Introduction to Literary Criticism - · PDF fileWhat is Literary Criticism? Literary criticism...

Literary Criticism

An Introduction to Secondary Sources and Databases

Vocabulary PreviewPlease take these notes downPrimary Source- The piece of literature you are examining/analyzing

in your research. In ELA, primary sources are novels, poems, plays, etc. Secondary Source- A piece of literary criticism, written by a scholar,

that supports your assertion. It is usually in the form of a book or article. Literary Criticism- This is just another term for secondary sources in

the English field. The author’s analyze literature in their articles. Database- A point of access to secondary sources on our library’s

website. Biased- When an author, magazine, publisher, etc. is unfairly

prejudiced against someone or something.

What is Literary Criticism?●Literary criticism is the evaluation, analysis, description, or interpretation of literary works. It is usually in the form of a critical essay, but in-depth book reviews can sometimes be considered literary criticism. Criticism may examine a particular literary work, or may look at an author's writings as a whole. Finding literary criticism can be challenging. credit for definition goes to www.ipl.com

Primary vs. Secondary Sources●You are asked to use both primary and secondary sources.●Your primary source is the original piece of literature your paper focuses on. ●Your secondary source is the literary criticism you will find. Secondary sources can be found online and in books. ●You will be required to quote both sources in your papers.

Books or Internet

●The internet has many excellent critical articles located in databases.

●Most of the time, you can have any combination of types of secondary resources.

●When conducting research, be sure to photocopy the citation information from books. You will need it later.

●Books and the internet sources from reputable databases are equally valuable.

Accessing Our Databaseshttps://sites.google.com/a/bpsk12.org/bhs-library/

You can find the library site by googling it.It is the first option that will show up.

Databases to Use for English

- In the databases tab on the library’s main page

- You will find the bestliterary criticism on the databases in the upperright-hand corner, pictured here

Conducting Research

Click the QR code to access this page in real-time. We will practice searching.

Inside Bloom’s Literature

You may only use the Analysis and Criticism Tab. These articles are peer-reviewed for their merit.

Why do we use Secondary Sources?

●Just like we use quotes from the literature to support our topic sentences and points, (I) in PIE, we use Secondary Sources to also support our topic sentences. ●Conducting research, vetting sources, and appropriately using sources is an important skill to learn for college-writing and beyond. ●We are not masters of literature, so we use scholar’s writing and analysis to support our assertions.

Who Writes Literary Criticism?

Harold Bloom- a famous LIterary Critic●Masters of works of literature write literary criticism. ●They are well educated in their field (Hawthorne, Poe etc.) and are PUBLISHED authors. ●These authors are considered masters in their field by fellow writers and colleagues. ●We can trust what they say because they appear in un-biased, scholarly journals.

What is a Scholarly Journal?

●First, lets discuss and identify the differences between these two magazines. ●This is a copy of the inside of Newsweek (which is NOT a scholarly journal). ●What is the CEO of Newsweek most concerned about?

Newsweek vs. Scholarly Journal

●The CEO at Newsweek, or People, or the Globe Magazine all want to MAKE MONEY. How do they do that? ●Through selling copies and add space. ●THIS INFLUENCES THE CONTENT OF THE MAGAZINE!●This is NOT a scholarly source.

A Scholarly Journal How is this magazine different from Newsweek?- There are no advertisements selling you products, no pop-culture influences. - The purpose of the Scholarly Journal is to educate and to disseminate information in that field. - Scholarly Journals appear in a variety of academic subjects- Science, History, English, etc.

Practice

Working with your iPads and a partner, find one valid piece of literary criticism about John Proctor from a database other than Bloom’s. Answer the following questions

1. Who is the author?2. What is the title?3. What makes it a valid source?4. Which journal does it come from?