Research Guides
Literary Research: Home
Literary Theory and Criticism
Literary Research Guide
When doing literary research, you are often employing literary criticism and theory and taking part in a written discourse with other scholars. This Literary Research Guide is meant to help you understand and find literary criticism and theory (secondary sources) as well as to seek out and identify scholarly conversations that you want to take part in.
For help finding works of literature (primary texts such as novels, short stories or poetry), use the Literature guide.
Starting Points
- Gale Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window
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Comprehensive database of poetry, drama and prose, literature journals, author biographies, topic overviews, and critical essays. - MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
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The most comprehensive source for scholarship in literature, language, linguistics, and folklore. - Literature Online This link opens in a new window
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Comprehensive database emphasizing English and American poetry, drama and prose, literature journals, author biographies, and critical essays.
UW Libraries Search
See the eBook FAQ for directions to limit your search to ebooks only.
- By Topic - Type in the keywords that broadly describe your topic. For example: asian american fiction anthology
- By Title - Type in the first few words of the book title in quotations. For example: "house on mango street"
- By Author - Type in the last name followed by the first name of the author in quotations. For example: "wheatley phillis"
Literature Guides
- American Literature
- British Literature
- Children's Literature
- Commonwealth Literatures
- Comparative Literature
- Drama
- English
- Folklore & Mythology
- French Studies
- German Studies
- Italian Studies
- North Korean Literature
- Portuguese Studies
- Scandinavian Studies
- Slavic Languages and Literatures
- Spanish Studies