books and articles which analyze works of literature.
• Researching major works of well-known authors may quickly lead to many results. The task will be to narrow the results to writings about your specific research topic.
• Finding criticism on individual poems or short stories, or on works of very recent authors may be more difficult, and require persistance.
• The starting point for literary research is the author's name. Names of international authors may have more than one spelling.
• It might be helpful to note categories, based on what you already know about an author--gender, nationality, time period, genre, and so forth.

• Select the library catalog (on libary Web page: Find...Books, videos, and more).
• Enter author's name in Subject Keyword or Keyword Anywhere search box.
• If desired, try also title of major work, or the word criticism.
• Scan results list for appropriate titles. Click on the title to view detailed book record.
• In detailed record, note location, call number, and status of book.
• For best results, note one or two call numbers, locate the books on the shelf, then browse the adjoining books to find similar books.
• Consult the book table of contents and index to see if your work or theme is discussed.

• Select Article Databases (under Find... on library Web page).
• Select Literature to find list of databases most useful for literary research.
• Database search terms:
  1. Author's name
  2. Title of work
  3. Sometimes useful: name of character or theme.
• Starting your search in Literature Resource Center will enable you to search that database and the MLA International Bibliography at the same time.

If you need additional help, please feel free to contact a librarian during open hours.

Or call us at: 281-618-5707. Our email is [email protected]