ENGLISH 124-B10 LIBRARY ASSIGNMENT
Value 15% of term work
Due Date: March 11, 2011
PART ONE: THE LIBRARY (Total: 70 marks)
Answer the following questions and then submit a typed copy of your responses. You may not use any
online resource other than the library website (and its links) to answer the questions. You may work
together to find this information, but please submit answers in your own words and be sure to look up
different terms if you’re jointly looking at a dictionary of symbolism. Please do not sign out the books you
use to complete the assignment so that everyone has access to the resources they need!
Section A: Using Reference Books (15 marks)
The answers to these questions must come from books in the Reference section of the Rutherford Library.
Please be sure to include the following in every answer: the title of the source(s), the author(s) of the
source(s), and the call number of the source(s).
1.
If you wanted to find out more about Greek and Roman Classical mythology, which are common
sources of literary allusions and motifs, where would you find information about them in the
reference collection? List two titles that would give you information about classical mythology and
give me the name of one myth/character you found that interests you and explain why.
2.
Look up, and copy out, the same symbol in two different dictionaries of symbolism in the reference
section and compare their definitions. Are they similar or different? Is there one definition more
useful than another? Why or why not?
3.
Look up, and copy out, the definition of the word “anagnorisis” in Ross Murfin’s book, The Bedford
Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms in the reference collection. If you can, think of an example of
it.
4.
Find a book in the Reference Collection that is edited by Laurie Lanzen Harris and was published in
1990. What is the title of it, and how might it be useful for students in introductory English classes?
5.
Go to the PR section of the reference collection, and use one of the literary dictionaries to find a
brief biography of any author we’re studying on the course and write down the highlights of the
biography: birth date, death date, major publications, awards, scandals, etc.
Section C: Using the Library Website (15 marks)
The answers to these questions can be found on the University of Alberta’s library website.
1.
2.
What is the name of the exhibit on display in the Bruce Peel Special Collections Library from
September 13, 2010 until January 14, 2011?
How many libraries are on the main campus of the University of Alberta?
a. What are their names?
3.
What is the name of the Chief Librarian at the University of Alberta?
4.
How many electronic journals begin with the letter J?
5.
List what you think are the four most useful items you can find in the A-Z list of Services available on
the library website.
a. Why would they be useful for you?
Section C: Finding Literary Criticism (20 marks)
The answers to these questions can be found by finding books that discuss literature and offer
interpretations of well-known literary works. These are the kinds of sources you’ll use as secondary
sources in essays later on this semester. Please be sure to include the following in every answer: the title
of the source(s), the author(s) of the source(s), and the call number of the source(s).
1. What is the title of the book that contains an essay entitled “A piano and its history: family and
transcending family” written by Felicia Hardison Londre with the call number PS 3573 I293 Z6 2007?
2. Find at least two books about Susan Glaspell’s writing and/or theatre production. Make sure at least
one of them has a chapter about “Trifles.”
3. Find three texts that offer a literary analysis of any one text or author on the course.
4. Based on the call numbers you find in your library search, in what call number section (first 1-2 letters
and first 3-4 numbers) would you most likely find literary criticism of Flannery O’Connor’s writing? List
two of the titles that you’ve found in this section.
5. Find a book about Edgar Allan Poe’s writing that is part of the collection at the HT Coutts Education
Library and that contains an essay called “The Motive for Murder in ‘The Cast of Amontillado.’”
6. Find three non-fiction books that discuss the seventeenth-century witch trials in Salem,
Massachusetts: one should deal with the law, one with religion or philosophy, and one with literature.
7. Who is the editor of the book titled Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wall-Paper: A Sourcebook
and Critical Edition and in what year was the collection published?
8. Write out the author and title of two articles in The Cambridge Companion to Malcolm X, edited by
Robert Terrill, that you think might be useful if you were writing a paper on his writings and beliefs.
9. Find at least two books that discuss contemporary moral and ethical arguments about animal rights
which would give you relevant context if you were doing a paper that analyzed Peter Singer’s essay.
10. How many books, written in English, do you get when you do a subject search for the history and
criticism of fairy tales?
a. List two of the titles that interest you from the list of results.
Section D: Finding Journal Articles in the MLA Database (20 marks)
The answers to these questions can be found by doing a search in the MLA International Bibliography, one
of the electronic databases on the University of Alberta Library website. Please be sure to include the
following for all questions (except 1 and 3): the author(s) of the article(s), the title of the article(s), the
title of the journal(s), and the volume/issue number of the source(s).
1. How many hits do you get when you do a search for Susan Glaspell’s play, Trifles?
2. Look up James A. Davies’s article “Dylan Thomas and Paternal Influence: A Reply to Gilbert Bennett.”
What journal is it in?
a. Do we carry this journal at the U of A? How would you be able to get a copy of this article?
3. How many Scholarly (Peer-Reviewed) hits do you get when you do a search for August Wilson’s The
Piano Lesson?
a. How many of these are available through the MLA database as PDF documents?
4. List at least two articles on Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” that you
think sound interesting and note whether or not they are available through the U of A library
website/MLA database.
5. If you wanted to do an essay on the symbolism of the forest in “Young Goodman Brown,” what article
would be most helpful for you?
6. Which article in the MLA database features illustrations of Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard
to Find”?
7. What is the title of Suzy Clarkson Holstein’s article about “Trifles” in Midwest Quarterly: A Journal of
Contemporary Thought and what are the subject terms the record includes for the article?
8. What is the name of author, and title, of the article about the conflict between work and play in
James Joyce’s “Araby”?
a. Is it available through the MLA database?
9. If you wanted to do an essay on the importance of blues music in The Piano Lesson what articles
would be useful?
a. List two titles that you’ve found and whether they’re available through the MLA
database or the U of A library.
10. Who wrote the article “Victim and Victimizer: Poe’s ‘The Cask of Amontillado’” published in
Interpretations: A Journal of Ideas, Analysis, and Criticism?
a. What volume and issue number is this article in, and what year was it published?