Introduction to Literature

Practice activities

Activity 1:  Gale Literary Index and the DLB

[Download Word (.doc) version of this activity]

  Purpose: Find an overview of an author that includes biographical information, literary criticism, a list of works by the author, and a bibliography of items about the author's works.

  Instructions: Follow the instructions below and answer the questions.

1. You will be assigned a particular author for this exercise.  Use Gale's Literary Index [www.galenet.com/servlet/LitIndex] to locate information on the author in several biographical/critical series.  What author were you assigned for this activity?

2. According to Gale's Literary Index, which of the following literary reference sets contain information about the author?

• Contemporary Authors
• Contemporary Literary Criticism
• Dictionary of Literary Biography

3.  According to Gale's Literary Index, which volumes of the Dictionary of Literary Biography contain information about your assigned author?

4.  Find the most recent volume of Dictionary of Literary Biography that includes information about the author.

• Use the Library Catalog to search for keywords in the title (dictionary literary biography) plus the volume number. 
  For example:   dictionary and literary biography and 20
• In the Library Catalog, find the call number and use it to retrieve the volume from the shelf in the library

5.  Examine the entry about your author in Dictionary of Literary Biography (DLB).  Which of the following kinds of content were you able to find for the author?

• biographical information
• literary criticism (or information about at least some of the author's works)
• list of works by the author
• bibliography of articles, books, etc. about the author or the author's works

6. What other types of information did you find in the DLB entry about your author?

 

 

Authors for this exercise:

1. Ulla Isaksson 

2. Mercer Mayer

3. Jane Smiley

4. John Muir

5. Paule Marshall

6. Farley Mowat

7. Heron Carvic

8. Charlotte Mary Yonge

9. Aldous Huxley

10. Letitia Elizabeth London

11. Ernesto Sabato

12. Susanna Centlivre

13. Isaak Walton

14. Alexandre Dumas

15. Umberto Eco

16. Christina Rossetti

17. Charlotte Smith

18. Sarah Daniels

19. Anthony Trollope

20. Freya Stark

21. Rudyard Kipling

22. Bram Stoker

23. Penelope Aubin

24. Lewis Carroll

25. Pearl S. Buck

26. Countee Cullen

27. Isaac Bashevis Singer

28. Zora Neale Hurston

29. Phillis Wheatley

Activity 2: Contemporary Literary Criticism

Purpose: Explore what kinds of literary questions can be answered by the source Contemporary Literary Criticism.

Instructions:

1. Use the Gale Literary Index to find information about your assigned author in volumes 50-69 of Contemporary Literary Criticism

2. What kinds of information about the author, author's works, etc.?

Authors for this exercise:

1. Mary Gaitskill

2. Dorothy R. Parker

3. Oliver Sacks

4. Adrienne Kennedy

5. Octavio Paz

6. Ken Kesey

7. William F. Gibson

8. Lorraine Hansberry

9. Stephen King

10. Annie Dillard

11. Marina Warner

12. Kay Boyle

13. Mbongeni Ngema

14. Raja Rao

15. Toni Morrison

16. Michael Crichton

17. Rumer Godden

18. Woody Allen

19. Katherine Govier

20. Valerie Sayers