According to Purdue's Online Writing Lab (OWL):
"A very basic way of thinking about literary theory is that these ideas act as different lenses critics use to view and talk about art, literature, and even culture. These different lenses allow critics to consider works of art based on certain assumptions within that school of theory. The different lenses also allow critics to focus on particular aspects of a work they consider important. For example, if a critic is working with certain Marxist theories, s/he might focus on how the characters in a story interact based on their economic situation. If a critic is working with post-colonial theories, s/he might consider the same story but look at how characters from colonial powers (Britain, France, and even America) treat characters from, say, Africa or the Caribbean."
To learn more about different schools of literary theory, check out OWL's "Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism."
Click on the image below for a larger view of this Choosing Keywords Infographic from McMaster University Library. Need more help? Check out their video "How to Choose Keywords."
Click on the image below for a larger view of this Boolean Cheat Sheet from McMaster University Library. Need more help? Check out their videos "Boolean Searching Part I: Boolean Operators (AND OR NOT)" and "Boolean Searching Part II: Boolean Modifiers " " * ( )."
A literary criticism research paper assignment invites you to enter into conversation with other scholars who are already discussing the literary work that has captured your focus. As you are joining an ongoing discussion, you'll want your own original argument to recognize, build upon, qualify, and/or refute the positions that literary scholars have already presented. However, in order to join the conversation, you need to find where the dialogue's happening. Literary scholars publish their arguments in academic journals and books. Check out the resources listed below to find this type of work. (Be careful to seek out critical essays, articles, books, and book chapters and to avoid simple biographies, newspaper articles, and book reviews.) You may also find print books on your topic in the Nazareth Library collection.
To access these databases off campus, you'll need the logins and passwords.
JSTOR Labs: The JSTOR Understanding Series
JSTOR is beta-testing a new search tool that allows you to "pick a text and pick a passage. [JSTOR will allow you to] instantly see articles and chapters quoting that passage." The current collection includes Shakespeare, additional major works in British Literature, and the King James Bible.
The default search of the ISearch is for the library catalog. Remember to select "Advanced Sources" to see the database sources.
You will need the INFOhio password at home to access the texts below.
Google Scholar:
Google Scholar allows you to use Google to search for scholarly (i.e. peer-reviewed) articles. (Please note, you may not be able to actually access everything it retrieves.) Here are some tips for using Google Scholar.
