Digital Reference Shelf: Literature

Focuses on writers and works published since 1950. The majority of the authors surveyed are African American, but representative African and Caribbean authors are also included. 3 volumes.

Provides critical overviews of literary epics of all time periods, nations, and cultures. Includes discussions of themes, characters, literary traditions and cultural context.

Spans all facets of gothic literature, including visual and performing arts, society and culture, themes, and settings. Includes primary source documents and critical material to provide a contextual perspective, a related chronology of key events, full-text commentaries, and lists of further readings. 3 volumes.

Examines the relationship between the political/social climate during which books were written and the works themselves. This volume focuses on major fiction, poetry and nonfiction from Latin America. Volume 1 of World Literature and Its Times.

Entries provide in-depth historical background information on each movement as well as modern critical interpretation of each movement's characteristic styles and themes. 2 volumes.

Provides in-depth commentary on characters, themes, and the historical and social context of 300 most-studied literary works, including novels, plays, poems, speeches, and short stories, both international and American. 5 volumes.

Provides critical overviews on the most frequently studied nonfiction essays, books, biographies, and memoirs. Includes discussions of literary format, themes, and structure. 5 volumes.

Provides critical overviews of novels from various cultures and time periods. Includes discussions of plot, characters, themes, and structure as well as the work's cultural and historical significance.

Features discussion and analysis of poems of all time periods, nations, and cultures. Provides an overview of the poem and discussion of its principal themes, images, form and construction.

Collection of essays by Shakespeare scholars that have been selected for students at the high school or undergraduate college level. Each entry includes an introduction; a plot synopsis; a character list; a discussion of the work's principal themes; information about the style and literary devices used; a conversation about the work's historical context; and a critical overview. 3 volumes.

Provides critical overviews of short stories from all cultures and time periods. Includes discussions of plot, characters, themes and structure as well as the story's cultural and historical significance.