Library Home
Literature and Writing Web Resources
This list was compiled and annotated by Cathy Eaton and Kristina Lucas, English Professors at
NHTI, Concord's Community . Please send good literature and writing sites with title, brief explanation, and web address to ceaton@ccsnh.edu. Please contact us if web address links are inactive.
Read original texts. Explore literature, genres, author information, and critical commentary.
- American Literature
- Native American Literature
- Poetry
- Short Stories
- Theater and Drama
- Women in Literature
C'mon in. Wondering how to choose a topic, write or polish your essay? Wondering how to avoid plagiarism and to find credible references? Following are sites to help you write your best paper.
- Early stages in writing: Getting Started: Pre-writing
- English as a Second Language
- Grammar & Punctuation
- Revising
- Technical Writing
- Writing Exercises
- Writing For The Humanities
Academic Info - American Literature GatewayTOP Native American Literature
Directory of Online American Literature Resources:
American Authors, American Poetry,
Digital Publications, and Periods of American Literature
http://www.academicinfo.net/amlit.html Brief Timeline of American Literature and Events, 1620-1920
Short chronology of events in American history and literature.
American authors, literary movements, and American literature sites
http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/ The Cambridge History of English and American Literature
Essay topics range from poetry, fiction, drama and essays to history, theology and political writing. Selection of writing on orators, humorists, poets, newspaper columnists, religious leaders, economists, Native Americans, song writers, Yiddish and Creole writers
http://www.bartleby.com/225/index.html Contemporary Authors
Data base provided by NHTI library (limited number of users and subscribers). Provides biographical and bibliographical information 120,000 U.S. and international authors. Username and Password available through NHTI library. Username: Conc90075; Password: Conc90075
http://www.galenet.com/index.html Hawthorne in Salem Website
Nathaniel Hawthorne: Complete collection of all his writings, extensive criticism, biographical information, timelines, maps of Salem, images, photographs, and architecture. Professor Cathy Eaton helped create this website.
http://hawthorneinsalem.org/ Heath Anthology of American Literature Web Site
Electronic resources for Heath Anthology. Primary and secondary materials: i.e. Life at the Turn of the Century; Slavery and Abolition; Women in Literature
http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/bassr/heath/reader_tc.html Heath Guide to American Literature Volume II Web Sites
Online American Literature Resources. Late Nineteenth Century: 1865-1910, Modern Period: 1901-1945, and Contemporary Period: 1945 to the Present
http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/bassr/heath/lit_links2.html PAL: Perspectives in American Literature - A Research and Reference Guide - An Ongoing Project by Paul B. Reuben
Literary movements in American literature i.e. Early American Lit to 1700, Early American Lit 1700-1800, 19th C Romanticism, 19th C Transcendentalism, Late 19th C Realism, Late 19th C Naturalism, Early 20th C Modernism, American Drama, The Harlem Renaissance, and Late 20th C
http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/home.htm Questia: The world's largest online library
Subscribing
Useful for finding original sources for research: literature, literary criticism, theatre history as well as background information on politics, history, and context. Information from books, magazines, published and unpublished papers. Need to subscribe if you want complete information.
http://www.questia.com
Storytellers: Native American Authors OnlineTOP Poetry
This website chronicles alphabetically Native American story tellers, essayists, poets, etc with biographical links, literature published available online, and links to published work. Also Story Telling information.
http://www.hanksville.org/storytellers/alfa.html
American Verse ProjectTOP Short Stories: Authors, Biographies, Interview, & Critical Commentaries
The project is assembling an electronic archive of volumes of American poetry prior to 1920.
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/a/amverse/ Academy of American Poets
There are more than 400 essays and interviews on Poets.org, and many of them deal with the writing process. Read prose pieces that discuss poetic techniques, interviews about the writing life, and browse our glossaries of poetic terms and concepts.
http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/55 Bartleby
Website for searching for poets, first lines, and titles of poems.
http://www.bartleby.com/verse/ Famous Poets and Poems
A collection of poems and biographies from over 627 poets.
http://www.famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets.html Internet Poetry Archive
7 poets read a selection of their own poetry; panels discusses each poet
Seamus Heaney, Yusef Komunyakaa, Philip Levine, Czeslaw Milosz, Robert Pinsky, Margaret Walker, and Richard Wilbur
http://www.ibiblio.org/ipa/ JSTOR
Archive of important scholarly journals. Wonderful source for critical commentary.
http://www.jstor.org Modern American Poetry (MAPS)
Scholarly forum for the study of modern American poetry. Excellent criticism on the best poets of our time.
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/index.htm Online Journal and Multimedia Companion to
Anthology of Modern American Poetry
(Oxford University Press, 2000)
Edited by Cary Nelson
There are 161 poet companion sites with critical analysis of poems (poems not included)
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/index.htm Open Directory: Poetry
Biographies, Critical Analysis, and Links
http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Literature/Poetry/Poets/ A Poem a Day for American High Schools
A new poem posted everyday with brief introduction by poet
http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/ The Poem Tree: An Anthology of Metered Poetry
Poems and Essays about Metered Poetry
http://www.poemtree.com/ Poetry and War
In the 20th century, the horrors and irreversible changes created by modern warfare changed poetry for good.The thirty or so poems in this selection (written between 1914 and 1998) demonstrate - among many other things - this change.
http://www.ppu.org.uk/learn/poetry/index.html Poetry.com.au
Large collections of original and classic poetry. Search by poem title or poet.
http://www.poetry.com.au/ The Poetry Archive
The Poetry Archive is a treasure-trove of English-language poets reading their own work.
http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/poetsHome.do Poetry International WebA
A worldwide forum for poetry on the internet. PIW brings you news, essays, interviews and discussion, but, first and foremost, hundreds of poems by acclaimed modern poets from all around the world, both in the original language and in English translation. Also biographical information and essays.
(Click here for link) Poetry Magazines of the United Kingdom
Access to site to the full-text digital library of 20th and 21st century UK poetry magazines from the Poetry Library collection
http://www.poetrymagazines.org.uk/ Poetry Out Loud
Poets perform their own work
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/poetry/outloud/ Poets.org at The Academy of American Poets
Poets.org currently features biographies of more than 500 poets and numerous poems
http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/58 Poets' Corner: Anthology of Poems
Named after the Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey, this site is possibly the most comprehensive poetry anthology on the internet. It is maintained by four poetry lovers. However, it includes only poetry which has fallen into the public domain (meaning poetry published before 1923), and typos abound.
http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/index.html Representative Poetry Online: Canadian
Includes 3,162 English poems by 500 poets from Caedmon, in the Old English period, to the work of living poets today.
http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/display/index.cfm Sonnet Central
Archive of English sonnets, commentary, and relevant web links and a forum for poets to share and discuss their own work. Sonnets are grouped by period and author.
http://www.sonnets.org Web English Teacher: General Poetry Site
Lesson plans and activities for teaching specific types of poetry or poetry in general. Sites and Activities for Specific Poets and Collections of Poetry are also available. This page features lesson plans and activities for teaching specific types of poetry or poetry in general. Sites and Activities for Specific Poets and Collections of Poetry are also available.
http://www.webenglishteacher.com/poetrygeneral.html
Classic ReaderTOP Theater and Drama
Site offers a large collection of free classic books, plays, and short stories by authors such as Dickens, Austen, Shakespeare and many others. A selection of author biographies and portraits are also made available. This collection of classic stories currently contains 3226 works of literature (including 1830 short stories) by 326 authors
http://www.classicreader.com/ JSTOR
Archive of important scholarly journals. Wonderful source for critical commentary
http://www.jstor.org Individual AuthorsMargaret Atwood
"Happy Endings" [text]
Biography
Critical Perspective
Mother Jones Ambrose Bierce Raymond Carver
Biography:
http://www.whitman.edu/english/carver/biography1.html
http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Literature/Authors/C/Carver,_Raymond/ Willa Cather
Website: http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Literature/Authors/C/Cather,_Willa/ Anton Chekov Kate Chopin
Short Stories & The Awakening [Texts]
Interviews about production of The Awakening Robert Cormier
Biographies:
http://www.classzone.com/novelguides/authors/cormier.cfm Ralph Ellison Stephen Crane
Biographies:
http://www.online-literature.com/crane/
(Click here for link)
Biography & Questions on "Open Boat"
The Wreck of the Commodore [text]
The Stephen Crane Society
Stephen Crane's Short Stories and Poems [texts]
Selected Works [texts] Louise Erdrich F. Scott Fitzgerald Nathaniel Hawthorne
Introduction: Critical Commentary, Biography & Photography
"Rappachini's Daughter" [text]
Complete works [texts] Ernest Hemingway
Biography
Letters, Critical Analysis, Reviews of his writing O. Henry Mary Hood
Biography
Interview Zora Neale Hurston Washington Irving Shirley Jackson Sarah Orne Jewett
Biography
Complete works [texts] Jack London Joyce Carol Oates
Interviews
Websites:
(Click here for link) Flannery O'Connor Cynthia Ozick
Biography
Review of "The Shawl" and "Rosa" Edgar Allan Poe
Biography: http://www.poedecoder.com/Qrisse/bio/
Short stories and poems: http://www.poedecoder.com/Qrisse/works/ [texts]
Critical Commentary: http://www.poedecoder.com/
Teacher Resources
Web site Katherine Porter John Steinbeck
Web site James Thurber Mark Twain John Updike Alice Walker
Critical Commentaries on "Everyday Use"
Web sites:
(Click here for link)
(Click here for link) William Carlos Williams
Biography
Student project biography
Critical Commentaries
Web site Tobias Wolff
"Hunters in the Snow" [text] Richard Wright
Web sites:
http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Literature/Authors/W/Wright,_Richard/
Live Broadway: The League of American Theatres and ProducersTOP Women In Literature: Images of Women in Literature
Contemporary Broadway productions as well as Broadway plays and musicals currently touring the country. Background info on writers, composers, producers, directors, actors & designers. History for research purposes being added.
http://www.broadway.org TCG: Theatre Communications web site
Excellent source for current and recent theatre facts, figures, personalities and actual play scripts (usually not published in other sources). Focus: non-profit, professional, live theatre, experimental theatre & newer works.
http://www.tcg.org
JSTORTOP Opposing Viewpoints
Archive of important scholarly journals. Wonderful source for critical commentary
http://www.jstor.org Society for the Study of American Women Writers
The Society is committed to diversity in the study of American women writers -- racial, ethnic, gender, class, sexual orientation, region, and era -- as well as of scholars participating in the Society
http://www.lehigh.edu/~dek7/SSAWW/ 19th Century American Women Writers
http://www.lehigh.edu/~dek7/SSAWW/eTextLib.htm African American Women Writers of the Nineteenth Century
http://www.lehigh.edu/~dek7/SSAWW/eTextLib.htm The Online Archive of Nineteenth Century Women Writers
http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/gcarr/19cUSWW/ Individual AuthorsFleur Adcock
Biography
Critical Perspective Maya Angelou
Biography Margaret Atwood
Biography
Critical Perspective
Mother Jones Aphra Behn
Aphra Behn links
Aphra Behn Chronology Elizabeth Bishop
Biography:
(Click here for link)
http://projects.vassar.edu/bishop/
Commentary:
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19637
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/bishop/fish.htm Anne Bradstreet
Bibliography of Biography and Criticism
National Public Radio interviews with poet Charlotte Gordon, author of Mistress Bradstreet: The Untold Life of America's First Poet:
(Click here for link)
Student paper on Bradstreet with References Lorna Dee Cervantes
Web site Kate Chopin
Short Stories & The Awakening [Texts Online]
(Click here for link)
Introduction
Biography Sandra Cisneros
Biography
(Click here for link) Judith Ortiz Cofer
Reviews and Biography: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/738
(Click here for link) Emily Dickenson
http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/
Biography
Poets writing about Emily Dickenson and her poetry
(many sound clips)
Emily Dickenson's letters
Writing by family members and critical commentaries Annie Dillard Louise Erdrich Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Introduction
Biography Nikki Giovanni
Biography
Interviews
Black Arts Movement Joy Harjo
Introduction
Biography & Online Works Nathaniel Hawthorne
Introduction: Biography, Critical Commentary, Images
Women in Hawthorne
"Rappachini's Daughter" [text] Zora Neale Hurston Gish Jen
Interview
Articles
(Click here for link) Sarah Orne Jewett
Biography
Sylvia as Hero in Sarah Orne Jewett's "A White Heron" by Kelley Griffith, Jr. http://www.public.coe.edu/~theller/soj/ess/griffith.html Maxine Hong Kingston
Chronology, Issues & Themes Edna St. Vincent Millay
Biographies:
Biography
(Click here for link) Naomi Shihab Nye
Interview with Bill Moyers Joyce Carol Oates
Interviews Mary Oliver Cynthia Ozick
Biography Grace Paley
Biography & Themes
Online Essays & Papers: http://www.sylviaplath.de/ Katherine Porter Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton
Bibliography of Critical Perspectives
Biography
(Click here for link) Sonia Sanchez
Biography Sappho
Images in art Leslie Marmon Silko
Introduction
Interview: http://www.altx.com/interviews/silko.html
Essay on Border Patrol Susan Sontag
Biography: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/litlinks/
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/sontag.htm Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Introduction
Address @ First Women's Rights Convention Alice Walker
Critical Commentaries on "Everyday Use":
http://home.online.no/~helhoel/walker.htm
(Click here for link)
Access to more than 100 controversial issues - each one with multiple articles exploring different points of view.
[Username and Password available through NHTI library. Username: Conc90075; Password: Conc90075]
http://www.galenet.com/index.html TOP Early Stages In Writing: Getting Started: Pre-Writing
Paradigm Online Writing AssistantTOP Revising
Numerous writing strategies by Chuck Guilford at Boise State University: Discovering a subject. Organizing, revising, & editing your writing. Thesis sentence. Support essay. Informal essays. Exploratory essays. Argumentative essays. Exercises. Graphic organizers.
http://www.powa.org/ Thesis Sentences
When You Don't Know Enough About a Subject to Form a Thesis. Links to brainstorming, thesis, outline and research sites. From The UVic Writer's Guide: The Essay
http://web.uvic.ca/wguide/Pages/EssayThesisDontKnow.html
Writing Conclusions.TOP Grammar and Punctuation
Offers points for more interesting conclusions and strategies to avoid.
http://troy.troy.edu/writingcenter/handouts/WritingConclusions.doc
Elements of Style.
Strunk & White's handbook of concise advice on usage and composition.
http://www.bartleby.com/141/strunk5/html
All of the handbook.
http://www.bartleby.com/141/ Grammar Help
200 Handouts available from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
TOP Resume and Cover Letter Writing
PowerPoint guidelines to writing a resume and cover letter as you seek jobsWriting Exercises
"http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ Writing the Resume
http://rwc.hunter.cuny.edu/reading-writing/on-line/resume.html
Interactice exercises for practice.TOP Writing for the Humanities
Topics included writing process, coherence, simple sentences, coordination-subordination, past tense, past participle, nouns, pronouns, adjectives and adverbs, confused words.
Explicating a poemTOP Technical Writing
Glossary of literary terms
How to prepare for an essay exam (handouts and resource links)
Questions about literature
Writing about art
Writing about film
Writing about history
Writing in the biological sciences
Writing in the health sciences
Writing about literature
Writing about theatre
Writing Journal Articles for Engineering and Science JournalsEnglish As a Second Language
Format guidelines including limited summary descriptions; links to sample article and sample brief.
http://www.writing.eng.vt.edu/ Writing Lab Reports
Discussion of abstracts, intros and procedures/methods, results and discussion, conclusions, appendices; guidelines and sample reports from Virginia Tech's Engineering Department.
Additional Resources link to Illinois, Toronto, and Wisconsin
ESL Quiz CenterTOP Revised January 2009
Interactive exercises for grammar, including counting/non-counting nouns, grammar, idioms and slang, reading comprehension and punctuation
http://a4esl.org/a/g.html Vocabulary building (ESL)
Interactive quizzes; American expressions, idioms
http://www.gallaudet.edu/clast/english_works.html