Library: ENGL 20201 Literary Interpretation: Home

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Subjects: Digital Initiatives, Digital Scholarship, English & Linguistics, Women & Gender Studies

Dictionaries, Encylopedias and Handbooks

The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms by Chris Baldick
ISBN: 0-19-104407-5
Publication Date: 2015
The bestselling Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms provides clear and concise definitions of the most troublesome literary terms, from abjection to zeugma. It is an essential reference tool for students of literature in any language. Now expanded and in its fourth edition, it includes increased coverage of new terms from modern critical and theoretical movements, such as feminism, schools of American poetry, Spanish verse forms, life writing, and crime fiction.
A Glossary of Literary Terms by M. H. Abrams; Geoffrey Harpham
Call Number: PN41 .A184 2012
ISBN: 0495898023
Publication Date: 2011
First published fifty years ago, A GLOSSARY OF LITERARY TERMS remains an essential text for all serious students of literature. Now fully updated to reflect the latest scholarship on recent and rapidly evolving critical theories, the tenth edition contains a complete glossary of essential literary terms presented as a series of engaging essays that explore the terms, place them in context, and suggest related entries and additional reading. This indispensable, authoritative, and highly affordable reference covers terms useful in discussing literature and literary history, theory, and criticism. Perfect as a core text for introductory literary theory or as a supplement to any literature course, this classic work is an invaluable reference that students can continue to use throughout their academic and professional careers.
A Handbook to Literature by William Harmon
Call Number: PN41.H355 2012
ISBN: 0205024017
Publication Date: 2010
The definitive reference on literature in English, this handbook provides an alphabetical listing of more than 2,000 important terms and facts in literature, linguistics, rhetoric, criticism, printing, bookselling, and information technology. The Web site (www.prenhall.com/harmon) offers a handy glossary of key terms, a pronunciation key for select terms, pre- and post-tests on the terms, flash cards for key terms, and a literary timeline.
The Oxford encyclopedia of American literature by Parini, Jay
ISBN: 0195307720
Publication Date: 2004
This encyclopedia surveys the vibrant terrain of American literature in 350 essays from leading scholars, encompassing the range and depth of American literary history from the 1600s to the present day. It includes essays on poets, playwrights, essayists, and novelists, as well as major works and essays on literary movements, periods, and themes. Articles offer historical perspective and social context along with a range of possibilities with regard to critical approach.
The Oxford encyclopedia of British literature by David Scott Kastan
ISBN: 0195307445
Publication Date: 2006
This source covers the entire history of literature in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland in the major literary languages (Anglo-Saxon, English, Welsh, Scots, Irish, and Latin). It includes substantial accounts of individual authors (e.g., Spenser, Pope, Austen) and detailed histories of particular themes, movements, genres, and institutions, whose impact upon the writing or the reading of literature was significant.

Oxford English Dictionary (OED) This link opens in a new window
The OED Online traces word usage from first recorded appearance to the present, offering examples from recognizable sources, presenting etymological analysis, variant spellings, and pronunciations in International Phonetic Alphabet, and providing authoritative definitions for more than 500,000 words.

Finding Books

Use Library Search to find books, periodicals (scholarly journals, popular magazines, newspapers, and other serials), or other library materials such as music CDs, electronic resources, and videos. Books, printed periodicals, and other library materials are shelved in call number order.

A-N = 3rd Floor | P-Z = 4th Floor | Reference = 1st Floor

Looking for something not in Library Search? Try Worldcat linked below.

When you do not find enough information via the library catalog, try using the WorldCat catalog. WorldCat is a worldwide library catalog containing records from most academic and larger public libraries worldwide. You can use the "Request Item through Document Delivery" button to order materials that are not available at the Purdue Fort Wayne library.

WorldCat This link opens in a new window
Provides access to the OCLC database with more than 1 billion bibliographic records for materials in all formats held by libraries in the U.S. and around the world.
FirstSearch: WorldCat Advanced Search (See also WorldCat Advanced Search: FirstSearch) This link opens in a new window
Access WorldCat with the FirstSearch interface. Use the FindIt link to request books and other materials from over 7,000 libraries.

General Databases

Choice Reviews Online This link opens in a new window
Online version of the print magazine CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries that reviews books & electronic sources of interest to academic libraries.
New York Times with Index (1851- 2013) This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text access to the New York Times from its first issue in 1851 through 2013. Browse the newspaper cover to cover or search for articles by topic, date, or article type. Articles and pages are PDFs and appear the same as the print edition. Supplements, including the New York Times Book Review and New York Times Magazine are also included.
New York Times (1980-present) This link opens in a new window
Full-text access to the New York Times from 1980 to present. Browse the newspaper cover to cover and search for articles by topic, date, or article type. Articles are plain text only with no images. Supplements, including the New York Times Book Review (1997-present) and New York Times Magazine (1997-present) are also present.

Online Scholarly References

MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Produced by the Modern Language Association, this international resource contains bibliographic references (without abstracts) to articles in more than 4,000 journals as well as books, book chapters, proceedings, and dissertations in the fields of literature, modern languages, folklore, and linguistics.

Literary Research Guide
LRG was an annotated guide to selected reference sources essential to the study of British and U.S. literatures and other literatures in English. It was discontinued in December 2017. This version of the Guide is based on the sixth edition, published by the Modern Language Association in 2014.
American Literary Scholarship
Contains bibliographic essays surveying the years's literary criticism of major American authors and time periods. Covers books, essay collections, festschriften and journal articles. The online version contains years 1998 through the most recent. Printed volumes for earlier years can be found in our Reference Collection at PS3 .A47.

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR is a searchable full-text collection of the complete backfiles of more than 1500 important scholarly journals and contains many primary sources.
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
Offers over 400 journal titles from 100 scholarly publishers covering the fields of literature and criticism, history, visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, economics, and others.
Periodicals Index Online This link opens in a new window
Indexes articles and book reviews in more than 2,000 scholarly journals in the humanities and social sciences, from their first issues (the earliest is 1665) through 1995. The scope is international, with journals in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and other Western languages.
Periodicals Archive Online (PAO) This link opens in a new window
Includes the full-text of periodicals in the humanities and social sciences from 1665 through 1995. It is international in scope with the inclusion of more than 60 foreign-language titles.
Humanities Full Text (H.W. Wilson) This link opens in a new window
Includes many of the most important academic journals in the humanities with the full text of articles from over 300 periodicals dating back to 1995, and high-quality indexing for almost 700 journals—of which 470 are peer-reviewed—dating as far back as 1984. The database provides coverage of feature articles, interviews, bibliographies, obituaries, and original works of fiction, drama, poetry and book reviews, as well as reviews of ballets, dance programs, motion pictures, musicals, radio and television programs, plays, operas, and more.

Style Guides

Recommended style guides for this course are the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers and the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, both published by the Modern Language Association. The most recent printed editions of these guides are located at the Service Desk in the Library and may be checked out for two hours for in-library use only. Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL) has created helpful online guides to MLA style:

Purdue OWL: MLA Formatting and Style Guide

When a Resource is Not Available in the Library

Many of the above databases allow you immediate access to electronic copies of journal articles via PDF links or through the FIND IT link to the full text. You may also request items needed for your research that are not available at Helmke Library through Document Delivery Services (DDS). DDS provides books and electronic copies of journal and other periodical articles from other library collections.

And Finally, Ask Your Subject Librarian