English 1111: Writing and Renaissance 

Reference Sources
Online subject encyclopedias

Bloomsbury Dictionary of English Literature. edited by Marion Wynne-Davies. Bloomsbury, 1997. Rev. ed.
Contains over 800 entries on writers from Chaucer and Shakespeare to Martin Amis and Caryl Churchill, over 1000 entries on individual works, over 300 Biblical and mythological characters and events, over 600 literary and critical terms and movements, and over 1000 entries describing historical, cultural and social events. [publisher]

Dictionary of Shakespeare. Louise McConnell. Teddington, Middlesex : Peter Collin, 2000.
A comprehensive dictionary that covers the plays, poems, characters and background to Shakespeare's works. The dictionary also includes terms used in the theatre and stagecraft, as well as historical references and details on the Elizabethan historical and social period. 
 

A Dictionary of Shakespeare. Stanley Wells, with the assistance of James Shaw. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1998.
"Compiled by one of the best-known authorities on the Bard's works, this dictionary offers up-to-date information on all aspects of Shakespeare in his own time and on his impact and influence on later ages. It includes entries on the plays and the major characters, on Shakespeare's life and his contemporaries, on actors from Edmund Kean to Peter O'Toole, on theatres and directors, plus comments on Shakespeare by later authors such as Jane Austen, Dr Johnson, and Bernard Levin." [publisher]

Literature Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, c1999 -.
A complete literature database combining biographical, bibliographical, and contextual information on authors and their works (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, history, and journalism). Draws from Gale Group’s core literary databases including Contemporary authors, Dictionary of literary biography, and Contemporary literary criticism. Provides additional search capability for Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopedia of literature and Gale literary index.

Oxford Companion to English Literature. Margaret Drabble, ed. 6th ed. Oxford: Clarendon, 2000. Olin Ref PR l9 O94 2000
Available online and in print. Provides brief articles on authors and literary works from all periods of English literature are arranged alphabetically in this comprehensive single volume handbook.Contains extensive cross-references. Appendices include a chronology of English literature, and lists of poets laureate and major literary award winners.