LITERARY CRITICISM- RESOURCE GUIDE

STEP 1Choose your reading selection.Read it.

Now, you've got an ESSENTIAL QUESTION. To respond to this question, you need to develop supporting questions about theme, structure, literary elements, etc. Use these Question Maps to help you organize your thoughts,
even begin to compose your thesis.

STEP 2 - I FIND

Now it's time to compare your ideas to professional critics. You need to FIND LITERARY CRITICISM, analysis by literary critics, that will respond to your supporting questionss

"The term'literary criticism' refers to studies devoted to the comparison, analysis, interpretation, and evaluation of works of literature. The term "criticism" is derived from the Greek word kritikos , meaning a "judge." Literary criticism may be positive or negative, or a mixture of both.

Look for print and electronic sources."

• START WITH THE OPAC - our online catalog!
• Use keywords such as :

1. Name of author (Last Name, First Name;) Title of Literary Work;

Theme, Era (e.g. Women in Literature; Sports in literature; Harlem Renaissance)

Genre (e.g. Novels-History and Criticism; Science fiction - History and criticism.)

You will find many titles in the reference section, such as...

and circulating titles such as:

TRY ONLINE RESOURCES to search for critical essays on databases and eBooks. The most useful ones the Eastchester High School library subscribes to are:

• Proquest
• Student Resource Center Gold

• DON'T FORGET the Westchester Library System website has ONLINE RESOURCES, too. Scroll down and click on "Subject: Literature" There you have Twayne Author Series.

• Librarian's Index to the Internet Literary Criticism Collection
• Online Literary Criticism Guide
• A Bibliography of Literary Theory, Criticism and Philology - A very comprehensive site with links to many authors from around the world
• The Paris Review - Since 1953, when the first issue of the magazine appeared with an interview of E. M. Forster, our Q&A encounters with the great writers of our times have come to be recognized as a sort of literary genre unto themselves: the Paris Review interview.
                                                                                                                    

STEP 3

Time to PROCESS that data. Read it carefully, then take notes in Research Journal format or on note cards.

STEP 4 EVALUATE your data! EVALUATE YOUR SOURCES! Have you answered all of your questions with lots of detail????

STEP 5 Giving credit where credit is due. CITATION - Plagiarism: Literally "kidnapping," involving the use of someone else’s words as if they were your own (Gibaldi 6). To avoid plagiarism you must document direct quotations, paraphrases, and original ideas not your own.