Essay 3: Theme Analysis
DUE DATE
- Final Essay due: Monday, May 2 (100 pts)
- Important note! As communicated on the syllabus, incomplete essays will not be graded. Please finish Essay 3 at 1,500 words.
- The last day a late essay will be accepted is the last day of the Final Exam: Thursday, May 12.
Video Tutorials
Below are video tutorials to help you navigate some of the library resources.
Reference Databases
The following resource will provide you some resources for background information. Doing background research will not only help you narrow your focus, but will also help you identify keywords to use when searching the databases for scholarly articles.
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new windowIncludes materials from over 650 reference books on many topics in higher education, including art, business, history, languages, literature, science, criminal justice, and political science.
- Bloom's Literature This link opens in a new windowEssays and criticism examining the lives of great authors and their works.
Video Tutorials
Boolean Operators
Using Boolean operators in a database is highly recommended, as this approach usually generates the most useful results. Databases are not "intuitive" like search engines (e.g., Google) - they must be "told" how to process a search query. Boolean operators let you "tell" the database what you want to see in your results.
| AND |
Use AND to connect KEYWORDS - Retrieves sources with both/all terms [refines search] Example: diabetes AND adult AND self-management |
| OR |
Use OR to connect SYNONYMS & LIKE CONCEPTS - Retrieves sources with either/any term(s) [broadens search] Example: heart attack AND (female OR women) AND symptoms |
| NOT |
Use NOT to EXCLUDE word(s) - Eliminates sources with the word(s) following NOT Example: Omega-3 fatty acids NOT fish oils |
Identifying Keywords
When you are conducting your background research on your topic, consider the who, what, when, where and why of what you are reading, and highlight or write the main points down. You can use those as keywords in the databases!
Reference Databases (Background Research)
- Bloom's Literature This link opens in a new windowEssays and criticism examining the lives of great authors and their works.
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new windowIncludes materials from over 650 reference books on many topics in higher education, including art, business, history, languages, literature, science, criminal justice, and political science.
Literary Criticism Articles
- Gale Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new windowFull-text journal articles, critical essays, work overviews & summaries, and author biographies from authoritative sources.
- Literary Reference Source This link opens in a new windowCriticisms, synopses, and reviews of authors and their works, full text poems, short stories, and classic novels, as well as full text from over 400 literary journals.
- Bloom's Literature This link opens in a new windowEssays and criticism examining the lives of great authors and their works.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowComplete historical full text of all issues of journals in a wide range of humanities and social science fields.
- Gale Literature: LitFinder This link opens in a new windowAccess literary works and authors throughout history, including full-text poems, plays, short stories, speeches, and more.
- Gale Literature Criticism This link opens in a new windowExplore the most extensive compilation of literary commentary available. Includes analysis from book excerpts, periodicals, and more.
- Gale Literature: Scribner Writer Series This link opens in a new windowBrowse original scholarly essays on authors from around the world. Places authors and their works in personal and historical context.
- Gale Literature: Twayne's Author Series This link opens in a new windowFind in-depth critical introductions to the lives and works of major writers. Includes influences of literary movements.
eBooks
- Ebook Central (LSCS) This link opens in a new window(ProQuest) Over 100,000 ebook titles covering a full range of academic topics. General reference works are also included.
- EBSCO eBook Collection (LSCS) This link opens in a new windowSearch complete electronic books. Set up a free account and download to your PC, Mac, Nook, Sony, Android, iPhone, or iPad.
A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen
- The Cambridge Companion to Ibsen
PT 8895 .C27 1994 - A Doll's House: Ibsen's Myth of TransformationPT 8861 .D87 1991
- Henrik IbsenPT 8895 .H432 2011
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
- Tennessee Williams's The Glass MenageriePS 3545 .I5365 G537 1988
- The Glass Menagerie: An American MemoryPS 3545 .I5365 G5365 1990
- Critical essays on Tennessee WilliamsPS 3545.I5365 Z615 1997
Trifles by Susan Glaspell
- Susan Glaspell: Her Life and TimesPS 3513 .L35 Z595 2005
- Susan Glaspell: A Critical BiographyPS 3513 .L35 Z78 2000
- Self and Space in the Theater of Susan GlaspellPS3513 .L35 Z86 2002
- Susan Glaspell's Century of American Women: A Critical Interpretation of Her WorkPS 3513 .L35 Z75 1993
- Susan Glaspell and Sophie Treadwell Routledge Modern and Contemporary DramatistsPS 3513 .L35 Z82 2008
Fences by August Wilson
- The Cambridge Companion to August WilsonPS 3573 .I45677 Z6 2007
- August Wilson: A Literary CompanionPS 3573 .I45677 Z89 2004
- August Wilson: Bloom's Major DramatistsPS 3573 .I45677 Z955 2002
- The Theatre of August WilsonPS3573 .I45677 Z79 2018
- August Wilson's Twentieth-Century Cycle Plays: A Reader's CompanionPS 3573 .I45677 Z895 2015
A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
Trifles by Susan Glaspell
Fences by August Wilson