Books and Ebooks
Find books and ebooks about an author, work or theme. The library has a great collection of print resources. The information you need cannot all be found online.
Databases for Literary Criticism
- Gale Literature This link opens in a new windowResearch authors and their works, literary movements and genres. Search across Gale's Literature databases to find full text of literary works, journal articles, literature criticism, reviews, biographical information and overviews. Includes content from Gale's Literature Resource Center, Twayne's Authors, LitFinder, and Gale Virtual Reference Library.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR provides access to more than 12 million journal articles, books, images, and primary sources in 75 disciplines. An excellent source to find peer-reviewed, academic articles.
- Humanities Source This link opens in a new windowThe collection includes full text for more than 1,400 journals, with citations to over 3.5 million articles, including book reviews. Provides full text—plus abstracts and bibliographic indexing—for scholarly sources in the humanities, including feature articles, interviews, obituaries, bibliographies, original works of fiction, drama and poetry, book reviews, and reviews of ballets, dance programs, motion pictures, musicals, operas, plays, radio and television programs.
Reference Ebooks
Use the following reference works to develop a historical and cultural context for a particular work of literature or theme. You can search the full text of each title from its landing page.
American History Through Literature, 1870-1920Publication Date: 2006A unique overview of the period following the Civil War through the emergence of the United States as a world power at the end of World War I. Subjects include: political topics (Reform, Women's Suffrage); ideas in context (Scientific Materialism, Darwinism); values (Assimilation, Success); society (Labor, Mass Marketing); genres (Science Fiction, War Writing); popular entertainment (Baseball, Boxing); publishing (Scribner's Magazine); works of literature and nonfiction ("Billy Budd," "The Theory of the Leisure Class"); and much more.
The Oxford Companion to American Literature by ISBN: 9780195065480Publication Date: 2004For more than half a century, James D. Hart's The Oxford Companion to American Literature has been an unparalleled guide to America's literary culture, providing one of the finest resources to this country's rich history of great writers. Now this acclaimed work has been completely revised and updated to reflect current developments in the world of American letters. With over 5,000 total entries, The Oxford Companion to American Literature reflects a dynamic balance between past and contemporary literature, surveying virtually every aspect of our national literature, from the Pulitzer Prize to pulp fiction, and from Walt Whitman to William F. Buckley, Jr. There are over 2,000 biographical profiles of important American authors (with information regarding their styles, subjects, and major works) and influential foreign writers as well as other figures who have been important in the nation's social and cultural history. There are more than 1,100 full summaries of important American novels, stories, essays, poems (with verse form noted), plays, biographies and autobiographies, tracts, narratives, and histories. The new edition provides historical background and astute commentary on literary schools and movements, literary awards, magazines, newspapers, and a wide variety of other matters directly related to writing in America. Finally, the book is thoroughly cross-referenced and features an extensive and fully updated index of literary and social history.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature by Publication Date: 2004This set treats the whole of American literature, from the European discovery of America to the present, with entries in alphabetical order. Well-known critics and scholars provide clear and vividly written essays that reflect the latest scholarship on a given topic, as well as original thinking on the part of the critic. At the core of the encyclopedia lie 250 essays on poets, playwrights, essayists, and novelists. A second key element of the project is the critical assessments of major American masterworks, such as Moby-Dick, Song of Myself, Walden, The Great Gatsby, The Waste Land, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Death of a Salesman, or Beloved. The final major element of this encyclopedia consists of fifty-odd essays on literary movements, periods, or themes, pulling together a broad range of information and making interesting connections.
Summary v. Critique
Critical analysis of a work of literature is not the same as a summary. A summary gives an overview of the setting, plot, characters and major themes. Critical analysis is the author's interpretation of how those elements work together toward creating meaning in the literary work.
You will find both summaries and critiques in the library's literature databases. Use the summaries to help you get your thoughts in order. However, you should not be citing summaries in a research paper.
When writing your own analysis, imagine you are writing for someone who has already read the work of literature. You do not need to retell major plot points. Instead, you are explaining how different pieces work together to support your thesis or interpretation.
- Summary v. Analysis from University of Arizona Global CampusAdvice for how to write an analysis. For more information, take the tutorial.
- How to Write a Literary Analysis Essayfrom Bucks County Community College in PA
Need more writing help?
The Literacy Lab offers writing tutoring for all subjects on a drop-in basis, both in person and virtually (by request). Our professional and peer tutors are available to assist students with a variety of writing assignments, including essays, research, lab reports, and more. Space and computers are also available for independent work.
Location: Vanderlyn 208 & 210
For hours and more information go to the SUNY Ulster portal or email literacylab@sunyulster.edu.