Poetry & Poets


The following resources will help you find information on poetry and poets.

 Print Sources

Poetry for Students (REF 809.1 POE)
Provides analysis of approximately 20 poems that teachers and librarians have identified as the most frequently studied in literature courses. For each poem, students will discover:
  • An overview essay on the poem
  • An analysis of the work's construction and form
  • An examination of key themes addressed in the poem
  • A discussion of the historical and cultural context in which the poem was composed
  • Selected criticism on the poem or poet
  • A brief author biography
 
World Poets (REF 809.1 WOR)
This illustrated 3 volume encyclopedia contains more than 100 essays on the most studied poets and 15 essays on genres such as "Harlem Renaissance Poetry," and "Performance Poetry." Each essay includes a portrait, definitions of difficult terms and concepts. The focus is on poets who either wrote in English or are often read in English translation. Some of the poets and subject articles included are T. S. Eliot, Sylvia Plath, indigenous and tribal poetry, troubadours and advice on writing poetry.


World's Best Poetry (REF 811 GRA)
This 10 volume set is arranged by subject in the following areas:
  • Volume 1: Home and Friendship
  • Volume 2: Love
  • Volume 3: Sorrow and Consolation
  • Volume 4: The Higher Life
  • Volume 5: Nature
  • Volume 6: Fancy & Sentiment
  • Volume 7: Descriptive & Narration
  • Volume 8: National Spirit
  • Volume 9: Tragedy and Humor
  • Volume 10: Poetical Quotations
 
American Poetry (REF 811.509 HUF)
 Spanning t6he late 17th century to the present day, this two-volume encyclopedia is an indispensable guide to American poetry, exploring the various writers, works, themes, and movements of this important literary genre with more than 1,100 entries.  Additional features include an appendix of winners for major poetry prizes, bibliographies to help guide further research, and extensive cross-referencing.

 
World Poetry: 1900 to the Present (REF 809.1 ARA)
 Offers a comprehensive introduction to 20th - 21st century poets of international importance and their most famous, distinctive, and influential works. Containing approximately 500 entries that span the globe, this indispensable guide provides a general bibliography, a list of poets by geographic region, and a list of Nobel Prize winners in literature.
 

 

 Biography Resource Center 
Search for people---both current and historic from all eras and fields of endeavor---based on name, occupation, nationality, ethnicity, birth/death dates and places, or gender, as well as keyword and full text. Or, combine search criteria to create a highly-targeted custom search.


 Online Databases

Gale's Literature Resource Center- This current, comprehensive online literature database contains rich critical, biographical, and contextual materials to support information literacy and critical thinking skills.  Researchers will find the information they need on authors and their works from all time periods and from around the world.

 

Scriber's Writers Series
Scribner Writer's Series includes 15-20 page signed essays on more than 1,600 authors and literary genres drawn from the acclaimed Scribner print series.

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

Student Resource Center - Gold
This comprehensive resource covers a wide range of subject areas in a variety of formats: Reference, Journals, Creative Works, Primary Sources, News and more.

 
  Poetry Websites

Famous Poets and Poems (full text poems): http://www.famouspoetsandpoems.com/

Old Poetry (full text poems): http://oldpoetry.com/- Can choose "Poets" on top menu bar.  Each entry will tell the nationality of the poet.

Poem Hunter (full text poems): http://www.poemhunter.com/

Poetry Foundation poetry Tool - Search By Category: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/tool.poem.cat.html Under "Poetry Tools" choose "find poets geographically."  Then you can specify a place of origin.

Poetry Poetry: www.poetrypoetry.com/TheVault.html

Poetry Portal (full text poems): www.poetry-portal.com/

Poets.org (searchable database featuring full text poems): www.poets.org

Poet's Corner (full text poems): www.theotherpages.org/poems/index.html

Prosody: http://www.trobar.org/prosody/

Shadow Poetry - Types of Poetry (full text examples): www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/types.html

Sonnet Central (full text poems): http://www.sonnets.org/

 Internet Resources on Literary Theory & Criticism

General Literary Criticisms Critical Theory: Introduction to Literature http://www.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/lit.crit.html

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Literary Theory http://www.iep.utm.edu/literary/

Bedford St. Martin's Critical Approaches http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/critical_define/crit_psycho.html

UPenn's Literary Theory http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/Complit/Eclat/#theory

Internet Public Library - Literary Criticism Collection: http://www.ipl.org/div/litcrit/
The Literary Criticism Collection brings together hundreds of critical and biographical sites with annotations. It is international in scope, but emphasizes authors from North America, the British Isles, and the former British Empire. The collection is arraged by author, title, and nationality/literary period.

IPL Online Literary Criticism Guide: www.ipl.org/div/litcrit/guide.html
A great starting places for finding online critical writing. This resource is particularly good for finding information on English-language authors, but also includes many authors whose works have been translated into English.

Internet Public Library - Literary Criticism: www.ipl.org/div/pf/entry/48496
Geared toward students, this site offers students an explanation of literary criticisms, where to find them along with Terms & Concepts, Author Information, Criticisms and Summaries, Finding Articles, Writing the Paper, and more.

Library Spot - Literary Criticism: www.libraryspot.com/litcrit.htm

UCSB - Voice of the Shuttle: http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=3
 
Teaching Resources

 

 Teaching Literature Resources http://www.teachingliterature.org/teachingliterature/criticism.htm Areas covered: Glossary of Literary Theory / Criticism, Webquests: Applying Critical Perspectives, Formalist / Structuralist / Genre Criticism, New Criticism, Reader Response Criticism, Feminist Criticism, Psychoanalytic Criticism, Archetypal / Myth Criticism

42 Explore - Literary Criticism: http://42explore.com/litcrit.htm
Geared to students, this site offers a wide range of Internet sources including guides for critical reading, tips for writing about literature and suggestions for activities incorporating literary criticism.

EdSITEment - Critical Ways of Seeing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in Context: http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=447
This lesson, from EDSITEment, asks students to combine Internet historical research with critical reading. They then produce several writing assignments exploring what readers see in "Huckleberry Finn" and why they see it that way.

Glencoe Literature Library: www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/
Each title offers a brief description of the novel or play, a list of its related readings, and a link to its individual study guide. Each study guide includes background information and reproducible activity pages for students.

Literary Criticism - An Overview of Approaches: www.literatureclassics.com/ancientpaths/litcrit.html
Explores the purpose of criticism, the various approaches along with the advantages and disadvantages of their individual use.

Literary Criticism as a Tool for Interpreting Literature: www.gpc.edu/~shale/humanities/composition/handouts/crit.html
Answers the following questions: What is Interpretation?, What kinds of Questions Help with Interpretation?, Why Should We Interpret Literature?, What is Literary Criticism?, Why is Criticism Important to Students?, Is All Literary Criticism Valid?, When Do I Use Criticism?, How Do I Incorporate Literary Criticism in My Paper?, and more.

 

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: "Pablo Neruda", be sure to put quotes around it so that the search engine only finds the Internet sites on Pablo Neruda, as opposed to all of the sites containing the word Pablo plus all of the sites containing the word Neruda.
     

  4. If you would like to search for something specific about Pablo Neruda, 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 poems written by  Pablo Neruda,  I would enter the following:

    "Pablo Neruda", poems

    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 evaluate each Internet site for the following:
    • 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.
 

 

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