Plot Summaries
- MagillOnLiterature Plus (EBSCOhost)Critical analyses and brief plot summaries of the most studied works in the history of literature: long fiction, short fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama.
- Masterplots II: Drama SeriesCall Number: UCF Main Library Reference - 2nd Floor -- PN 6112.5 .M37 1990"Examines 327 works of twentieth century drama from 148 playwrights from around the world...arranged alphabetically by the title best known to an English-speaking audience. Each essay is divided into six sections:
- The author and his or her birth and death dates, the time and place of the work's first performance, the setting, and the principal characters.
- 'The Play' presents an overview of the action and plot.
- 'Themes and Meanings' gives insight into the issues with which the playwright is concerned.
- The 'Dramatic Devices' section describes such elements of the theatrical presentation as plot devices, staging techniques, and characterization.
- In 'Critical Context,' the work is analyzed in relation to its place in the playwright's canon, its genre, and its social and historical background.
- 'Sources for Further Study' offers a listing of readily available secondary reference material on the work and its author."
Literary Criticism
- Drama CriticismAn ongoing, multi-volume set that presents critical views on the most widely studied writers of drama. Each volume includes overviews of four to eight playwrights and an historical survey of the critical response to their work.
- Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism: Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of World Authors from Classical Antiquity through the Fourteenth Century, from First Appraisals to Current EvaluationsContains excerpts from criticism through the ages on the works of philosophers, poets and playwrights, political leaders, scientists, mathematicians and writers from other genres. Entries feature a biography, textual history, a bibliography of the writer's works, critical excerpts, and suggested sources for further reading.
- Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800 : Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth- Century Novelists, Poets, Playwrights, Philosophers, and Other Creative Writers, from the First Published Critical AppraisaCovers the careers and works of writers of the late Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Restoration eras. Entries offer interpretations of historical periods, literary trends and topics, and the achievements of noteworthy individuals.
- Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism (NCLC): Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of Nineteenth-Century Novelists, Poets, Playwrights, Short-Story Writers, & Other Creative WritersPresents substantial excerpts of criticism on poets, novelists, short story writers, dramatists and philosophers who died between 1800 and 1899. Each volume presents overviews of four to eight authors with chronologically arranged criticism representing the entire range of response to each author. Entries typically include an author portrait, an introduction to the author, a primary bibliography, annotated criticism and an annotated list of further reading sources. Every fourth volume is a "Topics" volume covering major literary movements, trends and other topics related to nineteenth-century literature.
- Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism (TCLC): Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of Novelists, Poets, Playwrights, Short Story Writers, & Other Creative Writers Who Died Between 1900 & 1999Presents substantial excerpts of criticism on major literary figures and nonfiction writers, including novelists, poets, playwrights and literary theorists, who died between 1900 to 1999. Each volume presents overviews of four to eight authors with chronologically arranged criticism representing the entire range of response to each author. A typical excerpt is prefaced by an annotation that explains the critic's reputation and critical philosophy and providing a synopsis of the excerpt. Every fourth volume is a "Topics" volume covering major literary movements, trends and other topics.
- Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC): Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of Today's Novelists, Poets, Playwrights, Short Story Writers, Scriptwriters, & Other Creative WritersEach print volume in this long-standing series profiles approximately six to eight novelists, poets, playwrights and other creative and nonfiction writers by providing full-text or excerpted criticism taken from books, magazines, literary reviews, newspapers and scholarly journals. The approximately 200 essays per volume are prefaced by a full citation and annotation and most entries include an author portrait.