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Dr. Freeman - ENC 1102 (Plant City): Critical Analysis Essay

Course LibGuide for students in Dr. Freeman's ENC 1102 course

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Social Themes in Literature (books)

Social Themes in Literature

To find more books about "social themes" in literature, open the HCC Libraries Online Catalog and use the following keyword search terms:


Themes AND literature

Issues AND literature

 

There is a wonderful series of books on several types of social issues and themes in literature.  Enter "social issues in literature" in the keyword search term box above. 

Resources for the Critical Analysis Essay

Articles from Databases

By using these online databases, you will find literary criticism about some of the short stories and plays you are studying in your class. 

 

Library Database Tips

If prompted, sign in to the HCC Libraries Online system by following the NETID prompts.

Bloom's Literature

This is a great database to browse.  At the Home Page, under Most Studied Authors, choose the View All option. The authors covered in this database will be shown and listed here in alphabetical order.  Look for your author, such as O'Connor, and choose the author's name.  Open the result Header called Literary Works and look for your story title.

screenshot of the search terms and results for Bloom's Literature database. Searched for O'Connor, Flannery and chose the criticism section in the results

 

 

Gale eBooks

This database is a collection of eBooks on a variety of topics.  The best way to use this database is to type in your keyword search term(s) and under Search Limiters, Collection, Literature.  See picture below for a sample:

Advanced Search box in Gale Ebooks database with Hawthorne, Nathaniel as the search term.

Search Limiters section of Advanced Search in Gale Ebooks showing Collection as Literature.

Gale Literature Criticism

This literary database is a great tool to find resources on themes, figure of speech and symbolism.  Below is a sample search term entry.

Screenshot of the Advanced Search page with death AND dying AND "Emily Dickinson" as the search terms.

Gale Literature

Ways to use Gale Literature

  1. Use the Works Search option.
  2. Gale Literature Works Search option with Young Goodman Brown as the search term
  3. Type the name of your short story, novel or poem.
  4. Go to the Search Limiters section of Works Search.
    1. Check Full Text
    2. Choose the Type of Work from the pull down menu
    3. Type in Author's name
    4. Search limiters equals checking full text, type of work option of short story and authors name as Hawthorne, Nathaniel
      1. Results page will show you how many records are available.
        1. Records include:
          1. Biographies
          2. Work Summaries and Overviews
          3. Literary Criticisms
          4. Primary Sources of Works

JSTOR

JSTOR is an article database that is also very good to use for literature research.  Here are two simple tips when JSTOR.

1.  Use the Advanced Search option

Screenshot of JSTOR Advanced Search page

2.  After the results populate, narrow results by using the  Subject filter.  Choose Language and Literature.

Screenshot of Subject filter heading

Screenshot of Language and Literature filter option box checked

Literary Reference Center Plus

When using this database, sometimes searching for the story title as the keyword search term develops the best results.  Remember, DO NOT use reviews as a source for literary criticisms. Use Plot Summaries, Overviews, Literary Criticisms types of sources.  

Literary Reference Center database Source Type list. Literary Criticism has a box around it to point it out as the best one to use.

 

Literature (Salem Press)

Salem Press is a large book publisher.  Many of these books are in both print and eBook versions.  The Salem Press database provides access to the ebook versions.

Literature table of contents in Salem Press

Use the Search box to locate resources for your author or playwright.  

Very Short Introductions

Published by Oxford University Press, Very Short Introductions introduce students to a topic, concept about literature, authors and literary themes, genres and styles.  The text is written in short, clear and concise terminology for easy understanding. The online database version also provides greater access.  

Very Short Introductions Subject Listing for Literature content