Subject Research Guides   University of West Florida Libraries

Literary Criticism

Excerpts of Critical Analysis & Interpretations Genre Specific Criticism Drama Novel Poetry Short Story

Literary Annuals Periodical Indexes and Databases Biographical Sources Literary Dictionaries, Guides, & Handbooks Style Manuals & Guides Internet Sources

This guide identifies reference sources in literary criticism. To find books that provide critical interpretations, search the UWF Library Catalog. A common search strategy is to do a Subject search and enter the name of an author (with their last name before first name) or title of a work. Subject searches by author's last name yield biographical, bibliographical, and critical information on the author and the works.

Some subjects will have a subdivision of books that are bibliographies ("--bibliography"). Bibliographies are key to finding books and articles written about an author or literary work. Another useful subdivision is "--criticism and interpretation".

Excerpts of Critical Analysis & Interpretations

These reference series provide literary, biographical and bibliographical information on a particular author or work. Excerpts of major works, books, journal articles and book reviews provide critical summaries and analyses. Search the UWF Library Catalog to locate these works in their entireties.

Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800. (Ref. PN 86 L53)

Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism (NLC). (Ref. PN 761 N5)

Twentieth Century Literary Criticism (TCLC). (Ref. PN 94 T84)

Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC). (Ref. PN 771 C59) and Literature Resource Center. (InfoTrac)

Cumulative author indexes for all the above series are included in the most recent volume of each series. The current volume also contains a title index for that series only.

Other critical excerpts are contained in:

Contemporary Authors. (Ref. PN 771 C585).

See also Contemporary Authors New Revision Series. (Ref. PN 771 C5852) and Literature Resource Center. (InfoTrac)

The Critical Perspective. 1985. (Ref. PR 85 C76 1985)

Dictionary of Literary Biography Yearbook. (Ref. PS 129 D54)

See cumulative author and title index located in the most current DLB Yearbook at the Reference Desk. A list of call numbers for individual volumes is also available. See also: Literature Resource Center. (InfoTrac).

The New Moulton's Library of Literary Criticism. 1985. (Ref. PR 85 N39 1985)

Twentieth Century British Literature. 1985. (Ref. PR 473 T84 1985)

Twentieth Century American Literature. 1985. (Ref. PS 221 T834 1985)

See also:

Literary Criticism Index. 1984.(Ref. Desk PN 523 W4 1984) & FWB

This volume serves as an index to numerous bibliographies and checklists which contain literary criticism.

American Writers. 1974. (Ref. PS 129 A55)

Articles on Twentieth Century Literature. 1973-80. (Ref. Z 6519 P66)

British Writers. 1979. (Ref. PR 85 B688)

Magill's Bibliography of Literary Criticism. 1979. (Ref. Z 6511 M25)

Reference Guide to American Literature. 1994. (Ref. PS 129 R44 1994)

Genre Specific Criticism

Drama

American Drama to 1900. 1980. (Ref. PS 345 M4)

Contemporary Dramatists. 1988. (Ref. PR 737 C57 1988) & FWB

Critical Survey of Drama. 1985. (Ref. PR 623 C75 1985)& FWB

English Drama and Theatre 1800-1900. 1978. (Ref. PR 721 C72)

English Drama to 1660. 1976. (Ref. Z 2014 D7 P46)

A Guide to Critical Reviews (Ref. PN 2266 S25) & FWB

Shakespearean Criticism. 1984- (Ref. PR 2965 S43)

Genre Specific Criticism — Novel

The Continental Novel 1900-1966. 1968. (Ref. PN 3451 K37)

The Continental Novel 1967-1980. 1983. (Ref. PN 3451 F55) & FWB

Critical Survey of Long Fiction. 1983, & 1987 Suppl (Ref. PN 3451 C7) & FWB

English Novel Before Richardson. 1971. (Ref. Z 2014 F4 B65)

English Novel Explication. 1985 (Suppl. I-V) (Ref. PR 821 P26) & FWB

The English Novel: Twentieth Century Criticism. 1982. (Ref. PR 821 E48) & FWB

Genre Specific Criticism — Poetry

American and British Poetry: A Guide to the Criticism, 1925-1978. 1984. (Ref. PS 303 A47 1984) & FWB

Critical Survey of Poetry: English Language Series. 1982. (Ref. PN 1111 C7) & FWB

Critical Survey of Poetry: Foreign Language Series. 1984.+Suppl. (Ref. PN 1021 C7 1984)

Epic and Romance Criticism, 1940-1973. 1974. (Ref. Z 7156 E6 C64)

Guide to American Poetry Explication. 1989. (Ref. PS 208 G8 1989) & FWB

Guide to British Poetry Explication. 1991. (Ref. PR 311 M3 1991)

Index to Criticisms of British and American Poetry. 1973. (Ref. PR 89 C5) & FWB

Poetry Criticism. 1991- (Ref. PN 1010 P499) & FWB

Poetry Explication. 1980. (Ref. Desk PR 502 K85) & FWB

Genre Specific Criticism — Short Story

American Short-Fiction Criticism and Scholarship, 1959-1977. 1982. (Ref. PS 374 S5 W38) & FWB

"Annual Bibliography" in Studies in Short Fiction. Summer 1966/67- PER PN 3311 S8 Short Fiction Criticism. 1960. (Ref. PS 374 S5 T5)

Short Story Criticism. 1988- (Ref. PN 3373 S386) & FWB

Twentieth Century Short Story Explication. 1992. + Suppl. (Ref. PN 3373 W3 1992) & FWB

Literary Annuals

Abstracts of English Studies. 1958-1991. (Ref. PE 1 A2)

American Literary Scholarship. 1963-1972, 1974-1995. (PS 3 A4)

Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literarure. 1966-1968, 1974-1979. (Ref. Z 2011 M69)

Years Work in English Studies. 1919/20-1994. (PE 58 E6)

Periodical Indexes and Databases

Arts & Humanities Search. 1980- (FirstSearch)

British Humanities Index. 1962-1991 (Ref. AI 3 B7)

Dissertations & Theses. 1861- (ProQuest)

Essay & General Literature Index. 1900-1984. (Ref. AI 3 E752) & FWB
Essay & General Literature Index. 1985- (WilsonWeb)

Expanded Academic Index ASAP. 1980- (InfoTrac)

FRANCIS (Humanities & Social Sciences). 1984- (Eureka)

Humanities Index. 1974-1983 (Ref. AI 3 H85) & FWB
Humanities Full Text. 1984- (WilsonWeb)

Literature Resource Center. (InfoTrac)

Search by author, then refer to the tab "Literary Criticism, Articles & Work Overviews"

MLA International Bibliography. 1921-1962. (Ref. P 1 M6)
MLA International Bibliography. 1963- (InfoTrac)

New York Times Index. 1851- (Ref. AI 21 N45) & Emerald Coast Campus Library

New York Times Historical Archive. 1851 - 2 Years Prior to Current Year. (Proquest)

Wilson OmniFile Full Text. 1994- (WilsonWeb)

Biographical Sources

Biography & Genealogy Master Index. (InfoTrac)

Biography Index. 1984- (WilsonWeb)

Biography Resource Center. (InfoTrac)

See also the bio-critical sources listed above: Contemporary Authors and the Dictionary of Literary Biography Literature Resource Center. (InfoTrac)

Literary Dictionaries, Guides & Handbooks

Companion to Literary Myths, Heroes, and Archetypes. 1992. (Ref. PN 56 M95 D4813 1992)

The Dictionary of Feminist Theory. 1995. (Ref. HQ 1115 H86 1995)

A Dictionary of Literary Symbols. 1999. (Ref. PN 56.S9 F47 1999 & FWB)

Dictionary of Literary Themes and Motifs. 1988. (Ref. PN 43 D48 1988)

Dictionary of Modern Critical Terms. 1987. (Ref. PN 41 D4794 1987)

Glossary of Literary Theory

http://www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/glossary/headerindex.html

Handbook of Literary Research. 1995. (Ref. PR 56 M54 1995)

A Handbook to Literarure. 1996. (Ref. PN 41 H355 1996)

Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism. 1994. (Ref. PN 81 J5 1994)

Literary Research Guide: An Annotated Listing of ReferenceSources in English Literary Studies. 1998. (Ref. PR 83 H35 1998)

A Multicultural Dictionary of Literary Terms. 1999. (Ref. PN 41 C28 1999)

Oxford English Dictionary. 1989. (Ref PE 1625 087 1989)
Oxford English Dictionary. (Oxford University)

A Reference Guide For English Studies 1990. (Ref. PR 56 M37 1990)

Twentieth-Century Literary Movements Dictionary. 2000. (Ref. PN 597 T94 2000)

Style Manuals & Guides

MLA Citation Style, by Long Island University B. David Schwartz Memorial Library
http://www.liunet.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citmla.htm

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 2003. (Ref. Desk LB 2369 G53 2003) & Emerald Coast Campus Library.

MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. 1998. (Ref. PN 147 G444 1998) & Emerald Coast Campus Library.

Internet Sources

Created by L. Brosnihan.
Updates and Revisions by Kristy Padron, English Literature Librarian
University Of West Florida Libraries
Date Last Updated: April 2007