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Humanities Librarian
Leanna Goodwater
Contact:
University Library
Santa Clara University
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053
lgoodwater@scu.edu
Santa Clara University
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053
lgoodwater@scu.edu
408-554-5434
Subjects: Art & Art History, Classics, English, Ethics, Modern Languages, Philosophy, Theatre & Dance
Literary Theory and Terminology
REFERENCE SOURCES ON LITERARY THEORY AND TERMINOLOGY
The following reference works are good sources for learning more about particular theoretical approaches, and for finding definitions of the terms used by scholars when analyzing literature.
Dictionaries of Poetic Terms
DICTIONARIES OF POETIC TERMS
The following reference books are very helpful in explaining the many specialized terms that are used by scholars when they talk about poetry.
- Columbia Granger's World of Poetry This link opens in a new windowAn excellent source for starting research on poems and their authors, this online database contains a handy glossary of terms used when studying poetry. Click on the "Glossary" tab to start your search. The definitions often include links to poems contained in the database as examples of the terms being defined.
General Dictionaries
The following online dictionaries are two of the most highly respected dictionaries for learning about words in the English language in all fields of study.
- Merriam-Webster Unabridged This link opens in a new windowThis is the largest and most comprehensive dictionary of the English language as it is currently used today. The famous "unabridged" is the latest in the long history of dictionaries directly descended from Noah Webster's original English-language dictionary of 1828.
- OED (Oxford English Dictionary) This link opens in a new windowThe Oxford English Dictionary is a historical dictionary of English, covering the language from the earliest times to the present day. Entries contain detailed etymological analysis and are illustrated by quotations from a wide range of English language sources from around the world. It is most useful to track how a word's meaning has developed and changed during the time it has been part of the English language.