AFS/WGS 173: Black IS and Black AIN'T: Gender in African American Literatre

Reference Resources

African American & American Literature Sources

The Oxford companion to African American literature

Ref PS 153 .N5 O96 1997

African American writers

Ref PS 153 .N5 A344 2001

Masterpieces of African-American literature

Ref PS 153 .N5 M264 1992

African American authors, 1745-1945

Ref PS 153 .N5 A32 2000

Contemporary African American novelists

Ref PS 374 .N4 C658 1999

African American Women Playwrights

Ref PS 153 .N5 G29 1999

The Harlem Renaissance

Ref PS 153 .N5 H245 2003

Feminist Writers

Ref PN 451 .F46 1996

Encyclopedia of American Literature

Ref PS 21 .E53 1999

American Women Writers

Ref PS 147 .A42 1999

Toni Morrison: Encyclopedia

Ref PS 3563 .O8749 Z913 2003

The Gale Literacy Series

Twentieth Century Literary Criticism

Ref PN 771 .C59
Up From Slavery, v. 10

Contemporary Literary Criticism

Ref PN 771 .G27
Beloved, v. 55, 81, 87, 173
Invisible Man, v. 1, 3, 11, 54, 86, 114
Quicksand, v. 37
for colored girls..., v. 8, 25, 38, 74, 126
Talking Back, v. 94

Dictionary of Literary Biography

Ref PN 451 .D5
Special volumes on "Afro-American" Writers
Morrison, v. 6, 33, 143
Ellison, v. 2, 76, 227
Larsen, v. 51
Shange, v. 38, 249
hooks, v. 246

Literature and Its Times

Ref PN 50 .L574 1997
Beloved, v. 2
Up From Slavery, v. 2
Invisible Man, v. 4
for colored girls..., v. 5

General sources on African American & United States history

Reference Room

African American Sources: E 185 .A__ through E 185 .Z__
United States History: E 162 .A__ through E 174 .Z__

Library Catalog & E-Z Borrow

NOTE: There are no journal articles in the catalog!

Analyze your topic or research question and break it down into its key concepts, which becomes the Keyword search. Once you have found a record for an item that looks useful, click on a Subject Heading to retrieve other items with similar content.

EXAMPLE:

TOPIC: What influenced the curriculum of 18th and 19th century colleges and universities in the united states?

SEARCH STATEMENT: ???

SUBJECT HEADINGS:???

Indexes &Article Collections

MLA Bibliography

The Modern Language Association's index to publications on literature, languages, linguistics, and folklore.
1921- Microform Area
1963- MLA Bibliography (Internet mediated)

Humanities Full Text

Features abstracts of journal literature covering archaeology, art, classics, film, folklore, journalism, linguistics, music, the performing arts, philosophy, religion, world history, and world literature.
1974-1983 Microform Area
1983- Humanities Full Text (Internet mediated)

New York Times (Internet mediated)

September 18, 1851 - December 31, 2001 via Proquest
May 1980 - present via Lexis/Nexis

JStor (Journal Storage Project, Internet mediated)

An archive of the critical scholarly journals of several disciplines. Date ranges for publications vary, with several starting in the 1800s. Most publications are featured through the early 1990s

Readers' Guide Full Text (Internet mediated)
Readers' Guide Retrospective (Internet mediated)

Indexes the popular literature of the day

Journals at F&M

If the library does not have a journal you need, and you have at least 1 week before your assignment is due, you can submit an Interlibrary Loan (ILL) request to have the journal article acquired for you by the library. Allow 3-7 days for the article to arrive.

Internet Resources

1. Authority: Who is responsible for the content? Are they an expert on the topic? Does the author identify her/him/them-self?

2. Objectivity: Why was the site created? Is the information presented with a minimum of bias? Is the site meant to persuade the reader?

3. Content: What is presented? Is the content focused, or does it stray all over the place? Is the site appropriate for research/scholarly purposes? Is the design of the site more important than the content?

4. Accuracy: Does the site feature a list of sources, or bibliography, or links to other similar sites? Are other authorities cited?

5. Currency: Is the web site current? Is it currently being maintained? Is there indication of when it was last updated anywhere on the page?

TIP: When using a web site for research, print a copy of the first page to verify its existence.

If you have any questions about choosing a topic, or using the above resources, you may stop at the Reference Desk, or contact the librarian below:

Last updated: 9/25/04 ag, contact Lisa Stillwell for assistance, 291-3844