4. Find Sources

Once you have narrowed your topic and thought about keywords, try searching the databases below for potential sources you can use to support your thesis. If your keywords aren't working ask a librarian for help!

Biographical Sources

Your research paper includes biographical information about the author. The literature databases will have some information, but also look for the author in the Gale in Context: Biography database. There are also several recommended books that include biographies on poets (see below).

Gale in Context: Biography
Look up information on specific people. Find biographical essays, magazine/newspaper/journal articles, images and websites for people.

Literary Criticism Sources

The following databases have lots of sources for poetry criticism. Begin your search by entering the name of the poem. If there are a lot of results, you can add the word "and," and then the theme you are researching.

Gale Literature
Gale Literature allows you to search all of Gale’s literary databases and literature eBook titles in one database.
Bloom's Literature
Writings of Harold Bloom as well as other critics. Features author biographies, overviews, synopses, analyses and literary criticism of thousands of works from novels to poetry to plays, video segments, in-depth full-text entries on literary topics and themes and a literary timeline. Proxy Bypass
EBSCO Literature Databases
Search 2 EBSCO literary databases at once: Literary Reference Source and Academic Search Premier. Proxy Bypass

Historical Sources

The following databases have information about American history to help you understand the context of the author's life and how their work reflects that time period.

Gale in Context: U.S. History
Great database for U.S. history; particularly strong reference information.
Modern World History
A comprehensive look at world history including art, music, literature, politics and other aspects of culture from the mid-15th century to current times including United States. Thousands of subject entries, biographies, images, videos and slideshows, maps and graphs, primary sources, and timelines combine to provide a detailed and comparative view of the people, places, events, and ideas that have defined modern world history and culture.
African-American History
Covering more than 500 years of the African-American experience, explore the full spectrum of African-American history and culture, with videos and slideshows, images, biographies of key people, event and topic entries, primary sources, maps and graphs, and timelines. Proxy Bypass

The Oxford Companion to Modern Poetry
Call Number: Giles REF PR601 .O9 2013

ISBN: 0191744522

Also Available Online
Critical Survey of Poetry: American Poets by Rosemary M. Canfield Reisman (Editor); Salem Press Editors
Call Number: Giles REF PN1021 .C7 A64 2011

ISBN: 9781587655821

Publication Date: 2011-01-01
American Writers, Supplement XXIX
Call Number: eBook

Publication Date: 2018
African American Poets by Joyce Owens Pettis
Call Number: Giles REF PS153 .N5 P48 2002

ISBN: 031331117X

Publication Date: 2002-06-30
American Writers by A. Walton Litz; Molly Weigel
Call Number: Giles REF PS129 .A55

ISBN: 0684197855

Publication Date: 1996-09-23
British Writers by Ian Scott-Kilvert (Editor)
Call Number: eBook

ISBN: 0684157985(

Publication Date: 1979-01-01
Contemporary Poets
Call Number: eBook

ISBN: 1558623493

Publication Date: 2000-09-28
World Poets
Call Number: eBook

ISBN: 068480591X

Publication Date: 2000-05-05

Poetry for Students
Call Number: E-Book, Use the 'search within' tool to find information about specific poems in this resource.

Publication Date: 2018

Also available in print. Call Number: Giles Reference PN1010 .P65 1997
The Facts on File Companion to American Poetry by Burt Kimmelman; Temple Cone; Randall Huff
Call Number: CCC REF PS323.5 .F33 2008

ISBN: 0816069506

Publication Date: 2007-10-01

Also Available Online
Critical Survey of Poetry by Philip K. Jason (Editor); Tracy Irons-Geroges (Editorial Coordinator); Christina J. Moose (Editorial Coordinator); Dawn P. Dawson (Editor-In-Chief)
Call Number: Giles REF PN1021 .C7 2003

ISBN: 1587650711

Publication Date: 2002-09-01
American Poetry of the 20th Century by Salem Press Editors
Call Number: DTC Reference PS323.5 .I587 2014

ISBN: 1619257130

Publication Date: 2014-12-17
Literary Newsmakers for Students by Anne Marie Hacht; Greg Wilson (Foreword by)
Call Number: eBook

ISBN: 1414402813

Publication Date: 2006-05-12
Poetry Criticism (Multiple Volumes)
Call Number: Giles REF PN1035 .P64

This collection can also be searched using the Literature Criticism Online included in the databases above.
The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics by Alex Preminger (Editor); Terry V. F. Brogan (Editor); Frank J. Warnke (Editor)
Call Number: Giles REF PN1021 .N39 1993

ISBN: 0691032718

Publication Date: 1993-05-09
The Teachers and Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms
Call Number: Giles REF PN1042 .T43 1987
The Longman Dictionary of Poetic Terms
Call Number: Giles REF PN1042 .M94 1989

Imagining and Knowing by Gregory Currie
Call Number: eBook

ISBN: 0199656614

Publication Date: 2020-03-19
Literary Fiction by Geir Farner
Call Number: eBook

ISBN: 9781623564261

Publication Date: 2014-01-30
Reading Theories in Contemporary Fiction by Lisa McNally
Call Number: eBook

ISBN: 9781441190260

Publication Date: 2013-04-25
Understanding fiction : knowledge and meaning in literature by Daiber, Jürgen
Call Number: eBook

ISBN: 1336027479

Publication Date: 2012

Search for Books & eBooks

Use the search box below to search the SCC Library Catalog for physical books (in one of our library locations) and eBooks. You can also open the Library Catalog or use the Advanced Search for more search options.