ENG 246: Survey of American Literature (Pierce-Loudoun)

The best way to locate articles is through the library databases.  Go to Databases by Subject and look under English (Literature) to find a list of relevant databases on your topic.  You can also perform a search in the databases below.

• Do not enter complete sentences in the search box. Use relevant topics or keywords to perform your search.
• Search for literary criticism regarding the work itself and/or the author, as well as the historical era in which the work was written. 
• Put the word AND between search terms; American literature AND criticism.
• Connect related terms using OR; criticism OR critique OR review OR analysis.
• Look for additional keywords or subjects offered.
• Limit your results by full text, publication date or source type.
• Look for toolbars that provide print, email, and citation options.

Select the most important 2-3 terms related to your topic.  Put the word AND between each new term; this tells the database to look for resources with ALL your terms.

Langston Hughes AND religion AND poetry

Use quotation marks ( "  " ) around phrases (two or more words); this tells the database to look for the words in that specific order.

"to kill a mockingbird" AND justice

Use an asterisk ( * ) to find multiple endings of one word.  Using symbol* as a search term will include results that refer to symbol, symbols, symbolism, and symbolize.

symbol*

This video by Yavapai College Library in Prescott, Arizona demonstrates the different types of information found in Google versus library databases. 

Click the  icon located in the bottom right corner to watch the video in fullscreen mode.