Website Directory Foundation Contacts About Capital Library Home Page

Literary and Poetry Criticism

The library has numerous sources which lead to critical evaluation of a work, including biographical material on the author, background on the writer's thoughts, reviews of books and literary criticism. Listed below are various suggestions.

Library Catalog: Look in the on-line catalog under the author's name and/or title of work for information about the author and/or interpretations of his/her work.

Online Reference

Selected Reference Sources

Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Criticism, Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism, Twentieth Century Literature Criticism, Poetry Criticism: Biographical Data and criticism of the works of novelists, poets, playwrights, and short story writers. Subject access by both author and title. Latest volume contains cumulative index to all volumes.

Gale Literary Index provides an online index to the above resources.

Library Databases


MasterFile Elite
Provides full text for nearly 1,200 periodicals covering nearly all subjects including general reference, business, health, and much more.

General Reference Center Gold
Multi-source general interest reference tool.

Expanded Academic
Periodicals covering all academic concentrations.

Encyclopedia Britannica Online
Accesses the complete encyclopedia, the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, and the Britannica Book of the Year. Includes 130,000 links to web sites selected, rated, and reviewed by Britannica editors.

The Internet

There is a great deal of information about poets and literature on the Internet. Try searching for a specific poet or poem by author or title or by a combination of both. "Emily Dickinson" or "Emily Dickinson and 214". Try searching Google

Look at the Internet Public Library's Online Literary Criticism Collection containing over 1400 critical and biographical websites about authors and their works, as well as links to related sites.

Search for biographical information at Find a Poet.
http://www.poets.org/LIT/findfst.htm

Search under "Poetry" on yahoo.com

Biography.com

Amazon.com
Contains book reviews by both book critics and customers.

SparkNotes.com
Contains study guides written by Harvard students and graduates who specialize in the subjects they cover.

Critical Reading: A Guide includes what to look for in analyzing poetry
http://www.brocku.ca/english/jlye/criticalreading.html

Selected Biographical Sources for Background on Authors

Current Biography Ref. CT100 C8
African American Writers Ref. PS153 N5 A344
American Women Writers Ref. PS147 A4
American Writers Ref. PS129 A55
Modern American Women Writers Ref. PS151 M54
Encyclopedia of World Biography Ref. CT103 M27
Dictionary of American Biography Ref. E176 D563
Notable Black American Women Ref. E185.96 N68
Black Women in America Ref. E185.86 B542
Ancient Writers: Greece and Rome Ref. PA3002.A5
Norton's Anthology of English Literature Ref. PR1109.A2 1979