LibGuides: English Literature: Long and Short Fiction

Long Form Search Strategies

When searching for criticism on longer fiction works such as novels and novellas, keep the following in mind.

For research on specific chapters:

Know alternate titles, subheadings, or common phrases in the chapter.
Likewise, keep in mind the general themes that can be searched.

For research on specific works:

Know the alternate names for authors, related works, and the general genre.
Keep in mind that reviews of sister works often mention prior works. Consider researching the author in general.

Short Form Search Strategies

If you're looking for a specific story, titles might not be consistently indexed. Look for titles of collections that the story could be in. Remember that anthologies often contain stories from multiple authors across a specific theme.
Google Books is a great place to search if you remember a specific line or phrase but not the title or author.
The Dictionary of Literary Biography, found in Gale Literature can help you remember titles by specific authors.

Short Fiction

The Best American Short Stories 2013 by Elizabeth Strout; Heidi Pitlor (Editor)
Call Number: PZ1 .B446235 2013

ISBN: 0547554834

Publication Date: 2013-10-08

An annual collection of the best short stories from American authors in the past year, the library holds this collection back to 1978.
Short fiction criticism; a checklist of interpretation since 1925 of stories and novelettes (American, British, Continental) 1800-1958 by Jarvis Thurston
Call Number: Z5917.S5

Publication Date: 1960
The Facts on File Companion to the American Short Story by Abby H. P. Werlock (Editor)
Call Number: PS374.S5 F33 2000

ISBN: 0816031649

Publication Date: 2000-02-01

"A handy volume that presents an immediate introduction to American short fiction from the 19th century to the 1990s, the 675 alphabetically arranged entries consist of author biographies, literary terms, theories, themes, well-known characters, influential events, and summaries of major stories. Entries are definitive and written in a clear style."--"Outstanding Reference Sources," American Libraries, May 2001.

Long Fiction

Encyclopedia of the Novel by Paul Schellinger (Editor)
Call Number: PN41 .E487 1998

ISBN: 1579580157

Publication Date: 1998-11-01
The Cambridge History of English Literature, 1660-1780 by John Richetti (Editor)
Call Number: PR442 .C36 2005

ISBN: 0521781442

Publication Date: 2005-01-06

Offering essays on the range of English literature produced in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, this collection presents new historical perspectives and critical approaches to the classic authors and texts of the period. Neglected authors and themes, as well as new and emerging genres within the expanding print market, are discussed in their social and historical contexts. The volume also includes a complete chronology and bibliographies.
The Cambridge Companion to American Novelists by Timothy Parrish (Editor)
Call Number: PS371 .C35 2013

ISBN: 9781107013131

Publication Date: 2012-11-12

This Companion examines the full range and vigor of the American novel. From the American exceptionalism of James Fenimore Cooper to the apocalyptic post-Americanism of Cormac McCarthy, these newly commissioned essays from leading scholars and critics chronicle the major aesthetic innovations that have shaped the American novel over the past two centuries. The essays evaluate the work, life, and legacy of influential American novelists including Melville, Twain, James, Wharton, Cather, Faulkner, Ellison, Pynchon, and Morrison, while situating them within the context of their literary predecessors and successors. The volume also highlights less familiar, though equally significant writers such as Theodore Dreiser and Djuna Barnes, providing a balanced and wide-ranging survey of use to students, teachers, and general readers of American literature.