Research Guides: English Literature: Getting Started

Key Resources

MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Modern Language Association's article database of more than 3 million records covering all aspects of modern languages and literature. Searchable by keyword and through MLA Thesaurus subject headings.
Oxford English Dictionary This link opens in a new window
The accepted authority on the English language, the OED provides the meaning, history and pronunciation of over half a million words. Updated every three months.

Oxford Companion to English Literature
Major reference tool providing extensive coverage of English literature, including biographies of prominent writers, summaries of major works, and explanations of literary terms and theories.
Cambridge Histories - Literature
More than 100 in-depth histories of literary periods, movements, geographies, genres, traditions, settings, contexts, and practices.

Oxford Bibliographies Online This link opens in a new window
Expert subject introductions and key scholarly source lists for the study of writers and their works (16th-21st century), literary themes, forms, genres, groups, and historical events. Strongest coverage of British, Irish, and American literatures.
Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window
Analysis, biographical information, overviews, full-text literary criticism, original works of literature, and reviews on more than 160,000 writers. 100+ literature focused topic overviews including: Utopianism, Black Mountains Poets, Cyberpunk, Stream of Consciousness Novels, Magical Realism in Short Fiction, Elizabethan Drama, and much more.
Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
Includes: Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, Dictionary of Critical Theory, Oxford Companion to Children's Literature, Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales, Oxford Companion to Shakespeare, Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature, Oxford Companion to Modern Poetry, Concise Oxford Companion to American Literature, and more.
Oxford Research Encyclopedias: Literature This link opens in a new window
Includes topic entries from the Oxford Encyclopedia of Literature, the Oxford Encyclopedia of Asian American Literature and Culture, and the Oxford Encyclopedia of Latina and Latino Literature.

MLA Handbook
The MLA Handbook is published by the Modern Language Association and is the only official, authorized book on MLA style.