Introduction	Critical Sources
	Guides & Handbooks	Bibliographies
	Dictionaries & Encyclopedias	Periodical Indexes
	Biographical Sources	Internet Sites

While language has to do with spoken and written words and the systems for their use, literature comprises the writings that capture ideas. The three basic genres of literature are prose, poetry, and drama. Prose is normally divided into novels, short stories, and essays. Poetry is metrical verse. Drama can be examined in two ways: as literature and as a theatrical production.

Cambridge Guide to Literature in English
  Ref PR85 .C29
Glossary of Literary Terms
  Ref PN41 .A184 1993
Guide to English & American Literature
  Ref PR83 .B32 1976
Handbook to Literature
  Ref PN41 .H6
Hunting the Snark: A Compendium of New Poetic Terminology
  Ref PS323.5 .P49
Literature and Its Times
  Ref PN50 .L574 1997 v.1-5
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
  PERMANENT RESERVE
Reference Guide to English Literature
  Ref PR106 .S7 1991
Research Guide for Undergraduate Students: English and American Literature
  Ref PR56 .B34 2000



Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature
  Ref PR149 .B5 D53 1992
Dictionary of Concepts in Literary Criticism and Theory
  Ref PN41 .H36 1992
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
  Ref PN3433.4 .E53 1993
Gay and Lesbian Literature
  Ref PN56 .H57 G36 1993
Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism
  Ref PN81 .J554 1994
Oxford Companion to English Literature
  Ref PR19 .O94 2000
Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry in English
  Ref PR601 .O9 1994
Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature
  Ref PS21 .E537 2004 v.1-4
New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry & Poetics
  Ref PN1021 .N39 1993
Reader's Encyclopedia
  Ref PN41 .B4 1987



American Nature Writers
  Ref PS163 .A6 1996
American Short-Story Writers Since World War II
  Ref PS374 .S5 A398 1993
American Women Writers
  Ref PS147 .A4
Beat Generation
  Ref PS228 .B6 Z68 2003 v.1-3
Contemporary Authors
  Ref Z1224 .C62
Contemporary Novelists
  Ref PR883 .C64
Contemporary Poets
  Ref PR502 .C76
Harlem Renaissance
  Ref PS153 .N5 H245 2003 v.1-3
Literary Exile in the Twentieth Century
  Ref PN495 .L43 1990
Oxford Guide to British Women Writers
  Ref PR111 .S48 1993



Contemporary Literary Criticism
  Electronic Resource and Ref PN771 .C59
Critical Survey of Long Fiction
  Ref PR821 .C7 1983
Critical Survey of Short Fiction
  Ref PN3373 .M24
Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism
  Electronic Resource and Ref PN761 .N5 v.1-86
Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature
  Ref PN56 .F34 S97
Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism
  Electronic Resource and Ref PN771 .T84



American Ethnic Literatures
  Ref Z1229 E87 P43 1992
American Fiction, 1900-1950: A Guide to Information Sources
  Ref Z1231 F4 W64
American Playwrights Since 1945: A Guide to Scholarship, Criticism and Performance
  Ref Z1231 D7 A53
Literary Research Guide: A Guide to Reference Sources
  Ref Z2011 .H34 1993
Make Mine a Mystery: A Reader’s Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction
  Ref Z5917 D5 N54 2003
Poetry Explication
  PERMANENT RESERVE
St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers
  Ref Z5917 .H65 S72 1998



Annual Bibliography of English Language & Literature
  Ref Z2011 .M69
Arts & Humanities Citation Index
Book Review Digest
  Ref Z1219 .C95
Book Review Index
  Ref Z1035 .A1 B6
Humanities Full Text
MLA International Bibliography
ProjectMUSE (Standard Collection)
Year's Work in English Studies
  Ref PE58 .E6



Alex
  http://www.infomotions.com/alex
English Server (University of Washington)
  http://eserver.org
Literary Resources on the Net
  http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Lit/
Project Bartleby
  http://www.bartleby.com