Research Guides: Literary Criticism: Background Research

Get started by gathering background information, identifying key terms, and establishing a foundation of knowledge on your topic. Create context for your thesis.

Background Research: Get up to speed on your topic.

Encyclopedias are a great place to start your research. You can get background information to learn more about your topic and identify key terms so you can search smarter, not harder.

Gale eBooks (GVRL) This link opens in a new window
Gale eBooks has reference encyclopedias that you can view online, which are useful for giving you a brief overview and important aspects of your topic.

Best for general or background information; database of encyclopedias
Look up the name of your author; ex: Lorraine Hansberry
Provides biographical and critical information
You can email or print articles
Search the title of the poem/short story or author's name.

Literary Criticism Index

Literary Criticism Index
Use this index to find literary criticism in the following series: Nineteenth Century Literary Criticism, Twentieth Century Literary Criticism, Contemporary Literary Criticism and Short Story Criticism.

Some Volumes of these titles are available full text at Internet Archive. Use Ask A Librarian to chat with a librarian if you need help.