Literary Criticism of Short Stories

This guide addresses the need for literary criticism for beginning literary critics. It provides resources for finding short stories, for getting plot summaries, reviews and criticism or explication of short stories.

Starting Points

Short story index

To find short stories by title or subject.

Literary Reference Center

Ebsco's scholarly articles and criticisms, bios and interviews, novels, short stories, & poems.

Masterplots II. Short story series

For finding plot summaries.

Articles & eResources

MLA International Bibliography

For finding reviews and literary criticism.

Gale Literary Index

Gale's Literary Index is a master index to the major literature products published by Gale. It combines and cross-references over 157,000 author names, including pseudonyms and variant names, and listings for over 210,000 titles into one source.

Literature Resource Center

Rich in biographical, bibliographical, and critical content, Gale's Literature Resource Center is the premier Internet resource for information on literary figures from all time periods writing in such genres as fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, history, journalism, and more.

Academic Search Premier

For finding reviews.

Humanities International Index

For finding reviews.

Using the Library Catalog

Click here to search the Library Catalog

To find a short story in Randall Library's catalog, select "author" and enter the name of the short story's author (last name first). Then look for a title that indicates a short story collection. You cannot find a short story by title in the catalog because they are usually published in collections and anthologies.

To search for criticism of a short story within a book, consult Randall Library's catalog; select "subject," and enter the author of the novel's name (last name first). Then, search for the subject heading subdivision, "criticism and interpretation."

Books & Library Materials

This is only a sample of literary criticism print resources, to find more, please check the Randall Library online catalog or ask a librarian for help.

Literary Criticism Index

Magill's bibliography of literary criticism

Black Literature Criticism

Twentieth-century literary criticism

Twentieth-century short story explication

Contemporary literary criticism

Nineteenth-century literature criticism

Reference Guide to Short Fiction

Short Story Criticism

Magill Index to Critical Surveys

Page maintained by:

John Osinski

Literary Criticism of Short Stories

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