LibGuides: * How to Find . . .: Literary Criticism

Databases for Literary Criticism

Literature Criticism Online (Gale) This link opens in a new window
A range of modern and historical views on authors and their works across regions, eras and genres.
Literature Resource Center (Gale) This link opens in a new window
Full-text articles from scholarly journals and literary magazines are combined with critical essays, work and topic overviews, full-text works, biographies, and more to provide a wealth of information on authors, their works, and literary movements.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Full-text critical articles on individual poems, plays, novels, and other works of literature, as well as their authors.
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
Covers literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, etc. Contains current full text scholarly journals which cover these fields and a significant collection of recent scholarly books.

Literary Criticism in Print Books

Although a lot of literary criticism can now be found online, you might occasionally need to use print sources like the ones below.

If you are doing research on an older resource, or something that is not well known, there may not be much online criticism.
If you are doing really in-depth research on a resource, for example a graduate or senior thesis, you can check these print sources to make sure that you have a more complete record of criticism.
If you can only find modern criticism, but are looking for criticism from the time a play or poem came out, these print sources could be a big help.

We have print sources for literary criticism in poetry, drama, literature, and more! The librarians can help you navigate these print books and find what you are looking for.

The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism by Groden, Kreiswirth, & Szeman
Call Number: Ref 1st Floor PN81 .J554 2005
More than 240 entries on critics and theorists, critical schools and movements, and the critical and theoretical innovations of specific countries and historical periods. It also examines developments in other disciplines which have shaped literary theory and criticism.
Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800 by James E. Person
Call Number: Ref 1st Floor PN86 .L53 1984
Each volume profiles 4-8 of the greatest writers and thinkers of the late Middle Ages, Renaissance and Restoration periods. Full-text or excerpted criticism taken from books, magazines, literary reviews, newspapers and scholarly journals.
Humanities Index
Call Number: Ref 1st Floor AI3 .H85X
Publication Date: 1974
Includes critical discussions and interpretations of specific pieces of literature.
Essay and General Literature Index 1933-2009
Call Number: Ref 1st Floor AI3 .E75 1933A
Poetry for Students
Call Number: Ref 1st Floor PN1101 .P64
Publication Date: 1998
Each poem is analyzed in detail and includes criticism, bibliography and biography.
Contemporary American Women Poets by Cucinella
Call Number: Ref 1st Floor PS151 .C665 2002
Entries for 70 poets. Includes biography, major works and themes, critical reception, bibliography, and studies about the entrant.
Afro-American Poets Since 1955 by Trudier Harris-Lopez & Thadious M. Davis
Call Number: Ref 1st Floor PS129 .D5
Publication Date: 1985
Critical discussions, bibliographies, illustrations, and biographies of African-American poets writing after 1955.
Ancient Roman Writers by Ward W. Briggs
Call Number: Ref 1st Floor PS129 .D5
Publication Date: 1999

* How to Find . . .

Find criticism, articles, indexes, and more

Schedule an Appointment

Quick Links

Databases for Literary Criticism

Literary Criticism in Print Books