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Literature Pathfinders

 

| Literary Criticisms | Poetry | Shakespeare Corner | Classical Mythology |

Literary Criticisms

The following are reference tools you will find useful in any literary research. Choose the ones that make the most sense for your particular research problem and examine their tables of contents and indexes. 

bulletWhy is literary criticism worth studying?  Read this article by Steven Hale, Georgia Perimeter College.
bulletWhy analyze literature?  Read this article by Professor John Lye, Brock University, for tips and rationale.
bulletSpringfield Township High School's handout on What is Literary Criticism?

Books

Look for volumes of the Understanding Series, which deals with specific major titles, around the reference area in the numbers 810, 812, 813

Characters in Literature

bulletR 809.3 Gil Characters in Young Adult Literature
bulletR 809.927 Har Characters in 20th Century Literature
bulletR 809.927 How Characters in 19th Century Literature
bulletR 920.02 Nic People in Books

Resources for Shakespeare

bulletR 822.3 McL Shakespeare’s Characters
bulletR 822.3 Sha Shakespeare for Students
bulletR 822.3 Sha Shakespeare’s Characters for Students
bulletR 822.33 Shakespeare Criticism

See our Shakespeare Links

Databases

Databases rock for Literary Criticism and Literary Biography!

bullet Student Resource Center Gold
bullet netLibrary (ACCESS PA) offers access to hundreds of e-books containing critical essays!
bullet NoveList in the ACCESS PA POWER LIBRARY

Using these databases at home?  Get the password list from Ms. Korn

Websites

Literary Criticism on the free Web (Remember to evaluate these resources!)

bullet*Literary Criticism Collection (Internet Public Library) http://www.ipl.org/ref/litcrit/
bulletLiterary History http://www.literaryhistory.com An index to free articles on English and American literature, mixed bag of scholarly and popular
bulletLiterature and Literary Criticism http://www.stcc.cc.tx.us/main/litsearch.html
bulletLiterary Index http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/english/flackcj/LitIndex.html
bulletLiterary Resources on the Net http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Lit/
bulletLitLinks http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/litlinks/
bulletPAL: Perspectives in American Literature--A Research and Reference Guide http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/table.html
bulletAmerican Collection http://www.ncteamericancollection.org/americanwritinggateway.htm
bulletLiterary Movements http://www.gonzaga.edu/faculty/campbell/enl311/litfram.html
bulletSchoolWork.org Literary Criticism and Biography http://www.schoolwork.org/books.html

Book Review Web Sites

bulletNew York Times Books  http://www.nytimes.com/books/ (Sign up for a free subscription or use the library user name: sthslib password: 12345)
bullet

New York Times Historical http://hn.bigchalk.com/hnweb/hn/do/search

bullet

Amazon.com Book Search (External Reviews) http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/catalog-searching.html 

bullet

Book Index with Reviews (in ACCESS PA)

bullet

NoveList in the ACCESS PA POWER LIBRARY

bulletBarnes and Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com
bulletBooklist http://www.ala.org/booklist/
bulletBookspot http://bookspot.com
bulletClassic Review Index http://www.TheAtlantic.com/atlantic/atlweb/classrev/crindex.htm
bulletEnglish Server Fiction: Criticism http://eserver.org/fiction/crit.html
bulletGreat Books Index http://books.mirror.org/gb.home.html
bulletInternet Resources in English Language and Literature http://www-lib.haifa.ac.il/www/subj/english/englit.html
bulletNew York Review of Books http://www.nybooks.com/nyrev/index.html
bulletWashington Post: Chapter One http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/books/features/chapone.htm

For online text and author biography see:

Rivendell's American Literature http://www.watson.org/rivendell/literatureamerican.html,

Giacobazzi's American Literature Resources http://www.kirtland.cc.mi.us/honors/amlit/newamlit2.htm,

Brief Timeline of American Literature http://www.gonzaga.edu/faculty/campbell/enl311/1910.htm

Movie Reviews

bulletInternet Movie Database http://us.imdb.com/search  (Click on external reviews)
bulletMovie Review Query Engine http://www.mrqe.com/
bulletNew York Times Movie Reviews http://www.nytimes.com/pages/movies/
bulletOnline Film Critics' Society http://www.ofcs.org/
bulletCritics.com http://www.critics.com/
bulletMetaCritic http://www.metacritic.com/

  All Things Poetic

| Poetry tools | Free web poetry | Lyrics |

You can find many poetry anthologies on our shelves.  Try 808.1, 811 (American poetry), and 821 (English poetry).  For other works, visit our Catalog.

We have two major sets of criticism in Reference: Poetry Criticism (R 809.1 Poe) and  Poetry for Students (R 808.1).

Databases:  

bullet Poetry Finder/ LitFinder (in ACCESS PA) for full text poems, explanations, and biographical information about poets. 
(To use this database at home, visit your local public library's web page and enter the barcode number on your library card or get a password from the public library.)

Helpful tools for thinking about poetry

To help you analyze: Critical Reading: Poetry http://www.brocku.ca/english/jlye/criticalreading.html

Glossaries:

bullet

Glossary of Literary Terms: http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/glossary/index.htm

bullet

Handbook of Rhetorical Devices: http://www.virtualsalt.com/rhetoric.htm

bullet

Glossary of Poetic Terms  http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display_rpo/poetterm.cfm

bullet

Glossary of Poetic Terms http://www.poeticbyway.com/glossary2.html

bulletShadow Poetry: Types of Poetry http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/types.html

To help you rhyme: Semantic Rhyming Dictionary http://www.rhymezone.com

Poetry on the Free Web

bullet*Poetry Portal: What is Free Verse Poetry? http://www.poetry-portal.com/styles2.html
bullet*Poet's Corner--Poems http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/poets/poems/index.htm
bullet*Poetry 180: A Poem a Day For American High Schools http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/
bullet*Poet's Corner http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/
bullet*Bartleby Verse: American & English Poetry: 1250–1920 http://www.bartleby.com/verse/
bullet*Favorite Poem Project http://www.favoritepoem.org/
bullet*Academy of American Poets http://www.poets.org/poets/index.cfm
bullet*BBC Online: Poetry http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/poetry/outloud/index.shtml
bullet Poetry Archive http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/home.do
 
bullet*British Poetry 1780-1910: a Hypertext Archive of Scholarly Editions http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/britpo.html
bullet*Poetry on the Internet http://www.humbul.ac.uk/topics/poetry.html
 
bullet*Aha! Poetry http://www.ahapoetry.com/
bulletAmerican Verse Project http://www.hti.umich.edu/a/amverse/
bullet*Atlantic Unbound Poetry Pages http://www.theatlantic.com/atlantic/atlweb/poetry/poetpage.htm
bulletFree Verse (examples) http://english.chass.ncsu.edu/freeverse/Pages/Poetry.htm
bulletAbout.com Poetry Home Page http://poetry.about.com/
bulletAbout.com 20th Century Poetry http://poetry.about.com/cs/20thcenturypoets/
bullet*Electronic Poetry Center http://wings.buffalo.edu/epc/
bullet*Representative Poetry Online http://www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/rp/intro.html
bullet*Poetry Archive http://www.emule.com/poetry/
bulletFooling with Words with Bill Moyers http://www.pbs.org/wnet/foolingwithwords/
bullet*Internet Poetry Archive http://metalab.unc.edu/ipa/
bulletLost Poets of the Great War http://www.emory.edu/ENGLISH/LostPoets/ThePoets.html
bullet*Modern American Poetry: A Multimedia Companion to Anthology of Modern American Poetry
bullet http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/  
bullet*Modern & Contemporary American Poetry http://www.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/home.html
bulletOnline News Hour: Poems http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/poems/poems.html
bulletPoetry and Prose of the Harlem Renaissance http://www.nku.edu/~diesmanj/poetryindex.html
bullet*Poetry Daily http://www.poems.com
bulletPoetry Magic http://www.poetrymagic.co.uk/
bulletPoetry Portal http://www.poetry-portal.com/
bulletPoetry Previews http://www.poetrypreviews.com/
bulletPoetry Society of America http://www.poetrysociety.org/
bulletRomantic Circles - http://www.rc.umd.edu/
bullet*Sonnet Central - http://www.sonnets.org/
bullet*United States of Poetry http://www.worldofpoetry.org/usop/index.htm
bullet*World of Poetry http://www.worldofpoetry.org/

Lyrics

bulletGoogle Directory Lyrics http://directory.google.com/Top/Arts/Music/Lyrics/Rock_and_Pop/
bulletLyrics.com http://www.lyrics.com
bulletYahoo! Lyrics http://search.yahoo.com/search/dir?p=lyrics&fr=FP-tab-dir-t&toggle=1&ei=UTF-8

All Things Shakespeare!

| Elizabethan Period | Renaissance and Middle Ages |

Elizabethan Period   

Databases:

bullet Biography Reference Bank (in ACCESS PA)
bulletNetlibrary (ACCESS PA POWER Library)
bulletHistory Reference Center (EBSCOhost)
bullet Grove Music Online (ACCESS PA POWER Library)

General

bulletEuropean History (Multnomah Library--great starting point!) http://www.multcolib.org/homework/eurohist.html
bulletSpartacus Educational http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/
bulletFood Timeline http://www.foodtimeline.org/

 

Renaissance and Middle Ages (general)

| General | Food | Music & Dance | Fashion | Important People | Kings & Queens | Black DeathLiterature & Documents |

General

bulletFor Shakespeare Links http://mciu.org/~spjvweb/shakespeare.html
bullet**Sites on Shakespeare and the Renaissance http://ise.uvic.ca/Annex/ShakSites1.html
bullet**Sixteenth Century Background: Luminarium http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/renaissanceinfo.htm
bulletAlchemy Web Site and Virtual Library http://www.levity.com/alchemy/
bulletBrief History of Falconry http://www.hawk-conservancy.org/histfalc.htm
bulletBritish History http://britannia.com/history/
bulletCastles of Britain http://www.castles-of-britain.com/
bulletCatholic Encyclopedia http://www.knight.org/advent/cathen/cathen.htm
bulletCity Life http://web.uvic.ca/shakespeare/Library/SLT/society/citylifesubj.html
bulletElizabethan England (student site, use for links) http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/schools/springfield/eliz/elizabethanengland.html
bulletElizabethan Heraldry http://www.renaissance.dm.net/heraldry/index.html
bulletElizabethan Life in Britain http://www.britainexpress.com/History/Elizabethan_life.htm
bulletEuropean Middle Ages http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MA/MA.HTM
bulletGrey Company Trebuchet Page (medieval siege engine) http://members.iinet.net.au/~rmine/gctrebs.html
bulletGuide to Medieval and Renaissance Instruments http://www.s-hamilton.k12.ia.us/antiqua/instrumt.html
bulletHistory (Spain) http://www.docuweb.ca/SiSpain/english/history/index.html
bulletHistory of Costume (illustrations) http://www.siue.edu/COSTUMES/COSTUME8_INDEX.HTML
bulletLabyrinth http://labyrinth.georgetown.edu/
bullet*Life in Elizabethan England: Compendium of Common Knowledge (1558-1603) http://renaissance.dm.net/compendium/home.html
bulletLoyalty as an Elizabethan Practice http://www.humanities.ualberta.ca/emls/iemls/conf/texts/grubbs.html
bulletLuminarium: Renaissance http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/
bulletMedieval Child http://historymedren.miningco.com/homework/historymedren/library/weekly/aa100500a.htm
bulletMedieval Warfare http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/MEDTwarfare.htm
bulletLate Middle Ages and Humanism (great links!) http://www.byu.edu/ipt/projects/middleages/index.html
bulletLegends: Swashbucklers and Fops http://www.legends.dm.net/swash/rapier.html
bulletModern History Sourcebooks (Description of Elizabethan England--primary sources on many topics!)
bullet http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1577harrison-england.html
bulletNoble Style http://www.renaissance.dm.net/compendium/25.html
bulletPapal Schism, 100 Years War and the Black Plague http://www.li.suu.edu/library/courses/hum101/papal.htm
bulletPoverty in Elizabethan England http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/monarchs_leaders/poverty_01.shtml
bulletQueen Elizabeth I: Life and Times http://www.elizabethi.org/
bulletRenaissance, the Elizabethan World http://www.renaissance.dm.net/
bulletRenaissance and Baroque Architecture http://www.lib.virginia.edu/dic/colls/arh102/index.html
bulletRenaissance and Rebirth in Europe http://www.learner.org/exhibits/renaissance
bulletRenaissance Image Gallery http://www.english.upenn.edu/~bushnell/english-101/gallery.html
bulletRenaissance Faire: Elizabethan Period History http://www.renfaire.com/History/index.html
bulletRenaissance Forum (e-journal) http://www.hull.ac.uk/Hull/EL_Web/renforum/resource.htm
bulletRenaissance Society http://web.uvic.ca/shakespeare/Library/SLT/society/societysubj.html
bulletRenaissance, the Elizabethan World http://www.renaissance.dm.net/
bulletShakespeare and Renaissance Sites http://web.uvic.ca/shakespeare/Annex/ShakSites1.html
bulletTheatre History on the Web: Elizabethan http://www.videoccasions-nw.com/history/jweliz.html
bulletTower of London (Official Visitor Information) http://www.hrp.org.uk/webcode/tower_home.asp
bulletTower of London Virtual Tour http://www.tower-of-london.com/
bulletTudor England http://englishhistory.net/tudor.html
bulletTudor History http://www.tudorhistory.org/
bulletTrial of the Earls of Essex and Southampton http://www.renaissance.dm.net/trial/index.html
bulletTyburn Tree (public executions) http://www.evergreen.loyola.edu/~cmitchell/
bulletVirtual Renaissance (student site, use for links) http://www.twingroves.district96.k12.il.us/Renaissance/VirtualRen.html
bulletWeb Museum: La Renaissance http://sunsite.unc.edu/wm/paint/glo/renaissance/
bulletWelcome to the Renaissance, the Elizabethan World http://www.renaissance.dm.net/
bulletYe Olde Transporter (Great links!) http://www.twingroves.district96.k12.il.us/Renaissance/GeneralFiles/Transporter.html

Food

bulletMedieval and Renaissance Food Home Page http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/food.html
bulletFood Timeline http://www.foodtimeline.org/
bulletHistorical Dance http://www.historicaldance.com/
bulletFashion, Food, Fun http://www.teacheroz.com/fashion.htm
bulletFood Timeline http://www.foodtimeline.org/

Music and Dance

bullet Grove Music Online
bulletMedieval and Renaissance Instruments http://www.s-hamilton.k12.ia.us/antiqua/instrumt.html
bulletMusic in Tudor England http://tudorhistory.org/topics/music/
bulletRenaissance Dance http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/dihtml/diessay2.html
bulletRenaissance Dance http://www.rendance.org
bulletRenaissance Dance Resources http://users.erols.com/eacain/dance/rendance.html
bulletMusic and Dance of the Period http://www.bcpl.net/~cbladey/guy/html/music.html#main
bulletMorris Dancing http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/jcb/morris-teams.html
bulletDance Lessons http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/sca_dance_steps.html
bulletGale's Arts and Humanities Through the Eras

Fashion

bulletCostumer's Manifesto http://www.costumes.org/
bulletCostume Gallery http://www.costumegallery.com/
bulletElizabethan Costuming Page http://costume.dm.net/
bulletElizabethan Costume http://www.directcon.net/wander/lizcos.htm
bulletFashion, Food, Fun http://www.teacheroz.com/fashion.htm
bulletFashion Era http://www.fashion-era.com
bulletMuseum of Costume http://www.museumofcostume.co.uk
bulletRenFaire Costuming http://www.renfaire.com/Costume/index.html
bulletFashion for Women through the Ages http://womenshistory.about.com/cs/fashion/index.htm
bulletGale's Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion,

Important people

bulletVisit Biography Reference Bank and Biography Resource Center
bulletComplete Works of Christopher Marlowe http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Texts/Marlowe.html
bulletSir Thomas More http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/tmore.htm
bulletSir Thomas More Web Site http://www.apostles.com/thomasmore.html
bulletStory of Sir Thomas More http://www.cin.org/farmor.html
bulletTudor History http://www.tudorhistory.org/

Kings and Queens

bulletVisit Biography Reference Bank and Biography Resource Center
bulletBritish History http://britannia.com/history/
bulletElizabeth I http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/eliza.htm
bulletElizabeth I: Writings and Speeches http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/elizabeth1.html
bulletElizabeth I: Ruler and Legend http://www3.newberry.org/elizabeth/
bulletExecution of Lady Jane Grey (image) http://sunsite.auc.dk/cgfa/d/delaroc1.jpg
bulletLady Jane http://www.britannia.com/history/ladyjane/janefram.html
bulletRoyalty in History http://www.xs4all.nl/~kvenjb/kings.htm
bulletNotable Women Ancestors - Royalty http://rootsweb.com/~nwa/royalty.html
bulletTudor History http://www.tudorhistory.org/
bulletTudor England http://englishhistory.net/tudor/contents.html
bulletTudors http://www.royal.gov.uk./history/tudor.htm
bulletTudor History http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Tudors.htm
bulletTudor Monarchs http://www.englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs.html

Black Death

bulletMiddle Ages: The Black Death http://history.boisestate.edu/westciv/plague/
bulletPBS: Black Death Resources http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_plague/resources.html
bulletBBC History: Black Death http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/society_culture/welfare/black_01.shtml
bulletBlack Death, 1348 Eyewitness Account http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/plague.htm
bulletPapal Schism, 100 Years War and the Black Plague http://www.li.suu.edu/library/courses/hum101/papal.htm
bulletPlague http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/plague/
bulletPlague and Public Health in Renaissance Europe http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/osheim/intro.html
bulletBlack Death http://www.insecta-inspecta.com/fleas/bdeath/bdeath.html

Literature/Documents

bulletDecameron Web http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/dweb.shtml
bulletEarly Greek Philosophy - http://plato.evansville.edu/public/burnet/
bulletE-Ren Documents http://www.idbsu.edu/courses/hy309/docs/documents.html
bulletErasmus Text Project http://smith2.sewanee.edu/Erasmus/
bulletErasmus: In Praise of Folly http://www.stupidity.com/erasmus/eracont.htm
bulletEuropean Renaissance/Reformation http://www.execpc.com/~dboals/rena.html
bulletInvestigating the Renaissance http://www.artmuseums.harvard.edu/Renaissance/index.html
bulletLuminarium http://www.luminarium.org/lumina.htm
bulletMedici Archive http://www.medici.org/
bulletMedieval and Renaissance History (Mining Company) http://historymedren.miningco.com/
bulletRenaissance Dante in Print http://www.nd.edu/~italnet/Dante/
bulletSixteenth Century English Literature http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/

Classical Mythology

Don't forget our books!  Visit the Dewey numbers: 292 & 398.2 Classical mythology

Databases

bullet

Student Resource Center Gold

bullet

Dictionary of World Mythology

bullet

Classics

Encyclopedias

bullet

Grolier Online

Websites and Portals

bullet

About.com: Mythology http://ancienthistory.about.com/homework/ancienthistory/library/bl/bl_myth_index.htm

bullet

Ancient Greek (Hellenic) Links http://www.webcom.com/shownet/medea/grklink.html

bullet

Bulfinch's Encyclopedia of Mythology http://www.bulfinch.org/

bullet

Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Chivalry or Legends of King Arthur http://www.bulfinch.org/tales/welcome.html

bullet

Classical Myth Homepage http://web.uvic.ca/grs/bowman/myth/index.html

bulletEncyclopedia Mythica http://www.pantheon.org/mythica.html
bulletEncyclopedia of Greek Mythology http://www.mythweb.com/encyc/contents.html
bulletFolklore and Mythology Electronic Texts http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/folktexts.html
bulletGodchecker http://www.godchecker.com/
bullet Google Directory Myths
bulletHercules: Greece's Greatest Hero http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Hercules/
bulletMultnomah Homework Center: Mythology http://www.multcolib.org/homework/mythhc.html
bullet

Myth and Legend from Ancient Times to the Space Age http://www.pibburns.com/myth.htm

bullet

MythMan http://www.thanasis.com/homework.htm

bullet

MythNet http://www.classicsunveiled.com/mythnet/html/index.html

bullet

Mythsearch http://www.mythsearch.com/

bullet

Mythology http://www.dillon2.k12.sc.us/Bookmarks/mythology.htm

bullet

Myths and Legends http://home.comcast.net/~chris.s/myth.html

bullet

Mythweb http://www.mythweb.com/

bullet

Norse Mythology http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~cherryne/mythology.html

bullet

Perseus Project: Greek and Roman Materials http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cache/perscoll_Greco-Roman.html

bullet

World Myths and Legends in Art http://www.artsmia.org/world-myths/

bullet

Windows to the Universe http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/mythology/planets/planets.html

bullet

Yahoo: Mythology and Folklore http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Mythology_and_Folklore/Mythology/

bullet

Zeuss Speaks http://www.onlineclass.com/mythos

 

 

 

 

 

      Site designed and developed by Ms. Rosemary Korn, M. A., Library Technician
MaST Community Charter School
Site updated 02/06/2006