How to Find Literary Criticism at the CF Ocala Library: Literary Criticism Basics

The CF Library is an excellent source for literary criticism.  Literary Criticism is defined as the analysis, interpretation, evaluation and classification of a literary work—a novel, short story, poem or music lyrics, play or movie screenplay. 

The Library Search webpage is accessible through the MyCF portal.  Log in tothe portal, click the Academics tab and then the red Search Library bar to go to the "discovery tool" which provides a listing of materials (both books and audiovisual) that are owned by the CF Libraries as well as the holdings of other Florida state and community colleges.  Also available is access to nearly 100 full-text article and eBook databases (click Databases by Subject, then Literature) particularly Literature Resources from Gale, Literary Reference Center Plus, Book Review Digest Plus, LitFinder, Granger’s World Poetry, and Academic Search Complete.  

To find materials at the Library, you can search the catalog by author, title, subject or keyword.  All books, both circulating and reference, are located on the 2^nd floor.  Circulating books can be checked out for 3 weeks with a valid ID card while reference books are for in-house use only (copies may be made for 10¢ a page).  DVDs and videos are located on the 2^nd floor/south side and can be checked out for 7 days with a valid student ID card.  Most literary criticism (circulating, reference and audio-visual) will be located in the PA-PS sections.

Circulating books are located on the north side of the Library.  Most literary criticism books will be located in the P section (for literature) with the following subdivisions:

            PA—Greek/Roman                                     PG—Slavic/Russian

            PJ-PL—Oriental                                           PQ—French/Italian/Spanish

            PR—British/Canadian/Australian        PS—American

            PT—German/Scandinavian

To find books about a specific author, do a subject search.  You will likely get biographies and books about his works.  Look for the subheading Criticism and Interpretation for information on the author’s work.  You may even find a book that discusses one work in particular like Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn or Shakespeare’s Hamlet. 

You may find that a lot of the books you want are checked out.  Books on popular authors like Edgar Allan Poe and others disappear quickly.  Remember, you are competing with several classes doing the same kind of assignment.  So, start early for the best resources!!

 If a book is not available, you can request it from another library through the catalog.  Allow at least two weeks for your request to be processed and sent to us.  Please see a librarian for more information.

The Library has the following video series:

Voices and Visions (which covers the following poets: Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Marianne Moore, T.S. Eliot, Wallace Stevens, Elizabeth Bishop, and Sylvia Plath);

The Novel (including The Jungle Books, Animal Farm, Don Quixote, The Awakening, A Farewell to Arms, Gulliver’s Travels and Bartleby the Scrivener among others); and

Contemporary Southern Writers (includes interviews with Bobbie Ann Mason and Barbara Kingsolver).

Many classic novels and short stories have been made into movies.  The following titles are only a short sample.  Use the subject “film adaptations” to find a more comprehensive list.

            The Grapes of Wrath                           Hamlet

            To Have and Have Not                       The Yearling

            Cat on a Hot Tin Roof                         Nicholas Nickleby

            The Great Gatsby                                 The Hitchhiker’s Guide books

            Death of A Salesman                           I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

            The Odyssey                                        Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

            Barn Burning                                        A Rose For Emily

One of the most prolific publishers of literary criticism is Gale Cengage Learning.  They publish the following reference sources owned by the Library:

Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism (CMLC): 

      Ref PN681 .5 .C57

Literature Criticism from 1400-1800 (LC)

      Ref PN86 .L53

Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism (NCLC)

      Ref PN761 .N56

Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC)
       Ref PN771 .C59

Twentieth Century Literary Criticism (TCLC)

      Ref PN771 .G27

Poetry Criticism (PC)

      Ref PN1010 .P499

Short Story Criticism (SSC)

      Ref PN3373 .S386

Black Literature Criticism (BLC)

      Ref PS153 .N5 B556 1992

Dictionary of Literary Biography (DLB)

      Ref PS221 .D5

Reference literary criticism is located on the south side of the Library near the first study room.  Criticism is on the last two shelves.

Literature Resources from Gale

Literary Reference Center Plus

Book Review Digest Plus

LitFinder

Granger’s World Poetry

Academic Search Complete