ENGL 103: Kuzmenkov, T. (Spring 2025): Finding criticism in databases
Red flag!
Why can't I just use Google?
It's pretty hard to find literary criticism on the web. For the most part, criticism is published in literary journals, which are not free out on the web! Using library resources makes finding literary criticism much easer.
Online database sources
Each of the following databases contains a large collection of articles from literary journals (such as The Explicator and Modern Fiction Studies) or books of literary criticism, in which most criticism is published. Access them from the links here, or find them in the "All Databases" page at the Library's portal. If asked to log in, use your Portal username and password.
For help on how to use these databases, see the second box, below.
- Bloom's Literature This link opens in a new window
Literary criticism and analyses of authors, works, themes, genres and literary topics. - Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
(EBSCO) This multi-disciplinary database contains full text articles from more than 3,600 peer-reviewed journals, including literary journals - ProQuest Periodical Databases This link opens in a new window
This is a set of general, multi-disciplinary databases that also contains thousands of literary criticism articles. - JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR contains articles from older peer-reviewed journals, including literary journals. - Literary Reference Center This link opens in a new window
(Ebsco) Information on thousands of authors and their works across literary disciplines and time frames.
Finding criticism in the Academic Search Complete & ProQuest databases
Searching the Databases
- It is usually best to enter at least two concepts in a database or internet search engine.
- Each concept should be entered in a separate search box when possible.
- For your assignment, you might type the author's name on one line, the name of the work on another line, and perhaps a particular theme in the work that you want to focus on on the third line.
- Be sure to click the "Full Text" and "Scholarly Journal" boxes, if they're available.
If you're not sure of a theme or themes to focus on yet, try typing just the title and author. After you look through some search results, you might notice that the critical writing for a particular work tends to focus around certain themes. You don't have to choose these same themes for your own paper, but looking at how others think and write about a work can influence your ideas about how to focus your own paper. Just be sure to give those other writers credit for their ideas by citing your sources of influence!
Here's a sample search in the Academic Search Complete database:
(If you're ready to start searching, you can go directly to the Academic Search Complete database from here.)
Searching for criticism in Bloom's Literature and in Literary Reference Center
- Bloom's Literature This link opens in a new windowLiterary criticism and analyses of authors, works, themes, genres and literary topics.
- Literary Reference Center This link opens in a new window(Ebsco) Information on thousands of authors and their works across literary disciplines and time frames.
Bloom's Literature
1. Enter the author's first and last name in the search box, then click "search."
2. Select "Criticism."
3. Browse the results.
Literary Reference Center
1. Enter the author's first and last name and the phrase "AND criticism" in the search box and click "search."
EXAMPLE: Emily Dickinson AND criticism
2. Browse the results.
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