Subject guide: English

articles | books | reference | websites

Find articles

• MLA International Bibliography
  Comprehensive index of journal articles and books related to literature. This is the primary tool for finding literary criticism. Links to full-text when available, but expect to use ILLiad to request many of these articles or Summit to request books.
• Literature Resource Center
  Full-text of articles from over 250 journals dealing with literary criticism. Also, an excellent source for detailed literary biographies.
• JSTOR
  Includes the full-text of about eighty scholarly journals in literature, usually from the first issue through from two to five years ago. Does not include current issues.

Off-campus access to these databases is available. When prompted, sign in with your SMU network/email user name and password. For problems, call 360.486.8803 or email us.
 

Find books

• Use the O'Grady Library catalog to find books in our collection, in Summit, and beyond.
• Use ILLiad to request books not found in either O'Grady Library or Summit.

To find books on a particular author, do a subject search of the author's name:

• SU:"Alexie, Sherman"

Finding too many biographies? You can limit to literary criticism by adding the phrase "criticism and interpretation":

• "criticism and interpretation" SU:"Dickinson, Emily"

Reference -- selected online sources

• Gale Literature Resource Center
• Gale Virtual Reference Library -- select literature
• Oxford Reference Premium Online: Literature
• Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
• English Dictionaries and Thesauruses

Websites

Citation guides and writing resources

• MLA Style Citation Guide (PDF)
• The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) -- MLA formatting and style guide

Electronic texts (primary sources)

• American Verse Project (University of Michigan Humanities Text Initiative)
• British Women Romantic Poets (University of California Davis)
• Early Manuscripts at Oxford University
• Internet Library of Early Journals
• Library of Congress American Memory: Literature
• Luminarium: Anthology of English Literature
• Middle English Compendium
• Modern English Collection (EText Center, University of Virginia Libraries)
• Online Medieval and Classical Library
• Oxford Text Archive
• Project Gutenberg
• Representative Poetry Online
• Victorian Women Writers Project

Graduate schools and GRE test preparation

• Testing & Education Reference Center

Other resources

• Modern Language Association (MLA)
• National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
• English Department, Saint Martin's University
• Writing Center, Saint Martin's University