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Literary Criticism Overview: Home

This guide highlights useful information sources for students writing literary criticism.

Your English teacher has told you that you must pick a work of literature, find literary criticism about it, and then write a paper summarizing your research. He wants you to set the literary work in its context, meaning you need to say something about the author, her life, and why she wrote that particular literary work.

How do you get started? Where do you find this stuff? This guide will help you get going!

 

Choosing a Topic

Tips which will make things go smoother for you as you begin the process.

Finding Books

Search for books containing information on an author and particular works of literature.

 

Finding Online Material

Find biographical information about an author, as well as plot summaries, overviews, and some basic critical materials about the literary work you have chosen.

Citing Your Sources

Get help with your in-text citations and works cited list.


This guide is a great place to start finding literary criticism, but your campus librarian might have created a guide for a particuar instructor which could be helpful, too! Check below.