ENGL 251 Asian American Literature

Find Literary, Historical, & Biographical Contexts

Find Literary Overviews

Get an introduction to key themes, stylistic choices, critical reception, and historical contexts with Topic and Work Overviews.  

Search by any or a mix of the following:

  • Keywords: ex: "Asian American Literature"
  • Author: ex "Tan, Amy" or "Amy Tan"
  • Title: ex: "No-No Boy"

Limit to Topic & Work Overviews. (See the three illustrations below, one for Asian American Literature and the other for Amy Tan AND Two Kinds.)

(click on an image to enlarge it)

Illustration 1: "Two Kinds" AND "Tan, Amy"

Gale Literature- Amy Tan AND Two Kinds

Illustration 2: The Results List - For Topic and Work Overviews, Short Stories (or other genre) for Students is a good choice.

  • Tip: Look for the for Students series and select the article with the most info - in this case, a critical essay, overview and more...

Gale-Lit-Topic and Work Overviews

Illustration 3: You can search by idea as well. In this case, I looked for overviews on "Asian American Literature"

Gale Lit Topic Overviews for Asian American Literature

 

 

Find Books for Context

Find Historical Contexts

Use U.S. History in Context and limit to Reference to find overviews or historical moments in US history. You may Search by Keyword or Browse for ideas. See the illustrations below.

Here are some possible historical eras to search or select from browsing. This list is not exhaustive.

  • Immigration
  • Chinese Immigrants
  • Japanese Immigrants
  • Filipino Immigrants
  • Vietnamese Immigrants 
  • Southeast Asian Immigrant
  • Yellow Peril
  • Chinese Exclusion Act
  • Japanese American Internment WWII
  • Communist Scare
  • Vietnam War
  • Vietnamese Refugees
  • Asian American Arts Renaissance

Type in a keyword/phrase to SEARCH for specific information OR click on BROWSE Topics to explore ideas and topics. 

Search or Browse for info in U.S History in Context

At Browse Topics, select a broad category. In this case I chose Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

browse topics

Search results include a range of source types (as illustrated below). Start with the opening article and click Read More and select Reference or introductory academic encyclopedia articles. 

Source types

Find Books for Context

Historical Newspapers

Find Biographical Contexts

Learn about artists, thinkers, politicians, and others!

Search by Name or Browse People

Bio in Context Grace lee Boggs

Start with the opening article & click on Read More, and read other Biographies for introductory overviews. 

Grace Lee Boggs Biography page

Find Books for Context

Contexts

Context Matters

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

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
U.S. History in Context (or 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. 
Biography in Context
  • Read biographies to learn about an author's life, time, and literary work.