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Subject Guide: Literary Criticism

Books

Gale Literary Criticism Series
Search the online Gale Literary Index to find out which volumes contain information on your author or title.

  • Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism (REF PN610.653)
  • Contemporary Literary Criticism (REF PN771.C59)
  • Literature Criticism from 1400-1800 (REF PN86.L53)
  • Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism (REF PN761.N56)
  • Twentieth Century Literary Criticism (REF PN771.G27)
  • Shakespearean Criticism (REF PR2965.S43)
  • Short Story Criticism (REF PN3373.S38)

Masterplots Series

  • Masterplots (REF PN44.M33)
  • American Fiction Series (REF PN 846.M37)
  • African American Literature Series (REF PS153.N5M2645)
  • Drama Series (REF PN6112.5.M37)
  • European Fiction Series (REF PN3326.M37)
  • Short Story Series (REF PN3326.M28)
  • World Fiction Series (REF PN 3326.M28)

Other Sources

  • 1300 Critical Evaluations of Selected Novels and Plays (REF PN44.M35)
  • Critical Survey of Long Fiction (REF PN3451.C7)
  • Critical Survey of Short Fiction (REF PN3373.M24)
  • Critical Survey of Poetry (REF PR502.C85)
  • Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century (REF PN774.L433)
  • Modern British Literature (REF PR473.T4)
  • Contemporary Novelists (REF PR881.C69)
  • American Writers (REF PS129.A55)
  • British Writers (REF PR85.B688)
  • European Writers (REF PN50.E9)
  • Cyclopedia of World Authors (REF PN451.M36)
  • World Poets (REF PN1021.W67)
  • Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism (REF PN81.J554)

Search the NOBLE Web Catalog for more print and electronic books owned by McQuade Library. Try these sample subject headings:

Criticism Drama History and Criticism
Poetry History and Criticism Literature History and Criticism
Author's Name, e.g. Frost, Robert (Last name first). Select subheading- Criticism and Interpretation American Literature History and Criticism (Also use other place names)

To find additional related subject headings, scroll down to the bottom of the online catalog record or consult the Library of Congress Subject Headings (a set of red reference books located near the Reference Desk in McQuade Library).

Articles

Selected print indexes in the Reference Room:

  • Book Review Digest [1905 -] (Z1219 .C95 1906) contains book reviews appearing in periodicals; includes brief excerpts from these reviews.
  • Humanities Index [1975 -] (REF AI3 .H85) contains citations to 500 English-language periodicals in the
    areas of archaeology, classical studies, art, performing arts, philosophy, history, music, linguistics, literature, and religion.
  • Reader's Guide To Periodical Literature [1890 -] (REF AI3 .R48) is a subject and author
    index of approximately 200 popular and general interest periodicals.

    Print and Electronic Periodicals :
    The library subscribes to a number of journals in print. These are located in the Periodicals Room on the second floor of the library. There are also many full-text electronic journals available in the library's online databases. For a complete list of the library's periodicals holdings in both formats, go to Journal Finder. Here, you can search by title or subject for all print and full-text electronic periodical holdings.

    You can search for a particular periodical by title in the McQuade Library Catalog.

Selected journals, magazines, and newspapers on the Web:

Search these databases to find articles. When accessing databases from off-campus enter the 13-digit number on the back of your Merrimack ID.

  • Contemporary Literary Criticism--Select (via INFOTRAC) contains critical essays on contemporary authors currently living or who died after 1960.

  • Expanded Academic ASAP (via INFOTRAC) provides citations and some full text on a variety of subjects including literary criticism. Do a subject search for your author, then select the narrower subdivision criticism, interpretation, etc.

  • Biography Resource Center with the Complete Marquis Who's Who (via INFOTRAC) search for people based on one or more personal facts such as birth and death year, nationality, ethnicity, occupation or gender, or combine criteria to create a highly-targeted custom search. Biography Resource Center also includes full-text articles from hundreds of periodicals. Contemporary Authors, which is included in this database, contains profiles of contemporary writers worldwide.

  • Academic Search Premier (via EBSCOhost) provides citations and some full text on a variety of subjects including literary criticism. Choose subject search from the toolbar at the top of the screen. Enter you author's name, e.g. King, Stephen.

  • Literature Resource Center provides access to bibliographies, biographies and critical analysis of authors from every age and literary discipline.

  • MLA International Bibliography is a bibliographic database covering the subjects of language, literature, linguistics, and folklore.

  • LexisNexis Academic database contains full-text reviews from major newspapers and Kirkus reviews are included under News>Arts & Sports News.

Web Sites

General Guides

Topics in Literary Criticism

Local Resources

Professional Organizations

Online Tutorials