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ENGL102: Literature and Literary Criticism

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What You Need To Do First

1) Read Your Work of Literature

Your best understanding of your work comes from your own reading and thinking
Critical sources are intended to assist your own analysis.
You will also be able to use critical sources much more effectively after you have acquired personal knowledge of the work.

2) Identify Your Search Terms

Usually when doing Literature Research the best (but not the only) search terms to use are:

Title of the work
Author’s name
Other works by the author
Literary movements and theories may also yield good search results depending on your topic and assignment.

Find Background and Overviews of Your Work

Find biographical and critical information on most authors, subjects, and works of literature in these databases.

Gale Virtual Reference Library: Literature Collection
Search Gale's literature encyclopedias and series. Includes plot synopses, literary criticism, author biographies, and more. Make sure to use the search box titled "Search within Collection" in the upper left of the screen.

Gale Virtual Reference Library This link opens in a new window
Search all of the encyclopedias available, not just those specific to Literature.

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