Start with Background Information

Find general, background information on your poet and poem. Try using:

1. Poetry for Students, REF 808.81 P745s, Vols. 1-29
   
   
2. Poetry Criticism, REF 809.1 P745c, Vols. 1-80

There is an online index so you do not have to search a gazillion volumes looking for your poet/poem. Use Title search to find your poem; Use Author search to find your poet.

You will find biographical information about your poet, themes used, context, and interpretations by other people.

Use the information that you find in these reference books to find additional books and articles on your poet/poem.

To cite the excerpts that you find in Poetry Criticism, use these examples.

Finding Books

Use Tri-C's online catalog or OhioLINK's online catalog to find books about your poet or your poem.

1. Use a Keyword search and search for your poet's name: robert frost OR frost robert
   
   This will retrieve books that contain you poet's name. Please note that the books may or may not be *about* the poet. It just could be that the record contained the name for another reason.
   
   
2. Use a Keyword search to search for your poem title: Waste Land
   
   This will retrieve books that contain your poem title. Again, please note that the books found may or may not be about the poem. Always double-check.

Books may be requested from other campuses or university libraries free of charge. Use the request button or link. You will need your name, S number, and college.

Materials take 2-5 days to arrive, depending where in the state it is coming from. Pick them up at the 3rd floor circulation desk. Check your Library Account to see if they have arrived or call first (216-987-4292) before making a trip.

Finding Articles

Use our Literature research databases to find articles about your poet or poem. Much of what you will find is full-text. No need to come to the library to find a copy!

Try:

1. Literary Reference Center
   (On Campus Link | Off Campus Link) or
   
   
2. Literature Resource Center (On & Off Campus Link)

Again, use Keyword searching like you see in the Finding Books example. However, to narrow your search further, try adding in terminology you found during your background search. For example: Robert Frost AND imagery

Be sure to connect your terms with AND or OR for best results. Catalogs and Databases are very literal creatures! They look for things in the exact order you type them, and you will need to use AND or OR to tell them to find those words separately.

Cite Your Stuff!

You need to cite the information you found for several reasons.

1. You are using the intellectual property of others, and you need to give credit where credit is due for other people's words and ideas.
   
   
2. It lends credibility to your paper by demonstrating you researched your topic.
   
   
3. If people are interested in reading more about your topic, they can use your Works Cited page to find the sources you used.

Your Thomson Handbook contains a section on formatting books, articles and other material in the MLA citation style. Metro Campus also has the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, a *fascinating* 361 page read on citing just about anything.

Online examples of MLA citation style can be found by doing a Web search for: MLA citation style

For those that prefer more assistance, try using the Son of Citation Machine website to format your citations for you. Copy and paste the result into your paper.

Or, as you are searching in Literary Reference Center, use the FIND IT button to format your article citation for you. Alternatively, email the article to yourself with the MLA citation. Copy and paste into your document!

Citing Poetry Criticism

Entries in Poetry Criticism contain excerpts from articles and books. Therefore, what your citation will look like will depend on where material you cite was originally published: in a book or in an article. Check the beginning or the end of the excerpt you cite for source information.

To cite an excerpt from an article in Poetry Criticism, use the following format:

Malmgren, Carl D. "On the Road Reconsidered: Kerouac and the
      Modernist Tradition." Ball State University Forum 30 (1989):
      59-67. Rpt. in Poetry Criticism. Linda Pavloski and Scott
      Darga. Vol. 117. Detroit: Gale, 2002. 204-9.

To cite an excerpt from a book in Poetry Criticism, use the following format:

Freibert, Lucy M. "Control and Creativity: The Politics of Risk
     in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale." Critical Essays
     on Margaret Atwood. Ed. Judith McCombs and G. K. Hall, 1988.
     280-91. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W.
     Hunter, et al. Vol. 135. Detroit: Gale, 2001. 13-18.

In both cases, you begin with the original source citation followed by the citation for Poetry Criticism.