LibGuides: ENGL 113 Introduction to Poetry: Find Biographical &amp; Historical Contexts

Finding Background Info

Finding Background Information

Resources on this page will help you find background sources on historical, social, political, and aesthetic contexts to the works and authors you study.

Gale Literature

Gale Literature This link opens in a new window
Search for literary work overviews and author biographies plus scholarly literary criticism and analysis of authors and their works - novels, short stories, poetry, and drama including Shakespeare plays.

Read Topic & Work Overviews from Gale Literature to get started with:

an introduction to social, historical, political contexts from which a poet worked
an overview of the critical reception to a poet's work
a discussion of key themes and aesthetic elements in the author's work

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Biography in Context

Read biographies to learn about an author's life, time, and literary work.

Biography in Context (Gale) This link opens in a new window
Full-text reference entries, magazine and journal articles, primary sources, videos, podcasts, and images covering a vast array of people from historically significant figures to present-day news makers.

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U.S. History in Context & World History in Context

Read reference articles for an overview to historical, cultural, political contexts.

You may search by name, era or event. You may also browse for ideas.

U.S. History in Context (Gale) This link opens in a new window
Full-text articles from scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers, reference sources, primary documents, and selected websites.
World History in Context (Gale) This link opens in a new window
Full-text scholarly journal articles, primary sources, and reference books covering world history from antiquity to the present.

You may browse for topic ideas if you don't know what to search for. You may also search.

The image below shows how to browse for historical contexts.
Once you choose a link, select Reference articles from the list of sources.

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