Finding and using literary criticism

A guide for high school students to finding and using literary criticism, in print and on the web.

By Melissa Thibault

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• Catalog display for The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Carlson: This project is a culminating activity for the novel The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson. Rather than writing the traditional book report, students will create a catalog of items, characters, places, themes, ideas, etc. from the novel. The students will create the catalog on the computer.
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Related topics

• Learn more about English language arts, literary criticism, literature, and research skills.

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Finding Literary Criticism in Print

Looking for critical reviews, interpertations and analysis of the literature you are reading in English class? Plan a trip to the library. More than likely, you will not locate the critical article you need online. Be sure to ask your media Specialist for help.

Start in the reference section. Chances are you have a scary-looking collection of large brown books from Gale publishers in your school’s media center. But how to find an article about your author or one specific work? Use the Literary Index to locate literary criticism in Gale’s resources.

For more information about locating Literary Criticism check out the Internet Public Library’s Literary Criticism Pathfinder.

Literary criticism on the web

• IPL Literary Criticism Collection Critical and biographical websites about authors and their works that can be browsed by author, by title, or by nationality and literary period.
• Literary Resources on the Web by Jack Lynch of Rutgers University
• Voice of the Shuttle A guide to online resources in the humanities disciplines.
• Critical Theory & Cultural Studies from the Eserver at the University of Washington.