Research Guides: ENGL 4743 Studies in Nineteenth-Century British Literature and Culture: Getting Started

Picking Your Topic

Picking and scoping your topic

Select a text you think interests you and get into the scholarly databases early. Remember, if you need one scholarly source, you may want to consider at least five or more. Then, choose one which best supports your argumentative thesis.

Reference Materials

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
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Covers: 1980-.Offers the full text of reference sources in all disciplines. Users can search for specific words or concepts or browse by subject area. Special tools include a concept map that charts the occurrences of search and related terms across the collection and an image search. Topic pages covering people, places, events, or ideas pull together information from across several different reference sources.
Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
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Brings together language and subject reference works from Oxford University Press into a single cross-searchable resource. The University Libraries subscribe to the "Premium" collection, which includes dictionaries, companions, thesauri, and handbooks on many different fields.
Gale Literature: Dictionary of Literary Biography This link opens in a new window
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Covers: 1978-. Provides biographical and critical essays on the lives, works, and careers of the world's major literary figures from all eras and genres. DLB Complete Online includes the DLB main series, the DLB Documentary Series, and the DLB Yearbook Series. Also available through the Gale Literary Sources platform.