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Composition and Literary Studies (English): Journal Articles & Literary Criticism

How to access quality information about English Literature and literary criticism, including books, periodical articles, and web sites. Research help, writing & grammar, and writing & citation help are covered.

How to Search for Literary Criticism

Books, eBooks, and print and electronic reference sources tend to be the most useful sources for literary criticism. Books of criticism may focus on an author's entire work or on a specific work and will usually be more in-depth. Reference sources, like encyclopedias, usually give an overview of an author and then often cover specific works. If you're not familiar with an author or a title, a reference source is a good place to start.

Articles tend to cover very specific aspects of criticism, so you might want to go to them last,  after you have an overview from reference sources.

Not sure where to start?  Try the guide to ACC library literary criticism resources.

Featured Resource

 Bloom’s Literature has a new section for students “How to Write about Literature”

This feature offers tips when writing about literature.

Click here (PDF) for an overview of Bloom’s Literature.

Journal Article Databases and Electronic Reference Resources

Here, I list the most useful databases for research on Literary Studies (or see a complete list of ACC Library Databases).

These databases below are multi-subject, meaning they cover an array of subjects; these are useful for literary research too! 

Need some ideas for topics for your research? Try these databases below!


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