The Life and Works of William Faulkner

Use the resources and search tips listed below in your search for information on William Faulkner and his work.

 Print Resources:

Novels for Students (REF 808 NOV Vol. 8)
Each volume of Novels for Students contains easily accessible and content-rich discussions of the literary and historical background of works from various cultures and time periods.
  • Introductory essays that place each novel in its historical and literary context
  • Easy-to-understand discussions of the novel's themes, plot and characters
  • Analysis of the novel's literary construction
  • Age-appropriate critical commentary on the novel's significance for our times
  • A literary glossary that defines difficult terms
  • A timeline that juxtaposes literary and world events
  • Additional sources for further study
   

Literary Companion to American Literature -
Readings On William Faulkner (813.REA)
Contains in-depth biography of author, a chronology of their life and career as
well as concurrent historical events, and primary and secondary bibliographies.
   
Literary Masters - William Faulkner (813 McH)
Chapters include Chronology of Events in Faulkner's Life, About William Faulkner, Faulkner at Work, Faulkner's Eras, Faulkner's Works, Faulkner on Faulkner, Faulkner as Studied, and much more.

 

 Online Resources:

  Contemporary Literary Criticism
Contemporary Literary Criticism--Select is an extensive collection of critical essays on contemporary authors. Each CLC--Select entry contains a biographical/critical introduction, listing of principal works and sources for further study.
     


 

Scribner's Writers Series
Includes 15-20 page signed essays on more than 2,000 authors and literary genres drawn from the acclaimed Scribner Print Series.
     

  Student Research Center Contains thousands of online  primary documents, biographies, topical essays, 
background information, and critical analyses of popular literature.  Select Literature Search tab, then type in title of work.  Click link to left to access database.
     

  The Twayne Authors Series
Comprises 600 full-text titles from the Twayne Literary Masters series, 200 each from Twayne World, US, and English Authors.
     

 Internet Resources:

William Faulkner - His Life and Work

Character List: As I Lay Dying: www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~egjbp/faulkner/r_n_aild.html#characters

Elucidating Addie Bundren in As I Lay Dying: http://www.semo.edu/cfs/teaching/index_10162.htm

Fifteen Ways of Looking at the Bundrens: http://www.semo.edu/cfs/teaching/index_10154.htm

The Four Women of the Apocalypse: Addie and Corra, Sula and Nel and the Collapse of the Mythic Female: www.semo.edu/cfs/teaching/index_4820.htm

Internet Public Library - Literary Criticism - William Faulkner: http://www.ipl.org/div/litcrit/bin/litcrit.out.pl?au=fau-68

The Right Tools for the Job - Cash Bundren's Tool Box in William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying: http://www6.semo.edu/cfs/tfn_online/dying_cass.htm

A Summer of Faulkner Lecture Series: www.oprah.com/obc_classic/featbook/asof/member/member_ilay_lecture.jhtml

Viewing Addie Bundren Through a Feminist Lens: http://www.semo.edu/cfs/teaching/index_4819.htm

What's in a Name - Etymology and As I Lay Dying: http://www6.semo.edu/cfs/tfn_online/dying_friesenpeek.htm

William Faulkner on the Web: http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~egjbp/faulkner/faulkner.html

Words and Images of William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying: http://www.case.edu/artsci/engl/VSALM/mod/jung/term.htm

If you do not find what you're looking for in the above resources, try the search tips listed below.

 Internet Search Tips

  1. Type the URL (web site address) of a search directory/engine in the address box: ex: www.yahoo.com,  www.google.com or http://scholar.google.com/.
     
  2. (Be sure to type the address exactly the way you see it, including any uppercase letters and punctuation).
     
  3. Type in keyword(s). (If your keyword has two parts such as: "Mark Twain", be sure to put quotes around it so that the search engine only finds the Internet sites on old English as opposed to all of the sites containing the word Mark plus all of the sites containing the word Twain.
     

  4. If you would like to search for something specific about Mark Twain, try a combined keyword search by adding a comma followed by a space and your other search term. For instance; if I wanted to find information on the critical reception Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, I would enter the following:

    "Mark Twain", "Huckleberry Finn", criticism [or] "critical reception"

    Hit Enter on your keyboard, or click on Search, then scan the description of the "hits" (entries) and click on the links that sound best.
     

  5. Be sure to critically evaluate Internet sources.  UC Berkley Library's Evaluating Webpages: Techniques to Apply and Questions to Ask is an excellent source to help you critique the quality of websites in the following areas:
    • Authority: Can you tell if the author is credible (believable)?
    • Objectivity: Is the information objective (honest and free of bias)?
    • Currency: Is the information recent and up-to-date?
    • Design: Is the site designed in a clear and user friendly way?
    • Navigation: Is the site easy to navigate through, and are all links current and usable?

     

  6. Remember: if you choose to use any information (text or graphics) found on an Internet source, 
    you must include it in your bibliography.

Remember:  YOU MUST CITE EVERY RESOURCE YOU USED to gather information on your 
Works Cited (Bibliography) page.  Use the Works Cited Guide to access MLA format.
 

Created by Liza Zandonella, Library Media Specialist. 

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