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Literary Criticism | Background Information | Online Articles | Internet Resources | Citing
All of these books are available in the Reference Collection at the C.O.D. Library.
Novels for Students (volume 6)
Reference Collection, PN3385.N68
This resource contains synopses, paper topic ideas, and overviews of the subjects.
Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC)
Reference Collection, PN771 .C59
This resource provides articles, critical essays, and biographical information on authors who are still alive or who died after 1959.
Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events that Influences Them
Reference Collection, PN50.L574 1997
This is a great source for author information.
Hispanic Literature Criticism
Reference Collection, PQ 7081 .A1 H573 1994
Presents a broad selection of the best criticism of works by major Hispanic writers of the past one hundred years including Isabel Allende.
Since you can choose paper topics related to the book, here is short list of sources that will help you get started.
Glossary of Contemporary Literary Theory
Reference Collection, PN 44.5.H37
Clear, detailed explanations of literary techniques, including "magical realism".
My Invented Country: a nostalgic journey through Chile
General Collection, PQ 8098.1 L54 Z467 2003
Allende's own nostalgic view of Chile's social and political history.
Politics of Latin America: the power game
General Collection, JL960. V36 2002
Good source for information on the history, culture, religion, and revolution in Latin America.
News from the End of the Earth: a portrait of Chile
General Collection, F3081.H48 1998
A good introduction to the history of Chile. The author was a British ambassador to Chile from 1982 to 1987.
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Women's Issues Worldwide. Central and South America
Reference Collection, HQ1115.G7 2003 v.2
A source for issues relating to feminism in Latin America.
The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism
Reference Collection, BX841.H37 1995
Good source for background information on the Catholic church. There are entries on terminology, doctrine, history, theological developments, and Catholicism in specific countries around the world.
Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
General Collection, PR2831.C75 1997
A good source for information for the character comparison topic.
Use any of these databases to get full-text articles. These databases are also available off-campus with a C.O.D. Library card.
Academic Search Premier
This large database has many full-text articles with information for doing any of the suggested paper topics. Look here for an interesting interview with Allende in 1991, where she discusses "magical realism" and influences of Chile's history and culture on her works and characters.
Expanded Academic ASAP
Another large database with full-text articles related to many of the suggested paper topics. Use the Keyword Search option unless you know a specific subject term. Keyword searches will yield more results.
Literature Resource Center
Excellent source for biographical information as well as critiques. Search by her name or name of the book.
Discovering Colection
General resources on the topics of history, literature, people and world cultures.
New York Times Historical
A database of newspaper articles from 1851-2003.
Magill's OnLiterature Plus
Criticism and profiles of the characters in the novel. Look here for Romeo and Juliet character profiles as well. All essays are full-text.
Isabel Allende Web Site
http://www.isabelallende.com
This is Isabel Allende's personal web site. It contains biographical information, photographs, and selected speeches and lectures given by Allende. Unfortunately, there is no "About the Site" link to verify its authenticity. The site is, however, referenced in the Librarian's Index to the Internet as well as several journal articles and dissertations, and so is presumed to be credible.
Country Studies of the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html
This U.S. government web site is an excellent resource for social, political, and historical background information on 102 countries throughout the world, including Chile. There is even information on the relationship between the Catholic Church and political parties.
The Power Behind the Language of Isabel Allende
http://www-mcnair.berkeley.edu/96journal/escobedo.html
Literary criticism of Allende's novels by Elvia Lizeth Escobedo. Even though the article was written by an undergraduate student at UC-Berkeley in 1996, the site is indexed in the Internet Public Library and is referenced in several journal articles as a credible source.
Feminist Theory Web Site
http://www.cddc.vt.edu/feminism/>
Hosted by the Center for Digital Discourse and Culture at Virginia Tech University, this comprehensive site has links, bibliographies, and informational paragraphs about feminism.
Need online help for citing those awesome sources you found? We've got it here. Remember, online sources, such as articles from databases and web sites, will require some extra steps in order to properly cite them.
C.O.D. Library Citing Sources
Call the Reference Desk (630) 942-3364
Online help via Ask A Librarian
Writing Assistance Area at the College of DuPage (630) 942-3355
Christine Kickels, Associate Professor and Librarian
Laura Dare, Reference Librarian Intern
Updated September 14, 2006
