Dictionaries, biographical sources, subject encyclopedias, chronologies are good sources to get background information on your topic, locate information on an author, a literary trend or a literary time period and formulate a research question. These sources are available in the Reference area in Sawyer Library.
The book of literary terms : the genres of fiction, drama, nonfiction, literary criticism, and scholarship
SAWYER REF PN44.5 .L45 1999
A dictionary of literary symbols
SAWYER REF PN56.S9 F47 1999A dictionary of literary and thematic terms
Sawyer REF PN44.5 .Q56 1999
Encyclopedia of literary critics and criticism
SAWYER REF PN86 .E63 1999The Johns Hopkins guide to literary theory and criticism
Sawyer REF PN81 .J64 1994 (also available online)
Dictionary of Literary Biography
Each volume in this series focuses on a literary genre or time period. The volumes are not shelved together, you must look up each title in FRANCIS. To get a list of all volumes in the series, you may also search for Dictionary of Literary Biography as a title in FRANCIS.
Examples of volumes in the series:
Contemporary Authors
Provides biographical information for mostly 20th century U.S. and selected international authors. Note: Contemporary Authors is included in the database Biography Resources Center.
Full-text database.
The Reference area includes many subject encyclopedias which focuse on one author, literary genre or literary movement. To find out what reference material is available for your topic, do a search in FRANCIS for your subject, then limit your search to the location Sawyer Reference.
Examples of subject encyclopedias:
Encyclopedia of utopian literature
Sawyer REF PN56.U8 S66 1995
The Gay and lesbian literary heritage : a reader's companion to the writers and their works, from antiquity to the present
Sawyer REF PN56.H57 G365 1995
Holocaust literature : an encyclopedia of writers and their work Sawyer REF PN56.H55 H66 2003
Encyclopedia of pulp fiction writers
PS374.P63 S45 2002