Overview of English language and literature
Use this guide to perform background research to refine a research topic, confirm terminology, and get a general understanding before finding books and articles to support a research project.
Getting started with academic research | Overview of English language and literature | Recommended databases | American literature | British literature | Children's literature
English Language encyclopedias from Oxford Reference Online
English Language Encyclopedias from Oxford Reference Online
Search or browse across nine subject encyclopedias and dictionaries with over 120,000 entries. References are linked via Get VText.
Literature encyclopedias from Oxford Reference Online
Literature encyclopedias from Oxford Reference Online
Search or browse across 18 subject encyclopedias and dictionaries with over 42,000 entries. References are linked via Get VText.
Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary
Browse or search over 600,000 words showing meanings, history, and pronunciations from across the English-speaking world. As a historical dictionary, the OED is very different from those of current English, in which the focus is on present-day meanings. You'll still find these in the OED, but you'll also find the history of individual words, and of the language—traced through 3 million quotations, from classic literature and specialist periodicals to films scripts and cookery books. You can also explore a timeline of when words entered the English language and the many works that have act as sources for the OED.
Gale's Literary Index
Gale's Literary Index
Gale's Literary Index is a master index to entries on authors and works from over 130 reference works published by Gale. You can search an author's name or a work's title to see which reference works contain entries on this item. Basic biographical information is provided for authors, and basic bibliographical information for titles. Search Addison on the title of the reference work to determine local access: in print or online.
Shakespeare Survey Online from Cambridge
Shakespeare Survey Online from Cambridge
Shakespeare Survey is a yearbook of Shakespeare studies and production. Each volume is devoted to a theme, or play, or group of plays; each also contains a section of reviews of that year's textual and critical studies, and of the year's major British performances. Each chapter can be downloaded as a PDF. The books are illustrated with a variety of Shakespearean images and production photographs. 1948-present.
Shakespeare for Students: Critical Interpretations of Shakespeare's Plays and Poetry from Gale Virtual Reference Library
Shakespeare for Students: Critical Interpretations of Shakespeare's Plays and Poetry from Gale Virtual Reference Library
A collection of essays by Shakespeare scholars that have been selected for students at the high school or undergraduate college level. Each entry includes an introduction; a plot synopsis; a character list; a discussion of the work's principal themes; information about the style and literary devices used; a conversation about the work's historical context; and a critical overview. Full text available as HTML and PDF.
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