Find Literary Criticism

Search for critical essays

Most literary criticism is published in scholarly journals. A good place to start is:

Try searching for the author or title of the work you're researching.

On your results page, you'll see options for narrowing your search, including a "Content Types" filter.

The numbers indicate how many of each type you found. If "Literature Criticism" isn't already highlighted, select it to see only those results.

Use "Search within results" to add keywords for a more specific search.

When you open a search result, you'll see the article, as well as several options. (If you don't see the article, look for the "Download PDF" link.)

Open this article in a new window

• To see the article with its original formatting (including page numbers), select "Download PDF."
• To get an MLA-style bibliographic citation, select "Citation Tools." Keep in mind, however, that machine-generated citations may contain formatting errors, so be sure to proofread.
• To keep track of articles that look promising, use "E-mail" to send copies to yourself.

Other databases

If you need more than Literature Resource Center offers, here are some other sources of literary criticism:

If an article you want isn't available through an NC LIVE database or for free online, e-mail us – we can request a copy from another library for you.

Browse for criticism

Sample essays:

Find lit crit in books

In addition to journals, books can be a good source of literary criticism.

Tip: Search for the author's name in the subject field.

Sample books: