English 10: Modern American Poetry
Professor: Celeste Goodridge
Librarian: Joan Campbell
Fall 2008
Background Information
Critical Survey of Poetry Main Ref PN 1021 C7 1993. 8 volumes.
Good critical overviews of poets' works, reception and major themes.
Dictionary of Literary Biography.
A huge series of books now online. Good for finding authoritative
biographical and general critical information on your poets and their works. Also available in print in the Main Reference PS 129 area.
Dictionary of Poetic Terms. Main Ref PN 1042 M93.
Encyclopedia of American poetry. The twentieth century.
Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry in English.
Oxford English Dictionary
The mother of all historical dictionaries.
Princeton Handbook of Poetic Terms. Main Ref PN1042 .P75 1986.
See also the Quick Facts page for online reference sources to get quick, authoritative definitions and facts.
Finding Books
Library Catalogs for Books
Bowdoin College Library Catalog
Access to Bowdoin Library's holdings of books, videos, government documents, etc.
NExpress
Search --and borrow from--the combined collections of Colby, Bates, Bowdoin, Williams, Northeastern, Middlebury, and Wellesley for both books and articles. Books arrive from Colby and Bates in two days.
- Subject Searching in Bowdoin's Library Catalog: Browse the book shelves online by connecting to a major subject section of the Library. Some examples follow:
Indexes/Databases for Finding Journal Articles & Book Reviews
- Academic Search Premier
Search this database for journals in the social sciences, humanities and science written since the 1970s. - JSTOR
Search JSTOR for full text of scholarly journal articles written from the 1800s up until about 2003.
MLA International Bibliography
An index to journal articles, books, and chapters in books on literature and film written since the 1920's. The most comprehensive index to literary criticism. Many links to the full text of journal articles.
Reader's Guide Retrospective
Search this database for reviews of your poet's work contemporary to his/her time.
Additional Sources
Citation & Style Guides
Provides links to online guides and call numbers for guides in the library.
See also the Research Guide to English.