Kirkwood Library: Literary Criticism Research: Home

Literary Criticism

Literary criticism is a form of writing that analyses, evaluates and interprets literature, often according to a certain philosophy or theory. The literature analyzed might be in any form, such as novel, short story, poem or drama.

The databases below are great places to start your search for literary criticism.

JSTOR
JSTOR is a collection of articles from literary journals. Search by the author you're studying, or by the name of a specific work. You may also search by theme or concept.
All results in this database should link directly to the full text of the article.
Project MUSE eBooks and Journals
Project MUSE includes journal articles and eBook chapters, many with literary criticism. Search by the author you're studying, or by the name of a specific work. You may also search by theme or concept.
Note that Kirkwood does not have access to all items in your search results. To view only items you have access too, click on "Filter Results" in the upper left corner of the screen, and select "Only content I have access to".
Literary Index by Gale
This resource is different than the other databases, because it doesn't have the full text of the articles online. This is an index that compiles lists of essay excerpts from several different literary criticism collections. The Kirkwood Library only has some of these collections in print in the library. Contact the library to see if we have the articles you want to access, or check the list of print collections listed below.

Modern American Poetry website
This website contains a small but good collection of critical articles on well-known 20th century American poems. Browse poem names, follow the link, then click on the "Criticism" tab to see the articles.

Print collections at the Kirkwood Main Campus Library

The Library at the Cedar Rapids Campus has collections of literary criticism essays that were pulled from a variety of journal and book publications. To access these collections, use the Literary Index by Gale search, and look for essays in the titles listed below. Just ask a librarian for assistance with this search.

Literary Index by Gale
This is an index that compiles lists of essay excerpts from several different literary criticism collections. The Kirkwood Library only has some of these collections in print in the library. Contact the library to see if we have the articles you want to access, or check the list of print collections listed below.

Poetry criticism : excerpts from criticism of the works of the most significant and widely studied poets of world literature
Volumes available at the Cedar Rapids Campus Library: 1-109.
Contemporary authors : new revision series
Volumes available at the Cedar Rapids Campus Library: 1-153.
Contemporary authors. Permanent series
Volumes available at the Cedar Rapids Campus Library: 1-2.
Contemporary authors. First Revision
Volumes available at the Cedar Rapids Campus Library: 1-44.
Short story criticism
Volumes available at the Cedar Rapids Campus Library: 1-139.
Drama criticism
Volumes available at the Cedar Rapids Campus Library: 1-27.