Novels & Short Stories Research Guide

Undergraduate Research Guide: Novels & Short Stories

Return to listing of all Research Guides.

Scope

This Research Guide is intended to support research methods and literary analysis of novels and short stories. The "Overview" section lists books available in the College Library Reference Collection; this list features a navigation bar to simplify browsing. For help in finding journal articles or reviews, consult the section entitled "Finding Journal & News Articles," which recommends databases and sample search terms. The "Finding Books" section of this page will assist with MadCat searching. Finally, an annotated directory of "Internet Sites" is made available, which links to writing and novel guides, in addition to many full-text online resources.

Overview

General Literature

Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase & Fable
College Library Reference Collection: PN 43 B65 2000

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
College Library Reference Collection: PN 41 C67 2001

A Dictionary of Literary Symbols
College Library Reference Collection: PN 56 S9 F47 1999

A Handbook to Literature
College Library Reference Collection: PN 41 H355 2003

Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature
College Library Reference Collection: PN 41 M42 1995

The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms
College Library Reference Collection: PN 44.5 M86 2003

American Literature

Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance
College Library Reference Collection: PS 153 N5 A24 2003

The Facts on File Companion to the American Short Story
College Library Reference Collection: PS 374 S5 F33 2000

HarperCollins Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature
College Library Reference Collection: PS 21 B46 2002

New Immigrant Literatures in the United States : A Sourcebook to our Multicultural Literary Heritage
College Library Reference Collection: PS 153 M56 N475 1996

The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American
College Library Reference: PS 153 M56 G74 2005

The Oxford Companion to African American Literature
College Library Reference Collection: PS 153 N5 O96 1997

World Literature

Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century
College Library Reference Collection: PN 771 E5 1999

European Authors, 1000-1900: A Biographical Dictionary of European Literature
College Library Reference Collection: PN 451 K8

Gay & Lesbian Literature
College Library Reference Collection: PN 56 H57 G36

Handbook of Latin American Literature
College Library Reference Collection: PQ 7081 A1 H36 1992

Masterpieces of Latino Literature
College Library Reference Collection: PQ 7081 A1 M29 1994

A New History of Spanish Literature
College Library Reference Collection: PQ 6033 C45 1991

The Oxford Companion to English Literature
College Library Reference Collection: PR 19 D73 2000

Storytelling Encyclopedia : Historical, Cultural, and Multiethnic Approaches to Oral Traditions Around the World
College Library Reference Collection: GR 72 S76 1997

Classical Literature

Encyclopedia of Traditional Epics
College Library Reference Collection: PN 56 E65 E64 1994

The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature
College Library Reference Collection: PA 31 H69 1989

Biography

Contemporary Novelists
College Library Reference Collection: PR 883 C64 1996

Larousse Dictionary of Writers
College Library Reference Collection: PN 141 L27 1994

Latin American Writers
College Library Reference Collection: PQ 7081 A1 L37 1989

Literary Criticism and Theory

The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms
College Library Reference Collection: PN 44.5 M86 2003

Black Literature Criticism : Excerpts from Criticism of the Most Significant Works of Black Authors over the Past 200 Years
College Library Reference Collection: PS 153 N5 B556 1992

Dictionary of Concepts in Literary Criticism and Theory
College Library Reference Collection: PN 41 H36 1992

A Glossary of Contemporary Literary Theory
College Library Reference Collection: PN 44.5 H37 2000

Hispanic Literature Criticism
College Library Reference Collection: PQ 7081 A1 H573 1994

Reference Databases

Cairns Collection of American Women Writers to 1920: Author List
The list of authors in the William B. Cairns Collection of American Women Writers to 1920 at present includes over 2,000 names. Regularly maintained, it is updated twice a year as new materials are acquired. The non-circulating collection is housed in the Department of Special Collections, 990 Memorial Library, but other copies and editions of many of the titles included can be found in the regular stacks. The collection is entirely accessible via MadCat, the UW Madison Libraries Online Catalog. Basic instructions for Cairns Collection of American Women Writers

Contemporary Authors 1960 - to date (updated semiannually)
Contemporary Authors offers biographical and bibliographical information on nearly 100,000 modern authors, including novelists, poets, screenwriters, journalists and other nonfiction writers. The database contains the full-text of the following series: Contemporary Authors Vol. 1-140, Contemporary Authors New Revision Series Vol. 1-41, and Contemporary Authors Permanent Series Vol. 1-2. Basic instructions for Contemporary Authors

Literature Resource Center 20th Century (updated continuously)
Literature Resource Center includes information on a large number of authors and literary works taken from Contemporary Authors, Dictionary of Literary Biography, Contemporary Literary Criticism, and other sources. In addition to biographical information, LRC includes full-text articles from more than 130 literary journals, a dictionary of literary terms, and links to 5,000 relevant Web sites and special collections. Basic instructions for Literature Resource Center

Masterplots Complete Multiyear (not updated)
Only available in campus libraries. Masterplots Complete contains full-text essays on works of fiction, non-fiction, drama, and poetry from the following reference books: Masterplots (1976); Masterplots, American Fiction Series (1985); Masterplots, British Fiction Series (1985); Masterplots, European Fiction Series (1986); Masterplots II consisting of the following individual series: American Fiction Series (1986) and Supplement (1994); Short Story Series (1986) and Supplement (1996); British and Commonwealth Fiction Series (1987); World Fiction Series (1988); Nonfiction Series (1989); Juvenile and Young Adult Fiction Series (1991) and Juvenile and Young Adult Biography Series (1993); Poetry Series (1992); African American Literature Series (1994); Women's Literature Series (1995). Biographical information on authors is also included from the Cyclopedia of World Authors (1974) and Cyclopedia of World Authors II (1989). The full-text of Cyclopedia of Literary Characters (1963) and Cyclopedia of Literary Characters (1990) provides information about fictional characters. Basic instructions for Masterplots Complete

OED Online (Oxford English Dictionary) (updated quarterly)
The OED Online contains the complete contents of the 20-volume Second Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary and three Additions volumes published from 1993-97. It also includes quarterly releases of work in progress from the complete revision of the OED which is currently underway. Each of the 616,000 entries contains the etymology, definition, part of speech, date of origination, pronunciation, cross-references, and quotations. Basic instructions for OED Online

Finding Journal and News Articles

Below are links to databases that cover this subject area. The truncation symbol for all of them is an asterisk (*) unless otherwise noted.

Sample searches for databases:: short stories and narrative voice
novels and genre
picaresque and novel
novels and (autobiography or memoir)
short stor* and style
novel and (ban* or censor*)
(latino or hispanic) and short stor*

Recommended Databases:

Essay & General Literature Index 1985 - to date (updated annually)
The Essay & General Literature Index indexes chapters in more than 300 English language essay collections and anthologies annually. Both humanities and social sciences topics are covered, including economics, political science, history, philosophy, religion, and criticism of literary works, drama, and film. There are no abstracts. Basic instructions for Essay & General Literature Index

Humanities Full Text 1984 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes 400 scholarly journals on archaeology, classical studies, art, film, folklore, history, journalism, linguistics, literature, music, performing arts, philosophy and religion. Basic instructions for Humanities Full Text

MLA Bibliography (Literature) 1963 - to date (quarterly)
The Modern Language Association International Bibliography indexes 3,000 English language and foreign periodicals as well as books, book chapters, and dissertations. Its subject matter includes critical works on literature, language, linguistics, and folklore. Reviews of literary and scholarly works are not included. There are no abstracts. Basic instructions for MLA Bibliography

Project Muse
Currently, Project MUSE® offers nearly 200 quality journal titles from some 30 scholarly publishers. As one of the the academic community's primary electronic periodicals resources, Project MUSE covers the fields of literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, economics, and many others.

Readers' Guide Full Text and Retrospective 1890 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes 240 popular magazines in a wide range of subject areas. Full-text coverage of 131 titles begins with 1994. Basic instructions for Readers' Guide Full Text

More Databases:

Academic Search 1984 - to date (updated daily)
This library database indexes approximately 3,100 popular magazines and academic journals and provides the full-text articles from approximately 1,000 journals. Basic instructions for Academic Search

Children's Literature Comprehensive Database 1991 - to date (updated monthly)
Children's Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD) is a searchable database of more than 50,000 reviews of children's and young adult literature titles from education and library review journals such as Appraisal, ALAN Review, Five Owls, Kirkus, Kliatt, VOYA, and others. CLCD also includes the annotated entries from CCBC Choices for 1996 to the present. CCBC Choices is the annual best-of-the-year list created by professional staff of the Cooperative Children's Book Center of the School of Education at UW-Madison. The dates of reviews vary from source to source, with nothing available prior to 1991 at this time. Basic instructions for Children's Literature Comprehensive Database

ProQuest Research Library 1988 - to date (updated daily)
Indexes over 2,000 general-interest and academic journals. Nearly 1,000 periodicals are full-text. Dates vary, but many full-text journals go back to 1988. Basic instructions for ProQuest Research Library

Finding Books

MadCat
Books on novels and short stories can be found in MadCat, the UW-Madison library catalog.

Sample keyword searches:: novelists and writing
colonial? and novel
novel and narration
metaphor and novel?
"short stor?" and form
"short stories" and characters
"william sidney porter" or "o henry"
"harlem renaissance" and "short stor?"
melodrama and novel?
"short story" and reading

Internet Sites

Novels

Novel Guide: Novel Resource Guide and Literary Analysis
http://www.novelguide.com/
"Novelguide.com is the premier free source for literary analysis on the web. We provide an educational supplement for better understanding of classic and contemporary literature." Each novel guide offers the following sections: Novel Summary, Character Profiles, Metaphor Analysis, Theme Analysis, Top Ten Quotes, and Biography. Featured novels include: "The Great Gatsby," "Animal Farm," and "Wuthering Heights."

AllReaders.com
http://www.allreaders.com/
Looking for a book to read? Want a book like the one you just finished? AllReaders.com can help. "Choose from hundreds of plot, theme, character, and setting options to find precisely what you're looking for!" To begin a detailed search, simply click on your genre of choice. Then follow the prompts to create a profile for the book of your dreams. The result is a ranked list of titles, each linked to reviews posted by visitors to the site.

Short Stories

Literature: What Makes a Good Short Story
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/literature/
"Join our journey through a classic short story, 'A Jury of Her Peers,' by Susan Glaspell. Along the way, you'll solve the mystery of whether Minnie Wright killed her husband and explore the story's literary elements. You will also encounter rest stops where you can read more about the structure of story and take part in activities related to 'A Jury of Her Peers.'"

The African Storyteller
http://african.lss.wisc.edu/hscheub/
From University of Wisconsin-Madison professor, Harold E. Scheub, several African stories -- complete with full-text, commentary, and audio. To hear the stories, Real Player needs to be installed on the computer.

Blithe House Quarterly: A Site for Gay Short Fiction
http://www.blithe.com/
"An online literary magazine featuring a diversity of new short stories by emerging and established gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered authors." Available issues date from Summer 1997 to the present.

Short Stories at East of the Web
http://www.short-stories.co.uk/
From East of the Web, a database of full-text short stories, which can be "read online, printed or downloaded for reading offline or on Palm devices." The database can be searched by author, title, or keyword; in addition, it can be browsed by genre, including: Fiction, Horror, Crime, and Romance.

Reference

1898 Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
http://www.bartleby.com/81/
"Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable comprises over 18,000 entries that reveal the etymologies, trace the origins and otherwise catalog 'words with a tale to tell.'" This online version of Brewer's Dictionary can be searched, or browsed by alphabetical entry.

Online Symbolism Dictionary
http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/symbolismproject/symbolism.html/
"This symbolism dictionary endeavors to provide some possible cultural significances of various symbols, and suggest ways in which those symbols may have been used in context." The site can be browsed alphabetically, or searched. Terms include: "Grapes," "Raven," and "Valley."

Twists, Slugs and Roscoes: A Glossary of Hardboiled Slang
http://www.miskatonic.org/slang.html
A glossary for anyone who has ever struggled to understand the language of pulp fiction or detective stories. Terms include: Beezer, Dormy, Hitting on all eight, and Roscoe.

A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms with Examples
http://www.uky.edu/AS/Classics/rhetoric.html
From the University of Kentucky Classics Division, a user-friendly glossary of terms such as: alliteration, onomatopoeia, and cacophony. Each definition is accompanied by several examples from both modern and classical literature.

British Titles of Nobility
http://laura.chinet.com/html/titles01.html
For those who have ever struggled with distinguishing dukes from earls, "An Introduction and Primer to the Peerage" will be a valued resource. An extensively researched and footnoted work, sections include: "Peerage Basics," "Courtesy Titles," and "Correct Forms of Address."

E-Texts & E-Books

Project Gutenberg
http://promo.net/pg/index.html
"Project Gutenberg is the Internet's oldest producer of FREE electronic books (eBooks or eTexts)" and features over 6000 texts. Authors include: Aristophanes, Virginia Woolf, P. G. Wodehouse, and W. E. B. Du Bois.

Bibliomania
http://www.bibliomania.com/
"Bibliomania offers you a superb educational resource with the full text of classic world literature and important nonfiction texts supported by an extensive reference section. Our study guides provide the best in current academic analysis and the Well Red magazine the best in contemporary reviews, articles and interviews." Texts can be browsed by literary form, title, and author. Free registration is required to access study guides.

Bartleby.com: Great Books Online
http://www.bartleby.com/
"Bartleby.com publishes the most up-to-date collection of reference works, as well as classic works of reference, fiction, nonfiction and verse." Works are organized into four main categories: Reference, Verse, Fiction, and Nonfiction. The site is searchable, as well. Featured works include: The Oxford Shakespeare, On the Art of Reading, and On the Art of Writing.

ClassicReader.com
http://www.classicreader.com/
An online collection of full-text works of literature. Works are organized into seven categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Children, Poetry, Shakespeare, Short Stories, and Drama; they can also be browsed by title and author. The site is searchable.

Classics at the Online Literature Library
http://www.literature.org/authors/
"An Online Library of Literature." Authors include: Mary Shelley, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Charles Darwin.

The Electronic Literature Foundation
http://thegreatbooks.org/
"The mission of the Electronic Literature Foundation (ELF) is to produce advanced electronic texts to be used by students, scholars, and admirers of literature around the world. Our goal is to provide free access to a variety of texts from world literature available in several languages and/or editions, with forums for communication regarding these works, for all types of readers." Authors include: Jane Austen, Geoffrey Chaucer, and Omar Khayyam.

Great Literature Online
http://underthesun.cc/Classics/
"At Great Literature On-line, we are dedicated to adding free, HTML formatted e-text for your reading enjoyment. If you are a student, be sure to checkout our links page for each author, especially if you are doing research." Authors include: Louisa May Alcott, Kate Chopin, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Henry David Thoreau.

SparkNotes: Classic Books Online
http://www.sparknotes.com/texts/
An online collection of full-text works, organized into five categories: Literature, Shakespeare, Poetry, Philosophy, and Drama. Texts include: "The Scarlet Letter," "The Rape of the Lock," "The Prince," and "The Communist Manifesto."

The Literary Gothic
http://www.litgothic.com/index_fl.html
"The Literary Gothic is a Web guide to all things concerned with literary Gothicism, which includes ghost stories, 'classic' Gothic novels and Gothic fiction (1764-1820), and related pre- and post-Gothic and supernaturalist literature written prior to the mid-C20." Texts can be browsed alphabetically by author or title. Authors include: Charlotte Brontë, Guy de Maupassant, and H. P. Lovecraft.

Reading Guides

Academic Writing: Reading for a Review
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/CriReadingBook.html
From UW-Madison's Writing Center, a quick guide to becoming a proactive reader, which can simplify the paper-writing process.

Critical Reading: A Guide
http://www.brocku.ca/English/jlye/criticalreading.html
From a professor of English at Brock University in Canada, a detailed guide on how to read, appreciate, and ultimately analyze literature. Sections include: I. Critical Analysis of Poetry, II: Analyzing fiction, III: Analysis of Prose in Fiction, and IV: Writing an Analytical Essay.

Reading Toward Writing
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/readingwriting.html
From the Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a guide that "suggests reading, note-taking, and writing strategies for when you need to use reading assignments or sources as the springboard for writing a paper."

Study Guides

Study Guides for Various Works
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/guides_index.html
From a professor of English at Washington State University, a series of study guides originally developed for the use of his own students. Each study guide is incredibly detailed, often offering chapter-by-chapter analysis. Featured works include: "Things Fall Apart," "The Satanic Verses," and "Notes from the Underground."

PinkMonkey.com: Book Notes
http://www.pinkmonkey.com/index2.asp
"PinkMonkey.com is the world's largest provider of free Literature summaries and one of the most highly trafficked education resource sites on the Internet." To access the over 300 study guides, simply click on the "Free BookNotes" link in the left navigation bar. Browse by title or author, then click on the linked TITLE of the desired work. Each guide is extensive, and features sections like: Chapter Summaries, Study Questions, Setting, Conflict, Themes, and Literary/Historical Information.

SparkNotes: Literature Study Guides
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/index.html
This site offers detailed study guides on a vast number of texts. Each guide contains chapter-by-chapter summary and analysis, as well as notes on plot, characters, and themes. Titles include: "The Metamorphosis," "The Bluest Eye," and "The Canterbury Tales." Site does require free registration to access guides.

Writing Guides

Academic Writing: Using Literary Quotations
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/QuoLiterature.html
From UW-Madison's Writing Center, a detailed instructional guide on how to integrate, cite, and punctuate quotes within your analysis.

The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing
http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/nb-home.html
An exhaustive guide to writing dos and don'ts from a professor of American Studies at Washington College. The site is intended for a college-student audience, and can be searched or browsed by topics like: "Thinking," "Style," "Structure," and "Evidence."

Writing Book Reviews
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/bookreview.html
From the Writing Tutorial Services at Indiana University, a simple, helpful guide to writing book reviews in an academic environment.

Writing a Review
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/review.html
From the Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a guide to writing reviews. "This handout will help you write a review, a report or essay that offers a critical perspective on a text or performance. It offers a process and suggests some strategies for writing reviews, with a special emphasis on assessing books."

UNC: Writing About Literature
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/literature.html
From the Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: "This handout describes some steps for planning and writing papers about literature."

Writing About Fiction
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_fiction.html
From the Purdue University Online Writing Lab, a useful guide to writing about novels and short stories. The guide is organized into five sections: "Close Reading a Text," "Developing a Thesis," "Pre-Writing Activities," "Drafting Your Essay," and "Avoiding Pitfalls."

Writing About Literature
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_lit.html
From the Purdue University Online Writing Lab, a guide to writing about literature. Of particular use is the section entitled "What Makes for a Good Literature Paper?" as it critiques sample thesis statements.

Literary Criticism

The Internet Public Library: Literary Criticism
http://www.ipl.org/div/litcrit/
"The IPL Literary Criticism Collection contains critical and biographical websites about authors and their works that can be browsed by author, by title, or by nationality and literary period."

Literary History

Literary Movements
http://www.gonzaga.edu/faculty/campbell/enl311/litfram.html
From a professor of English at Gonzaga University, detailed summaries of significant literary movements, including: Captivity Narratives, Native American Literature, Domestic Fiction, and Slave Narratives.

Eighteenth-Century Resources: Literature
http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/18th/lit.html
From a professor of English at Rutgers, an annotated directory of resources to aid research of eighteenth-century literature. Sections of the site include: German Literature, Women Writers, Theatre and Drama, and British Authors.

Literary Resources on the Net
http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Lit/
From a professor of English at Rutgers, links to detailed, annotated pages on various topics of literature, including: "Classical & Biblical," "Romantic," "Women's Literature & Feminism." The site can be searched.

Aspects of the Victorian Book
http://www.bl.uk/collections/early/victorian/intro.html
An attractive site from the British Library; find here images and histories of the "Production" and "Publishing" of the Victorian Book. Topics include: "Printing Technology," "Lithography," "Yellowbacks," and "The Novel."

Literary Locales

Literary Locales
http://www.sjsu.edu/english/innovative/
From the English Department of San Jose State University, "More than 500 picture links to the places that figure in the lives and writings of famous authors." The site can be browsed by chronological order or by author name in alphabetical order. Places include: "Arthur's Tintagel," "Jane Austen's Bath," and "Kahlil Gibran's Lebanon."

Literary Societies

The Republic of Pemberley
http://www.pemberley.com/
"Your haven in a world programmed to misunderstand obsession with things Austen." An online community for students, scholars, and fans of Jane Austen and her novels.

Literary Theory

Voice of the Shuttle: Literary Theory
http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=2718
A list of annotated links related to the study of literary theory. Links are generally organized into time periods, such as: "Classical," "Nineteenth Century," "Contemporary." However, there are also subject headings for: "Literary Theory Journals & Zines," "Course Syllabi," "Literary Theory Listservs & Newsgroups," and "Literary Theory Conferences & Calls for Papers."

World Literature

Voice of the Shuttle: Literatures (Other Than English)
http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=2719
An extensive directory of annotated links to resources on literature in languages other than English. Links are organized by language, including: "African," "Gaelic & Celtic," "Japanese," and "Turkish."

European Literature: Electronic Texts
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/wess/etexts.html
From the Western European Studies Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries, "This page lists Internet sources for literary texts in the western European languages other than English." Annotated links are organized into language categories, like: "Catalan Literature," "Latin Literature," and "Galician Literature."

African American

African American Literature Book Club
http://aalbc.com/
This website touts itself as the "#1 Site for Readers of Black Literature." It contains hundreds of author profiles, as well as writer's resources, book reviews and book news.

American

PAL: Perspectives in American Literature
http://www.csustan.edu/English/reuben/pal/table.html
From a professor of English at California State University Stanislaus, an abundance of information on select American literary periods and authors. The site is organized by chapters, including: "Early American Literature to 1700," "Early Nineteenth Century and Transcendentalism," and "The Harlem Renaissance." Listed within each chapter are links to pages on specific authors or literary movements, like: "Thomas Pynchon," "Blues Lyrics," and "Kate Chopin." Of particular interest is the section of "Appendices," which includes such useful resources as: "Elements of Fiction," "The American Dream," and "American Literary History & Theory." Authors and topics can also be browsed alphabetically.

European

Voice of the Shuttle: English Literature by Period
http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=2968
From the University of California, Santa Barbara, a directory of annotated links related to English Literature, broken down into chronological time periods like: "Anglo-Saxon & Medieval," "Restoration & 18th Century," and "Victorian."

Anthology of Middle English Literature (1350-1485)
http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/
From Luminarium, a nonprofit website designed "to provide a starting point for students and enthusiasts of English Literature," a database of select writers from Middle English Literature. The site can be browsed by author name, or searched. Each author name links to a biography of the author, full-text versions of his/her primary works, and critical essays written about that author. Featured authors include: Geoffrey Chaucer, Margery Kempe, and Sir Thomas Malory.

16th Century Renaissance English Literature (1485-1603)
http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/
From Luminarium, a nonprofit website designed "to provide a starting point for students and enthusiasts of English Literature," a database of select writers from the Renaissance period. The site can be browsed by author name, or searched. Each author name links to a biography of the author, full-text versions of his/her primary works, and critical essays written about that author. Featured authors include: Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, William Shakespeare, and Edmund Spenser.

English Literature: Early 17th Century (1603-1660)
http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/
From Luminarium, a nonprofit website designed "to provide a starting point for students and enthusiasts of English Literature," a database of select writers from the early seventeenth century. The site can be browsed by author name, or searched. Each author name links to a selection of his/her famous quotes, a biography of the author, full-text versions of his/her primary works, and critical essays written about that author. Featured authors include: John Donne, Thomas Hobbes, John Milton, and Sir Isaac Newton.

Voice of the Shuttle: Literature (in English)
http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=3
An extensive list of annotated links about English Literature. Links are organized into categories such as: "General English Lit. Resources," "Anglo-Saxon & Medieval," "Romantics," and "Minority Literatures." The site is searchable.

SovLit.com: Soviet Literature Summarized
http://www.sovlit.com/
"Works of Soviet Literature summarized for those unable or too lazy to read them in the original." Summaries are organized by genre, like: "Artistic Literature," "Science Fiction," and "Children's Literature." This website also features "Author Biographies" and "Links" to other web resources related to Soviet Literature.

Indigenous

Indigenous Peoples Literature
http://www.indigenouspeople.net/
"Indigenous Peoples Literature is a non-profit educational resource and collaboration dedicated to the indigenous peoples of the world and to the enrichment it can bring to all people." The site can be browsed a number of different ways: by tribe, by type of literature, or by great chiefs/leaders. Of particular interest is the "Famous Documents" link, which offers full-text versions of such documents as: "Iroquois Constitution," "Indian Pledge of Allegiance," and "Self-Determination in the Information Age."

Lesbian & Gay

Women

The Brontë Parsonage Museum and Brontë Society
http://www.bronte.org.uk/
"On this page you will find information about the lives and novels of the Brontë family. It also contains information about the Bronte Society, "one of the oldest literary societies in the English speaking world."

College Library

Research Guides

Research Guide

Undergraduate Research Guide: Novels & Short Stories

Scope

Overview

General Literature

American Literature

World Literature

Classical Literature

Biography

Literary Criticism and Theory

Reference Databases

Finding Journal and News Articles

Recommended Databases:

More Databases:

Finding Books

Internet Sites

Novels

Short Stories

Reference

E-Texts & E-Books

Reading Guides

Study Guides

Writing Guides

Literary Criticism

Literary History

Literary Locales

Literary Societies

Literary Theory

World Literature

African American

American

European

Indigenous

Lesbian & Gay

Women

Statistics

Videos

Organizations