English Language and Literature 

Go to the stacks and browse around the area where the original title is shelved - you just might find other materials on the same subject!

The Oxford Companion to Women's Writing in the United States
Drexel Library Book Shelves (2nd floor) PS147 .O94 1995
This volume offers an introduction to the contributions of women to United States' literature. No genres are ignored, from advice books to major novels. Entries range from key writers to important publishing venues, and cover the entire nation's history.

African American Writers, 2nd ed. 2 vols.
Drexel Library Book Shelves (2nd floor) PS153.N5 A344 2001
This work offers extremely in-depth entries on select African American writers. While the volumes attempt to be in-depth rather than comprehensive, the entries treat biography and literary analysis of their writings very carefully. Entries include an extensive bibliography of primary and secondary works for further exploration.

The Oxford Companion to African American Literature
Drexel Library Book Shelves (2nd floor) PS153.N5 O96 1997
This Companion volume is meant to cover topics and names important in the history of African American literature, and authors, genres and important social and critical influences are included as entries. Entries cover slave narratives to modern-day novels and essays.

The Cambridge Companion to the African American Slave Narrative  (in Cambridge Collections Online)
This collection of essays explores the role of African American slave narratives as both influenced by and an influence on other forms of literature. Major figures, such as Olaudah Equiano, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs, are discussed both in relation to their historical context and as an influence on other writers.

The Cambridge Companion to the African American Novel  (in Cambridge Collections Online)
Chapters in this volume examine works by important African American novelists, both historical and contemporary, in the wake of changes to African American cultures, communities, and civil rights, and with an eye to changes in literary genres, forms and communities. It is full-text and searchable.