FAQ Answers: SCC Students

While it is great if you can find citations on the exact short story and the theme what you want to write about, it is rare find especially depending on what short story you are researching. If it recent or not by a well-known author or thesis is on a topic that is not frequently written about you will have to be creative to find your sources.

Understand that is not criticism or sources on the story or topic you are researching but there may be information in articles on the short story that will support your essay. 

Sources

First. check to see if your short story is listed in:

• Short Stories for Students

  Short Stories for Students is a great place to start! Learn more about your short story's characters, themes, style, setting, symbols and more! Use the search box to see if there is an entry on your short story (just type in the title). *Each entry also has several literary criticism essays also.

This source can usually count up to 3 or 4 sources depending on what sections you use, see Can I Cite Short Stories for Students as More Than One Source in My English 102 Paper?

Next you want look at 4. Find Literature Criticism on ENG 102 - Short Story Research Guide

Start with:

• 

  Gale Literature 

  Gale Literature allows you to search all of Gale’s literary databases and literature eBook titles in one database.

Search Tips

If you find nothing under the short story, you can also look up under the author's name and the element that you are searching for as there may be other articles on other works by the author that have the same or similar themes.

If you find nothing under the short story, and the story falls into a specific category or genre, you can see if find criticism on that genre and your topic. For example: "The Thing in the Forest" has only been out since 2003, there is less written about it. Try to look at similar stories to see how they used foreshadowing. Stories set in the forest or with monsters and tie them back to "The Thing in the Forest." For example, I did a search on "horror and foreshadowing" in the Gale Literature Resource Center. While "The Thing in the Forest" is not discussed in any of the articles, stories with similar themes are talked about. You may be able to find a quote to support your essay.

For example when you look at "A Jury of Her Peers (Short story)" in Gale Literature Resource Center, the first article is on the fact that is it a detective story and talks about clues. An argument could be made that clues are really foreshadowing the ending or outcome. There are some of the other articles found in that search that there may be a line or two or even a paragraph that might support your essay. It will take reviewing the articles with a critical eye and understanding that there may be no mention of the word "foreshadowing," but that it does show or support something you have mentioned in your essay.

Understand that different terms might be used especially depending on the time your short story was published. 

Hopefully, this helps you get the sources you need to support the themes in your essay.

If you are still having trouble, contact the library's askalibrarian@sccsc.edu or 24/7 chat if you have specific questions.