English Literature |
Library Guide No. 3.5 |
This publication cites selected reference sources for the study of literature in English and related topics, which are available from the reference collection, Dana Porter Library. Additional sources may be identified through TRELLIS, the online catalogue, or through browsing call number ranges for UW Library collections. Further information and assistance is available from staff at the Information Desk.
Harner, James L. Literary Research Guide: A Guide to Reference Sources for the Study of Literatures in English and Related Topics.
Ref PR83.H37x 2002 Porter.
This very comprehensive guide provides an overview of the best reference sources for studies in English and American literature. Provides references to important sources of information in electronic format as well as print publications. The annotated entries include evaluative comments on the scope, content, and most useful features of specific sources.
The Cambridge History of American Literature, 1921-1923.
Ref PS88.C3 Porter.
Arranged chronologically in four volumes, with bibliography in each volume. The standard survey of American literature.
The Cambridge History of English Literature, 1907-1927.
Ref PR83.C2 Porter.
This multi-volume set provides a standard survey of English literature from beginnings in the Old English/Anglo Saxon period to the end of the nineteenth century. Arranged chronologically by volume, with index in volume 15.
Columbia Literary History of the United States.
Ref PS92.C64 1988 Porter.
Collection of essays by established scholars on history of American literature in English and other languages. Chapters focus on traditional periods from beginnings (1810) to post World War II period. Index for subjects and persons mentioned allows users to locate references to specific writers which may occur in separate chapters.
Literary History of Canada.
Ref PS8071.L57 1976 Porter.
In four volumes, chronologically by volume, with a bibliography at the end of each volume. The standard survey of English Canadian literature; creative, belles lettres, scientific, and scholarly.
Blain, Virginia. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present.
Ref PR111.B57 1990 Porter.
Provides brief information on authors, genres, critical theory, organizations, and other topics relevant to women writers in English. Coverage is best for British and American authors born after 1800. Many of the entries provide references for further reading.
The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English.
Ref PR85.C29 2006 Porter.
Carpenter, Humphrey. The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature.
Ref PN1008.5.C37 1984 Porter.
Provides useful brief entries on authors, illustrators, critics, characters, and other topics relevant to children's literature in English.
International Encyclopedia of Communications.
Ref P87.5.I5 1989 Porter.
A useful source for background information on a wide variety of topics relevant to communications studies. Articles provide references for further reading.
Jasinski, James. Sourcebook on Rhetoric: Key Concepts in Contemporary Rhetorical Studies. Ref PN 172 .J37 2001 Porter
A comprehensive overview of major rhetorical strategies. Includes extensive definitions of terminology.
The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism.
Ref PN81.J554 1994 Porter.
Provides 226 essay length, signed entries on critics, schools of criticism, movements, etc. Includes information on influential theories and scholars from nonliterary disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, anthropology, etc. Entries provide references for further reading.
The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature.
Ref PS8015.O93 1983 Porter.
Childs, Peter and Fowler, Roger. The Routledge Dictionary of Literary Terms. Ref PN 41 D4795 2006 Porter.
Crystal, David. A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics.
Ref P29.C65 1991 Porter.
Comprehensive, detailed coverage for terms used in 20th century linguistic and phonetic scholarship. Excludes terms not current after 1900. Does not cover specialized terms for fields of applied linguistics and comparative phonology.
A Dictionary of Modern Critical Terms.
Ref PN41.D4794 1987 Porter.
Offers detailed coverage of terms associated with literary criticism. Entries provide essay length articles on the history and significance of such terms with specific focus on their relationship to modern criticism.
Encyclopedic Dictionary of Semiotics.
Ref P99.E65 1994 Porter.
Provides detailed signed entries on terms, broad concepts and individuals or scholars associated with semiotics. Volume 3 offers an extensive bibliography of publications relevant to semiotics.
Prince, Gerald. A Dictionary of Narratology.
Ref P302.7.P75 1987 Porter.
A specialized guide to terms in a relatively new field of research. Includes a useful bibliography on narratology.
Wales, Katie. A Dictionary of Stylistics.
Ref P301.W35 1990 Porter.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
Ref FC25.D49x 1966 Porter.
Still in progress. Arranged alphabetically within each period volume, with references.
The Dictionary of National Biography from the Earliest Times to 1900, 1937-1938.
Ref DA28.D48 Porter.
The model of national biographical dictionaries, arranged alphabetically, with copious references. Covers British authors from earliest times to 1950.
Twentieth-Century Children's Writers.
Ref PN1009.A1T9 1995 Porter.
Who's Who in Canadian Literature.
Library has: 1983/1984 to present.
Ref PS8081.W46x Porter.
Provides brief entries with basic biographical and career information on contemporary Canadian Authors.
Writers for Children: Critical Studies of Major Authors since the Seventeenth Century.
Ref PN1009.A1W73 1988 Porter.
Anatomy of Wonder: A Critical Guide to Science Fiction.
Ref PN3433.8.A52 2004 Porter.
Evaluative, selective guide to primary works, critical studies, and reference works for the study of science fiction, 1920's-1986.
The Annotated Bibliography of Canada's Major Authors, 1979-.
Ref Z1375.L43 Porter.
A collection of bibliographies on important English and French-Canadian authors. Eight volumes have been published since 1979, half devoted to poets, and half to prose writers. Each bibliography provides comprehensive coverage of works by and about the subject author, including reprints, translations, and successive editions of primary works. Lists of secondary sources include descriptive annotations for each item cited and reflect comprehensive coverage for material produced before the publication of each volume.
Bateson, Frederick Wilse. A Guide to English and American Literature.
Ref Z2011.B32 1976 Porter.
Cites many key sources for the study of American literature, including bibliographies, reference works, collections. Entries include citations to "best editions" and important critical studies of major authors. For updates to this survey of American literary studies see recent volumes of the annual publication, American Literary Scholarship (Ref PS3.A47 Porter).
Bleiler, Everett Franklin. The Guide to Supernatural Fiction.
Ref PN56.S8B57 1983 Porter.
A useful reference guide for this genre. Covers primary and secondary works published before 1960.
The Cambridge Guide to Children's Books in English. Ref PR 990.C36 2007 Porter
Guide to American Poetry Explication.
Ref PS201.G84x 1989 Porter.
This two-volume set provides coverage for poems from colonial period to modern and contemporary works by American poets.
Hendrickson, Linnea. Children's Literature, a Guide to the Criticism.
Ref PR990.H46x 1987 Porter.
Provides annotated entries for books, articles, and theses on children's literature. Focus for most of the items cited is 20th century English language works for children. Has two sections, one with references listed for specific children's authors. Section two is organized under headings for subjects, themes, and genres.
Kuntz, Joseph Marshall. Poetry Explication: A Checklist of Interpretation since 1925 of British and American Poems Past and Present.
Ref Z2014.P7K8 1980 Porter.
Provides a selected list of articles, published in books and journals, 1925-1977, that explicate poems by established authors. Entries are organized by author, and then by title of specific poems. For more current references users may consult Guide to American Poetry Explication and Guide to British Poetry Explication, which complement and extend the coverage provided by this standard source.
Marshall, Donald G. Contemporary Critical Theory: A Selective Bibliography.
Ref PN81.M375x 1993 Porter.
A useful selected bibliography of significant books for the study of critical theory and theorists from the mid 1960s to date.
Martinez, Nancy C. (Nancy Conrad). Guide to British Poetry Explication.
Ref PR311.M38x 1991 Porter.
Organized by time period in four separate volumes, this extends and to some extent supercedes the coverage provided by the Kuntz bibliography.
The New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature, 1969- .
Ref Z2011.C17 1969 Porter.
A selected bibliography of works by and about British authors, in 5 volumes, including index. Covers authors from Old English period up to and including those established by 1950. Comprehensive in scope and breadth of coverage. However, depth of coverage on specific authors and topics may vary considerably from one section to the next. This standard source is often a good starting point for research, especially for authors, forms, genres, or subjects which are not covered by bibliographies with a more specific focus.
Watters, Reginald Eyre. On Canadian Literature, 1806-1960: A Check List of Articles, Books, and Theses on English-Canadian Literature, Its Authors, and Language.
Ref Z1375.W33 Porter.
Critical writings on Canadian literature listed by period and author. This standard source, published in 1966, reflects materials produced before that date.
Hazen, Edith P. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry.
Ref PN1022.G7 1990 Porter.
An index to poems in anthologies, arranged alphabetically by title, first line, author, and subject.
Index of American Periodical Verse.
Library has: 1971 to present.
Ref Z1231.P7I47 Porter.
Index to Canadian Poetry in English.
Ref Z1377.P7I52x 1984 Porter.
Index of English Literary Manuscripts.
Ref Z6611.L7I44x 1980 Porter.
Entries provide location and other details on manuscript collections for major British authors for the period 1450-1900. Also provides useful summaries of scholarship and notes about special problems associated with manuscript studies for each author covered.
Location Register of Twentieth-Century English Literary Manuscripts and Letters: A Union List of Papers of Modern English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh Authors in the British Isles.
Ref PR471.L63x 1988 Porter.
Identifies manuscripts (including proofs, sound recordings, and electronic documents) by British writers, which are available for public consultation at libraries throughout the British Isles. Coverage is for 20th century authors, including those who are currently living or those who died after December 31, 1899.
National Archives of Canada. Manuscript Division. Literary Archives Guide.
Ref Z1375.N377x 1988 Porter.
Provides brief descriptions of Major Canadian literary Collections acquired by the Manuscript Division of National Archives before September 30, 1987.
Bartlett, John. Familiar Quotations: A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature.
Ref PN6081.B27 1980 Porter.
Provides keyword and author indexes to quotations drawn from literary works, sacred writing, and other sources worldwide.
The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.
Ref PN6080.O95 1999 Porter.
Complements coverage in Bartlett.
Shipps, Anthony W. The Quote Sleuth: A Manual for the Tracer of Lost Quotations.
Ref PN6081.S44 1990 Porter.
A guide to tracing unidentified, misidentified, modified, or mistranscribed quotations.
A Complete Concordance to the Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, 1991-1994.
Ref PR1903.C55x 1991 Porter.
Spevack, Martin. A Complete and Systematic Concordance to the Works of Shakespeare, 1968- .
Ref PR2892.S6 Porter.
The Oxford English Dictionary.
Ref PE1625.O87 1989 Porter.
The latest edition of the most comprehensive, authoritative dictionary of words in the English language. It is also a standard source on the history and derivation of English words.
Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged.
Ref PE1625.W36 1981 Porter.
The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology.
Ref PE1580.O9 Porter.
A scholarly, comprehensive dictionary on the history of English words.
Partridge, Eric. The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English.
Ref PE3721.P3 2005 Porter.
A standard source for definitions of English slang words and phrases. Covers both contemporary and historical usage.
Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL; sometimes called MHRA Bibliography)
Library has: 1920 to present.
Abs PN2.M64x Porter.
An annual bibliography from the Modern Humanities Research Association, London, United Kingdom. Although publication for the annual volumes lags (by about three years) behind current references, this is a useful index to scholarship on the English language and literatures in English. This complements the coverage provided by the more comprehensive MLA International Bibliography.
Arts & Humanities Citation Index
Library has: 1975 to present.
Abs AI3.A7x Porter.
Indexes United Kingdom, United States, Australian, Canadian, and other periodicals, by author, subject, critic, and cited authors. Allows users to trace cited references for recent articles published in some 1,200 scholarly journals for arts and humanities research.
Arts & Humanities Citation Index (Compact Disc Edition)
Library has: 1980 to present.
AI3.A712x Porter Controlled Access.
Updates every 4 months. One year of references provided on each disc.
Canadian Business & Current Affairs
Library has: 1981 to present.
An interdisciplinary index to current Canadian publications. Includes citations to newspapers and business periodicals.
Canadian Literature Index: A Guide to Periodicals and Newspapers
Library has: 1985-1988.
Abs PS8001.C225x Porter.
Canadian Periodical Index
Library has: 1921 to present.
Abs AI3.C2 Porter.
Call number and title vary slightly. An index to Canadian periodicals drawn from all disciplines. Indexed by author and subject, with special headings for book reviews, poems, moving picture reviews, Canadian drama, and short stories.
Humanities Index
Library has: 1974 to present.
Abs AI3.I62x Porter.
Continues in part: Social Sciences & Humanities Index (Abs AI3.I61 Porter 1965-1974), which continues in part: International Index (Abs AI3.I61 Porter 1907-1964/1965).
MLA International Bibliography
Library has: 1981 to present.
PN1.M63x Porter Controlled Access.
Provides coverage from January, 1981. Updates received every three months. On average 3,000 records are added to the database each month.
MLA International Bibliography of Books and Articles on the Modern Languages and Literatures
Library has: 1981 to present.
Abs PN1.M6x Porter.
The most comprehensive index for the student of literature. Each annual edition includes a Subject Index in a separate volume. This refers users from specific headings into numbered entries in the Classified Listings - Author Index. Title and selected coverage for the annual bibliography from the Modern Language Association vary for the period 1921-1981.
For assistance enquire at the Dana Porter Library Information Desk or consult the Ask a Librarian Web page at: http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/asklib/.
Library Guide, No. 3.5 English Literature
http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/libguides/3-5.html
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