LibGuides: FYSEM 110PS: Self-Portraiture: Background Info


Library Research Guides

Why background information?

Encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference resources help you to discover basic information—names, dates, definitions, summaries, etc. These are good places to start when beginning research on an unfamiliar subject, and when choosing or narrowing a paper topic.

General reference

Encyclopedia Britannica
A good general encyclopedia covering all topics/subject areas.

Authors, their lives and works

Biographical reference works

The Oxford encyclopedia of American literature by edited by Jay Parini
ISBN: 9780195307726
Author entries include biographical information as well as lists of Further Reading that can help point you to seminal biographies of the author and critical analysis of their work.
Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature by David Scott Kastan (Editor)
ISBN: 0195169212
Publication Date: 2006
Entries on authors, themes, movements, genres, institutions, etc. across the history of British Literature. There are even entries for major works. Author entries include biographical information as well as lists of Further Reading that can help point you to seminal biographies of the author and critical analysis of their work.
The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Literature in English by Jenny Stringer (Editor); John Sutherland (Introduction by); John Sutherland (Other)
ISBN: 0192122711
Publication Date: 1996-10-31
This Companion examines English-language writers and writing throughout the twentieth century, in all major genres and from all around the world.

Dictionary of Literary Biography Complete
Biographical dictionary with essays on the lives, works, and careers of literary figures from all eras and genres.
Biography in Context (aka Biography Resource Center)
Biography in Context delivers outstanding research support with 600,000+ biographical entries — on more than 528,000 individuals — spanning history and geography.

Countries

Reading a story, memoir, or essay that's set in a country that's unfamiliar to you? Reference works can help you quickly learn enough about a country's recent (or even older) history to help you better understand the context of the text you're reading.

Europa World Yearbook
First published in 1926, the year book is renowned as one of the world's leading reference works, covering political and economic information in more than 250 countries and territories. See each country's Profile section for information about its "Contemporary political history."

Encyclopedia Britannica
A good general encyclopedia covering all topics/subject areas including countries. Britannica's country entries usually include a section on history with information about the distant as well as more recent past.

English vocabulary

Come across a word that is new to you and can't quite figure out what it means based on the context of what you're reading? It's easy to look it up! Some dictionaries and definition sources that can help:

Oxford English Dictionary
The finest and most comprehensive dictionary of the English Language. Includes extensive quotations documenting usage, searchable by author. What sets the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) apart from other dictionaries is the extent of the usage information it provides: the same word may have changed meaning over time. If you see a familiar word used in an unfamiliar way - especially in older texts - look it up in the OED to find out if there was another meaning for it in the past. Many words also come with audio files so you can hear how a word is pronounced - with a British or American accent.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus
Free, online version of Merriam-Webster dictionary and thesaurus.

Literary Terms and Concepts

Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
Provides clear and concise definitions of literary terms.

Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism
An indispensable resource for scholars and students of literary theory and discourse. Compiled by 275 specialists from around the world, the Guide presents a comprehensive historical survey of the field's most important figures, schools, and movements and is updated annually.

Reference works in other subject areas

Interested in consulting specialized reference works for other subject areas? See the library's Subject Research Guides. There's one for every subject taught at Mount Holyoke and most of the guides have a Background Info page listing subject-specific reference works.