ENG 200: Critical Reading and Writing About Literature
A guide to basic resources for literary criticism.
Oxford English Dictionary
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Oxford English Dictionary (OED)The MOST authoritative and comprehensive English dictionary ever.
Encyclopaedia Britannica Online!
An academically safer alternative to Wikipedia. Good for quick background information on authors and movements.
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Encyclopaedia BritannicaThe Britannica and more.
Encyclopedias
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Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and CriticismAvailable online. A comprehensive guide to theory for easy reference.
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Oxford Encyclopedia of American LiteratureOffers historical perspective and social context of American literature in essays encompassing the range and depth of American literary history from the 1600s to the present day.The Encyclopedia includes essays on poets, playwrights, essayists, and novelists, as well as major works and essays on literary movements, periods, and themes.
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Cambridge History of American LiteratureVery thorough and scholarly eight volume history.
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Companion to American Literature and CultureAn historical and thematic survey of American Literature. One section is about theory.
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Oxford Encyclopedia of British LiteratureProvides comprehensive coverage of the entire history of literature in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland in the major literary languages.It includes substantial accounts of individual authors and detailed histories of particular themes, movements, genres, and institutions, whose impact upon the writing or the reading of literature was significant.
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Encyclopedia of RhetoricA comprehensive guide to the art of persuasion.
Cambridge Histories of Literature
Part of the Cambridge Histories online. Go to "Browse" and look for "Literary Studies" to find histories to national and regional literatures from around the world, 16 volumes in all. Very scholarly and complete.
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Cambridge Histories of Literature OnlineIncluding the "Cambridge History of Literary Criticism."