Some Basic Language and Literature Research Tools
English Language
Oxford English Dictionary.
The OED presents the words that have formed the English vocabulary from the time of the earliest records down to the present day, with all the relevant facts concerning their form, sense-history, pronunciation, and etymology. It embraces not only the standard language of literature and conversation, but also the main technical vocabulary, and a large measure of dialectical usage and slang. Second edition available in print in Olin Reference PE1625 M98 1989
Literary Criticism & Terminology
Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism
A full-text searchable database of articles on individual critics and theorists, critical and theoretical schools and movements, and the critical and theoretical innovations of specific countries and historical periods. Each entry includes a selective primary and secondary bibliography. Paper edition (2005) in Olin Reference: Olin Reference PN81 J554 2005 +
Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
Includes "coverage of traditional drama, versification, rhetoric, and literary history, as well as updated and extended advice on recommended further reading and a pronunciation guide to more than 200 terms."
Some Basic Jane Austen Resources Online
Cambridge Companion to Jane AustenPublication Date: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2010Covers "the intricacies of Austen's works in their historical context, with biographical information and suggestions for further reading. Major scholars address Austen's six novels, the letters and other works, in terms accessible to students and the many general readers, as well as to academics.
Cambridge Introduction to Jane AustenCall Number: 2nd print edition (2015) in Olin stacks PR4037 .T63 2015Publication Date: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006This innovative introduction by a leading scholar and editor of Austen's work explains what students need to know about her novels, life, context and reception. Each novel is discussed in detail, and all the essential information about her life and literary influences, her novels and letters, and her impact on later literature and culture is covered. While the book considers the key areas of current critical focus its analysis remains thoroughly grounded in readings of the texts themselves. Janet Todd outlines what makes Austen's prose style so innovative and gives useful starting points for the study of the major works, with suggestions for further reading.
A Companion to Jane AustenPublication Date: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011Provides 42 essays from a distinguished team of literary scholars that examine the full breadth of the English novelist's works and career. Provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date array of Austen scholarship Functions both as a scholarly reference and as a survey of the most innovative speculative developments in the field of Austen studies Engages at length with changing contexts and cultures of reception from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries
Cambridge Companion to 'Pride and Prejudice'Publication Date: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2013With a combination of original readings and factual background information, this Companion investigates some of the sources of the novel's power. It explores key themes and topics in detail: money, land, characters and style. The history of the book's composition and first publication is set out, both in individual essays and in the section of chronology. Chapters on the critical reception, adaptations and cult of the novel reveal why it has become an enduing classic with a unique and timeless appeal.
British Literature & History
- Cambridge Social History of Britain, 1750–1950A three volume historical overview of life in England during the modern era.
Vol. 1- Regions and Communities
Vol. 2 - People and their environment
Vol. 3. Social Agencies and Institutions
Encyclopedia of Romantic LiteratureCall Number: Print copy: Olin Reference PR447 E55 2012Publication Date: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012"A three-volume reference work that covers British artistic, literary, and intellectual movements between 1780 and 1830, within the context of European, transatlantic and colonial historical and cultural interaction. Comprises over 275 entries ranging from 1,000 to 6,500 words arranged in A-Z format across three fully cross-referenced volumes. Entries explore genre development in prose, poetry, and drama of the Romantic period, key authors and their works, and key themes." (publisher)
Encyclopedia of the NovelPublication Date: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014"Arranged in A-Z format, entries explore the history and tradition of the novel in different areas of the world; formal elements of the novel (such as narrative structure, plot, character, and narrative perspective); technical aspects of the genre (such as realism, dialogue, and style); subgenres, including the bildungsroman and the graphic novel; theoretical problems; book history; and the relationship of the novel to other arts and disciplines." [publisher]
- Gale LiteratureA literature database combining biographical, bibliographical, and contextual
information on authors and their works (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, history, and journalism). Includes both textual and visual material from the Dictionary of Literary Biography, Contemporary Authors, and Contemporary Literary Criticism. - Oxford Bibliographies Online: British and Irish LiteratureOffers peer-reviewed, annotated bibliographies on British and Irish literature. Bibliographies are browseable by subject area and keyword searchable.
Oxford Companion to British HistoryCall Number: Print copy: Olin Reference DA34 O93 2015 +Publication Date: Oxford U. Press, 2015Describes and analyses the people and events that have shaped and defined life in Britain over more than 2,000 years of political, social, and cultural change. Coverage includes authors, composers and musicians, legal and technical terms, newspapers and periodicals, ranks and orders, sport and leisure, and scholarship and education.
Oxford Companion to English LiteratureCall Number: Print copy: Olin Reference PR 19 O94 2009+Publication Date: Oxford U. Press, 2009Available 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.
Oxford Encyclopedia of British LiteratureCall Number: Print copy: Olin Reference PR19 O95 2006Publication Date: Oxford U. Press, 2006"Covers the entire history of British literature from the seventh century to the present, focusing on the writers and the major texts of what are now the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. In five hundred substantial essays written by major scholars, the Encyclopedia of British Literature includes biographies of nearly four hundred individual authors and a hundred topical essays with detailed analyses of particular themes, movements, genres, and institutions whose impact upon the writing or the reading of literature was significant." Table of contents.
