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Finding Secondary Sources for Literary Topics/Works
Text Description of Finding Secondary Sources for Literary Topics Infographic
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Licensed under CC BY-NC | Excludes website content where the Library is not the copyright owner.![Short description: infographic on finding secondary sources for literary topics [link to full text alternative is below this image]. Long description: Finding secondary sources for literary topics Step 1. Is the literary work new? a. Is the literary work you're focussing on newly published (within the last 1-3 years)? Question: Is the literary work new? If no, move on to step 2. If yes, move on to step 3. Step 2. Search for the title a. Only search for one title at a time if you’re comparing multiple works. b. Try putting quotation marks around the “title” if it’s more than one word. c. If it’s a common title, include the author’s name in the search. d. If you’re looking at a poem or short story in a collection, you might have to try searching for the collection’s title. e. TIP: If there are a lot of results on the title, you can try adding in a specific theme or topic you want to focus on. f. Example: “Things Fall Apart” AND gender Question: did that work? If yes, great, keep finding articles. If no, move on to step 3. Step 3. Is the work by an author that has been published before? a. There probably isn’t much (or anything) related to the work you’ve chosen, but if the author has published before (especially multiple times) there might be similar themes in their other work you can pull from. Question: Has the author published other works before? If yes, move on to step 4. If no, move on to step 5. Step 4. Search for the author a. Search for the author’s name. b. If the author’s name is common, search for the title of one of their works and click on the hyperlinked author’s name to do a search for that specific author. c. TIP: If there are a lot of results on the author, you can try adding the theme or topic you want to focus on. d. Example: Angelou AND feminism Question: did that work, if yes, great, keep finding articles. If no, move on to step 5. Step 5. Search for the theme a. When there isn’t much about the work or author you’ve chosen, try searching for the theme(s) you want to pull out in your analysis of the work you’ve chosen. b. If there are too many results you can try adding “literature” or “literary criticism” to your search. c. Example: symbolism AND folklore, Example: inter-family dynamics AND literature, Example: environmentalism AND literary criticism d. TIP: Your paper will then be the place where you combine your secondary sources (i.e. an article about post-colonization gender norms) with the work you’re exploring (i.e. specific sections of Things Fall Apart). Question: still not finding anything? Contact the library for help. You can get help finding sources for literary topics from the library in multiple ways: Visit the library help desk: 2nd floor of building 7. Chat with us online: library.macewan.ca/help or, email the English librarians: EnglishLibrarians@macewan.ca](https://d1qywhc7l90rsa.cloudfront.net/accounts/80700/images/Finding_sources_for_literary_topics.png)