Need to find criticism about a work of literature? Open web searching will quickly leave you frustrated. Instead, focus on the relevant subscription databases to which MLWGS Library subscribes: Literature Resource Center, JSTOR, and Project MUSE. This guide is designed to help make your search for literary criticism successful.

Literary criticism vs. literary theory
Succinct comparison by John Lye, Department Chair for English Language & Literature at Brock University in Ontario, using an example about Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
Introduction to modern literary theory
Since literary criticism inherently involves application of literary theory, here is an introduction to literary theories from Dr. Kristi Siegel, Associate Professor for English at Mount Mary College in Wisconsin.
Glossary of literary terms (from Gale Cengage)

Although book reviews share traits with literary criticism, reviews are not considered equivalent to criticism. However, they do shed light on a work's reception at the time of its publication, and when the credentials of the reviewer are substantial (e.g. T.S. Eliot), reviews in Times Literary Supplement and similar reputable but non-scholarly publications may be acceptable for your assignment. Check with your teacher to be certain.

MW databases
Literary Reference Center - Combines plot summaries, synopses, work overviews, articles, essays, book reviews, and biographies from major respected reference works, books, and over 420 literary journals, with author interviews, full-text classic and contemporary poems and short stories, and over 7100 classic texts.

• Search for an author name in combination with a work title or literary trait (e.g. "William Shakespeare" symbolism)
• For modern writers also likely to have written critical essays (e.g. "Seamus Heaney"), search for them in the Subject (SU) field.
  
• Focus on the results under the Criticism tab.
• For 20th century titles, you may find relevant results under Reviews as well.
  
• Advanced search also allows you to limit your results to literary criticism, work overviews, etc.
  
• You may find additional articles/essays about your writer/work by doing a PowerSearch (focus on the academic journals results tab).
  

JSTOR - archive of full-text scholarly articles in a variety of disciplines (access delayed 3-5 years). Journal titles include African American Review, American Literature, Feminist Studies, and Renaissance Quarterly.

• Use Advanced Search
• Limit to articles for critical essays
• Limit to reviews for book reviews (and limit to the date range in which the work was published)
  
• Limit to Language & Literature journals

Project MUSE - full-text scholarly articles in the humanities, including current scholarship. Journal titles include Modern Fiction Studies, New Literary History, Tolkien Studies, and Victorian Poetry.

• Use Advanced Search
• Limit to articles for critical essays
  
• Limit to reviews for book reviews (and limit to the date range in which the work was published)
• Search for a writer or title (esp. if work is anonymous) in Subject Headings
• For works with book reviews, use the Title Reviewed or Author Reviewed search limiters
  

Follow leads in reference and further reading lists

• Search for article titles in the databases above, in Google Scholar, or VCU's Journal Finder
• Search for books in Google Book and Worldcat

Open web resources
Google Scholar - In advanced search, limit subject area to Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities. This helps eliminate results for Beowulf that refer to a computer network configuration used to cluster PC's.
IPL: Literary Criticism - directory of related sites compiled by the Internet Public Library
Literary Resources on the Net - a webliography maintained by Jack Lynch, professor at Rutgers
Luminarium - select the desired time period, and then click on essays and articles (near bottom of menu) to access a menu of essays and articles organized by author/work
Voice of the Shuttle - "woven" by Alan Liu, professor at the University of California - Santa Barbara and a team of graduate students, Voice of the Shuttle is an extensive database of online resources for the study of literature. It can be challenging to navigate, so read the navigation tips before getting started.

VCU databases
Are you fortunate enough to qualify for a VCU eID (e.g. you need to be in the 2nd semester of a dual enrollment course)? Then you may wish to peruse their literary criticism databases, especially ABELL and MLA International Bibliography.

Books in the MW library
REF 809 TWE - Twentieth-century literary movements dictionary
801.95 EAG - Literary theory: an introduction
803 CUD - The Penguin dictionary of literary terms and literary theory

Finding books in university libraries
Specific chapters or essays within a book may prove very useful. Most university libraries use the Library of Congress (LC) classification system. When searching their online library catalogs, consider these tips about conducting subject searches (vs. key word searches) for a writer/work:

• Search the writer's name (last name, first name) with the words criticism and interpretation
• Example: walker, alice criticism and interpretation
• Search for books about a specific literary period or movement in the following format: nationality genre time period history and criticism
• Example: american fiction 19th century history and criticism

In university libraries, the following are some of the areas where these books will be shelved:

• PN - Literature history and collections (general)
• PQ - French, Italian, Spanish, and Portugese literature
  
• PR - English literature
• PS - American literature
• PT - German, Dutch, and Scandinavian literature
  
• PZ - Fiction and juvenile literatures

Citing criticism
Scholars studying literature typically use Modern Language Association (MLA) style.

• Article from an online subscription service such as Gale's Literature Resource Center
  
• Article in an online journal (one freely available - rare for literary criticism)
• Part of an online book
• Short work from a web site (e.g. specific web page of a larger web site)

Noodle Tools - citation making tool (APA or MLA) for which MW Library has a subscription. Export your citations to Word without losing formatting. Get school account information from the library and create your personal ID using mw_ to begin (e.g. mw_msmith). Do not use your full name.