Research Guides: English: Background Information

Why Get Background Information?

These are just a few examples of reference sources you may find useful. To find more, search the catalog or browse the reference section of Beeghly.

The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms by Chris Baldick
Publication Date: 2009
Provides clear, concise, and often witty definitions of the most troublesome literary terms from abjection to zeugma. It offers readers increased coverage of new terms from modern critical and theoretical movements, such as feminism, and schools of American poetry, Spanish verse forms, life writing, and crime fiction.
A Handbook to Literature by Harmon; William Harmon
Call Number: Reference PN41 .H355 2012
Publication Date: 2012

Oxford Reference Library This link opens in a new window
Database of dictionaries, encyclopedias, and companions from Oxford University Press
Full text of dictionaries, encyclopedias, and companions on a variety of subjects, purchased from Oxford University Press. Coverage is especially good in history, biology, environmental science, life sciences, literature, bilingual dictionaries, athletic training & health sciences, political science, and philosophy.

These titles are also available through the OhioLINK Electronic Books Center.

Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of American Literature by Anne Marie Hacht; Dwayne D. Hayes
Publication Date: 2009
"Presents an encyclopedic overview of American authors and literature, placing each author within an historical, literary, and critical context, focusing on the common human experience of American literature." (publisher's summary)
Magill's Survey of World Literature by Steven G. Kellman; Frank N. Magill; Salem Press Staff
Call Number: ebook
Publication Date: 2009
The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature by Daniel Hahn
Call Number: Reference PN1008.5 .C37 2015
Publication Date: 2015