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Scope
The reference books listed here are in three categories: general criticism of a poet’s works, excerpts from critical reviews, and indexes to reviews published elsewhere. Also included are online databases that index articles in magazines and journals.

REFERENCE BOOKS

I. Collected evaluations of an author’s work in general or of individual poems.

Contemporary Poets
Provides biographical and bibliographical information about poets currently or recently writing in the English language. Each entry includes a single critical essay characterizing the poet’s body of work, plus a list of the poet’s publications and a list of critical studies of the poetry, which may be particularly useful as many of the poets included are not widely known.
REF PN 1021 .C6

Critical Survey of Poetry
Arranged by poet, this source provides critical essays, with brief biographies, of poets and poetry from Beowulf to the present. Each entry includes principal poetry, other literary forms, achievements, biography, analysis, other major works and a bibliography. Volume 8 includes essays dealing with literary eras, poetry types, poetical terms, etc.
REF PN 1021.C7

Masterplots II: Poetry Series
Contains critical evaluations of individual works of poetry from all nations and time periods. Arrangement is alphabetical by title of poem. Each entry contains a review of the poem, forms and devices, and themes and meanings.
REF PN 1110.5 .M37

Poetry for Students
Provides in-depth studies of individual poems. Each entry focuses on a single poem and gives an overview and a summary of the poem, as well as its complete text, major themes, style, historical context, and a detailed critical essay, plus a brief biography of the poet. Cumulative index in each volume.
REF PN 1101 .P756

II. The Gale series of literary criticism. This series provides excerpts from published literary criticism. Each set focuses on a particular genre or period of literature. A paperback cumulative title index is filed with each set.

Poetry Criticism
Includes the major poets of all eras and nationalities.
REF PN 1010 .P62

Contemporary Literary Criticism – CLC
Includes authors writing in the late 1900s.
REF PN 94 .C6

Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism – TCLC
Includes authors writing in the early 1900s.
REF PN 94 .T85

Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism – NCLC
Includes authors writing between 1800 and 1900.
REF PN 761 .N5

Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800 - LC
Includes authors writing between 1400 and 1800.
REF PN 86 .L53

Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism – CMLC
Includes authors writing before 1400.
REF PN 610 .C5

III. Indexes to published literary criticism.

Poetry Explication: A Checklist of Interpretation Since 1925 of British and American Poems Past and Present
Indexes poetry criticism published between 1925 and 1972. Search first by poet, then by poem title. The periodicals consulted are listed at the beginning of the book, while the book sources appear at the end. Titles owned by PJC are indicated.
REF PR 502 .K8

American and British Poetry: A Guide to the Criticism, 1925-1978
Similar to the previous title, but indexes published criticism of poems up to 1000 lines in length, whereas 500 lines is the upper limit for the first title. There is considerable overlap between the two titles.
REF PS 303 .A44 1984

Guide to American Poetry Explication, Colonial and Nineteenth-Century (v.1) and Guide to American Poetry Explication, Modern and Contemporary (v.2) and Guide to British Poetry Explication, Modern and Contemporary (3v.)
Continues and expands Poetry Explication. Entries are arranged first by poet’s name, then by poem title, and, finally, by name of the critic.
REF PS 201 .G8 v.1-2 (American)
REF PR 311 .M37 v.1-3 (British)

RESEARCHING THE TOPIC: Books
To locate books at PJC and other Florida community college libraries, click on Find Books at the top of the LRC homepage, or click Go at Search PJC Catalog. Enter the author’s last name along with the term criticism. For example, to locate literary criticism about the works of Maya Angelou, type angelou criticism into the search box.

ARTICLES
To access the following databases, click on the Find Articles link at the top of the LRC homepage.  Login is automatic from the LRC computers. From remote computers, it is necessary to log in by: 1) selecting Pensacola Junior College from the drop down menu; 2) typing the 14-digit PJC photo ID number in the Borrower ID box; 3) typing the last four digits of your Social Security number into the PIN box. Before logging in, be sure to activate the barcode number on your ID card by contacting the LRC at 484-2002 or stopping by the Circulation Desk in the LRC lobby. Once logged in, click on the Alphabetical link at the top of the page. From the alphabetical list, click on the database of your choice.

Literature Resource Center
Provides biographical coverage of over 124,000 writers and critical analyses, explications and overviews of works of literature from all time periods. Contains in-depth coverage of the 2,500 most studied authors. Updated material added continuously.

Magill On Literature Plus
Offers critical analyses and brief plot summaries of the most studied works in the history of literature, as well as biographical essays on notable authors.

Academic Search Premier
Multidisciplinary source of articles from magazines and scholarly (peer reviewed) journals. Includes abstracts (summaries) of most articles. To limit to full-text articles only, and or scholarly (peer-reviewed) journals, check the appropriate box(es).

General OneFile
Multidisciplinary source of articles from a variety of reference sources including magazines, academic journals and newswires. To limit to full-text articles only, and or peer-reviewed publications, click the more search options link and check the appropriate box(es).