Pathfinder:  American Literature

In the Library:

Browse the shelves at these Dewey numbers:      

Check in the Reference section at the 800s and 810 through 818s. For biographical information check in the 920s. For women writers, look in "Women in History" at REF 920.72 WOM.

Databases:

EBSCOhost  magazine and newspaper articles from over 6,000 sources.

Gale Literature Resource Center  offers a wealth of literature-related essays, biographies and articles of literary criticism. 

Gale Student Resources in Context   offers thousands of background and topical essays, biographies and critical analyses. 

NOTE: See the Librarian for a password to access these databases from home.

About.com: American Literature

American Authors on the Web  A comprehensive clearinghouse of web links that lead to sites containing information on a wide variety of contemporary and classic American authors.

The Cambridge History of English and American Literature  contains over 303 chapters and 11,000 pages, with essay topics on authors and titles.

A Celebration of Women Writers   Women writers throughout history—from 3000 B.C. to the 20th Century. Includes biographical and bibliographical information and links to other related material.

A Literary Index "provides both an overview and a review of the more significant collections of Internet literary resources of interest to scholars, students, and lovers of literature." 

Literary Resources - American From Rutgers University. Extensive links to sites on American literature.

Online Literary Criticism Collection  "The IPL Online Literary Criticism Collection contains 3326 critical and biographical websites about authors and their works that can be browsed by author, by title, or by nationality and literary period." 

PAL: Perspectives in American Literature Excellent source for information on specific authors by period of American history from the Colonial Period to the Present. Additional information including obituaries for some authors, introductory essays for each period (e.g., Early 19th Century Transcendentalism, The Harlem Renaissance) and bibliographies.

PinkMonkey and Barron's Booknotes

Resources for American Literature  Student works, interactive text, interpretations of several major American works. From the university of Texas.

SparkNotes: Literature  

Kate Chopin

About.com: Kate Chopin 

Chopin Web Page class notes and links from Loyola University, New Orleans

Critical essays  

Exploring Kate Chopin's The Awakening  commentary includes historical context, biographical information, and an exploration of major motifs in the novel

Kate Chopin: a reawakening  the life and work of the renowned nineteenth-century Louisiana author. Includes interviews, chronology, work excerpts, and bibliography.

Kate Chopin Teacher Resource File  biography, bibliography, lesson plans and other resources.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

F. Scott Fitzgerald

F.Scott Fitzgerald Society   includes biographical information as well as good links.

IPL Online Literary Criticism Collection  lots of good links to biographical and critical sites.

University of South Carolina - F. Scott Fitzgerald Centenary The definitive web venue for everything having to do with F. Scott Fitzgerald. 

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Ernest Hemingway

CNN Hemingway Retrospective  includes an in-depth bio, pictures, maps, timeline, and links.

IPL Online Literary Criticism Collection lots of good links to biographical and critical sites.

Hemingway Resource Center  biographical information, links and bibliography of books.

Hemingway Society  includes extensive links and bibliographical information.

Karen Hesse

John Griffith (Jack) London

Jack London Collection  From the Berkeley University Digital Library, one of the most comprehensive sites about Jack London. 

Jack London International includes essays, biographical information and links.

Edgar Allan Poe

John Steinbeck

Center for Steinbeck Studies   From San Jose State University, " a comprehensive and authorized resource for readers, students, teachers and scholars of John Steinbeck."

National John Steinbeck Center biographical information as well as helpful links.

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

The Monkey House  This site includes various Vonnegut resources, including FAQs, a list of available works, media adaptations, Vonnegut's influences on musical groups, and an extremely useful collection of links.

Slaughterhouse Five criticism and links   

Vonnegut on the Web  links to numerous web resources on Vonnegut.

The Vonnegut Web  From Duke University. "Here you'll find pages on each of his novels as well as all manner of detail on the man's life and work."

Henry David Thoreau

Mark Twain

Edith Wharton

Critical essays

Edith Wharton Society  includes extensive bibliographies of critical articles about Wharton's writings, a student query board, links to Wharton texts online, and a searchable archive of the Wharton-L e-mail discussion list.

IPL Online Literary Criticism Collection  lots of good links to biographical and critical sites.

Walt Whitman