Subject Guides - English
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Catalogs
These resources will provide access to book titles held at libraries throughout the United States
WorldCat Records of any type of material cataloged by OCLC member libraries. Includes manuscripts written as early as the 12th century.
Dissertations
These resources will provide access to dissertations from 1861 to present,including those submitted at UMBC- Dissertation Abstracts (Proquest Digital Dissertations)
Indexes U.S., Canadian, British, and other European dissertations and theses; dissertations abstracted since 1980, theses abstracted since 1988. Full Dissertations published since 1997 (1991 from UMBC) are available in PDF digital format.
UMBC Dissertations & Theses Find Masters' degree theses and PhD dissertations submitted by UMBC doctoral candidates.
See the research guides for Literature Criticism and Author Biography and Plays and Play Reviews for additional resources.
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Online Bio/Bibliographical and Criticism Resources
These resources will provide biographical material, a list of the writings of the author and criticism
Gale Literary Index A master index to every literary series published by Gale. Search by a literary work's title or look for authors by name, birth date, death date, or nationality.
- LION (Literature Online Complete)
Includes more than 350,000 works of English and American poetry, drama and prose, plus biographies, bibliographies and key criticism and reference resources. Includes the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature 1920-present.
- Literary Encyclopedia and Literary Dictionary
Lives and works of writers, major and minor. Provides topical essays. International in coverage.
- Literature Resource Center
Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC), Dictionary of Literary Biography(DLB) and full-text of 34 literary journals.
Print Bio/Bibliographical and Criticism Resources
These print resources provide biographical material, a list of writings of the author and criticism of authors beyond those authors represented in the directly above listing. See also Literature Criticism and Author Biography
Nineteenth Century Literary Criticism. [REF PN761.N5 Vol 1-]
- Twentieth Century Literary Criticism.
[REF PN771.G27 Vol 1-]
- Contemporary Literary Criticism.
[REF PN94.C6 Vol 1-]
- Shakespearan Criticism.
[REF PR2965.S44 Vol 1-]
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Dictionaries and Handbooks
These resources will provide access to definitions and background information on authors and their works in addition to those listed by genre.- Oxford English Dictionary
The OED describes English as it is today, but also records the history and development of the language through descriptive techniques and quotations. Funded by the Maryland Digital Library (MDL).
- Phrase Finder
Provides access to phrases and sayings, their meanings and origins, euphemisms, quotes from Shakespeare, proverbs and more.
- Handbook to Literature. William Harmon and C. Hugh Holman, 2006.
[PN41.H355 1996]
The above are only examples of the types of reference resources that are available. For additional titles search catalogusmai or see: New Resources
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These resources will provide access to scholarly journal articles, some of which will be full-text- Academic Search Premier (Ebsco)
Provides full-text for over 3,400 scholarly journals covering the social sciences, humanities, education, sciences, and more. Funded by the Maryland Digital Library (MDL).
- ArticleFirst
Indexes journals in science, technology, medicine, social science, business, the humanities, and popular culture.
- Humanities International Complete (Ebsco)
Humanities International Index is a comprehensive database covering journals, books and other reference sources in the humanities. The database contains bibliographic records from a multitude of U.S. and international journals, books and reference works.
- Humanities Text Initiative Modern English Collection
Classic works from British and American writers.
- JSTOR
Electronic archive of selected core journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Includes full-text of all articles published prior to the most current five years. UMBC subscribes to Arts & Science I, II, III, General Science, Ecology & Botany.
- Literature Resource Center
Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC), Dictionary of Literary Biography(DLB) and full-text of 34 literary journals.
- MLA International Bibliography (Modern Language Association - Ebsco)
Indexes 4,000+ journals in the areas of literature, language and linguistics, folklore, literary theory & criticism, rhetoric, dramatic arts, printing and publishing.
- Project Muse
Searchable full-text of select journals in the humanities and social sciences. UMBC subscribes to its Basic Undergraduate Collection.
- Treasures in Full: Shakespeare in Quarto
On this site you will find the British Library's 93 copies of the 21 plays by Shakespeare printed in quarto before the theatres were closed in 1642. Includes background information, text comparisons, commentary on the plays and the historical context.
- World Shakespeare Bibliography Online 1963-2006
The Bibliography provides annotated entries for all important books, articles, book reviews, dissertations, theatrical produc-tions & reviews, audiovisual materials, electronic media, and other scholarly and popular materials produced 1963-2006.
Print Indexes and Abstracts
- Year's Work in English Studies (see also MLA)
- REF PE58.E6 1929-present Incomplete
- REF PE58.E6 1929-present Incomplete
Explicators
These resources provide analysis and explanation of various titles within the genre.- Magill, Frank, editor. Masterplots II: American Fiction Series , 1986.
[REF PN846.M37 1986]
- Magill, Frank, editor. Critical Survey of Long Fiction. English language series, 1983.
[REF PN3451.C7 Vol 1-8]
- Magill, Frank, editor. Critical Survey of Long Fiction. Foreign Language Series, 1984.
[REF PN3451.C75 1984 Vol 1-5]
- Short Story Criticism, 1988.
[REF PN3373.S56 Vol 1-21]
- Magill, Frank, editor. Critical Survey of Drama, 1985.
[REF PR623.C75 1985 Vol 1-6]
- Magill, Frank. Masterplots II: Drama, 1990.
[REF PN6112.5.M37 1990]
- Magill, Frank, editor. Masterplots II: Poetry Series, 1992.
[REF PN1110.5.M37 1992]
- Magill, Frank, editor. Critical Survey of Poetry. English language series
[REF PR502.C85 1992]
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Poetry
- New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics.
[REF PN 1021.N39 1993]
- New Princeton Handbook of Poetic Terms.
[REF PN 1021.N39 1994]
- American Academy of Poets
- American Verse Project
- Bartleby Verse
- Glossary of Poetic Terms
- Internet Poetry Archive
- Poet's Corner
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Full-Text and Recordings
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AFRICAN AND POST-COLONIAL STUDIES: Encyclopoedias, Dictionaries, Handbooks and Websites
- Encyclopedia of African Literature. , 2003.
[REF PL8010 .E63 2003]
- African Literature on the Internet (African Studies at Columbia University
- Contemporary Postcolonial and Postimperial Literature in English
- Postcolonial Studies at Emory University
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AMERICAN LITERATURE: Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Handbooks and Websites
These resources provide background information on authors and their works- Encyclopedia of American Literature. , 2002.
[REF PS21.E53 2002 vol 1-3]
- Columbia Literary History of the United States. , 1988.
[REF PS92.C64 1988]
- Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. , 2002.
[REF PS153.N5 A24 2003]
- Encyclopedia of Southern Literature. , 1988.
[REF PS261.S515 1997]
- An Emily Dickinson Encyclopedia. , 1998.
[REF PS1541.Z49 E47 1998]
- Major Characters in American Fiction. , 1994.
[REF PS PS374.C43M35 1994]
- American Authors on the Web
- Attending to Early Modern Women: Gender Culture and Change
Coverage: 1500 to ca. 1800. Gateway to Web resources useful for the study of women in early modern Europe and the Americas. Resources have been selected for their scholarly value by members of the Arts and Humanities Team of the University of Maryland Libraries
- Humanities Text Initiative Modern English Collection
19th-20th cent. works in English. Classic works from British and American writers
- Internet Public Library: Literary Criticism
- Library of Southern Literature
- Literary Resources on the Net
English and American literary sources
- Voice of the Shuttle
- Voices from the Gap: Women Writers of Color
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BRITISH LITERATURE: Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Handbooks and Websites
- Attending to Early Modern Women: Gender Culture and Change
Coverage: 1500 to ca. 1800. Gateway to Web resources useful for the study of women in early modern Europe and the Americas. Resources have been selected for their scholarly value by members of the Arts and Humanities Team of the University of Maryland Libraries
- British Women Romantic Poets 1789-1832
- Early Modern Literary Studies
- Humanities Text Initiative Modern English Collection
19th-20th cent. works in English. Classic works from British and American writers
- Literary Resources on the Net
English and American literary sources
- Internet Public Library: Literary Criticism
- Jane Austen Information Page
- Jane Austen Society of North America
- Victorian Authors on the Web
- Victorian Women Writer's Project
- Voice of the Shuttle
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MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE LITERATURE: Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Handbooks and Websites
- Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment. , 2001.
[REF B802.E55 2001]
- Encyclopedia of the Renaissance. , 1999.
[REF CB361.E52 1999]
- 16th Century English Literature
- Chaucer Metapage
- Early Modern Women
- Electronic Beowulf
- Free Dictionary of the Renaissance
- Great Lives from History: Renaissance to 1900 series. , 1989.
[REF CT104.G68 1989 Vol 1-5]
- The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Luminarium (Medieval/Renaissance, and 17th Century Literature
- Milton Reading Room
- Old English Corpus
The Corpus comprises over 3000 different texts (all surviving OE material, excluding some variant texts)
- Perseus Renaissance Materials
Full-text primary and secondary sources
- Renaissance Women Online
- Shakespeare and the Internet
- Voice of the Shuttle
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Writing and Rhetoric Sites
- The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
- Elements of Style (Strunk)
- A Guide for Writing Research Papers based on Modern Language Association (MLA) documentation
Prepared by Capital Community College, Hartford CT
- OWL Online Writing Lab
Excellent site from Purdue University
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Plagiarism
- Plagiarism: What it is and How to Recognize and Avoid It
from Indiana University
- UMBC and Plagiarism