When you write your paper, most of your attention will be focused on a discussion of details from the text that support your main ideas. You will do your own original thinking as you go through the text, form your own ideas, and supply evidence from the text to support them. But you should also refer to the viewpoints of critics to support your main ideas or to offer alternative interpretations. Secondary sources (criticism, historical context, and biographical information about the author) allow you to expand upon your discussion of your topic.
Literary criticism is an in-depth analysis of a literary work: a novel, short story, play or poem. Literary criticism evaluaties, analyzes, describes and interprets a specific literary work or a body or group of literary works. It may include analysis of purpose, genre, structure, theme, historical context, language and other elements, all in an attempt to determine the value, meaning and intention of literary works. Reading how other people have evaluated a text can help you define, clarify or expand on your own ideas. It can help you discover aspects of the work you didn't notice, or give historical context that explains why the work was written the way it was. Many critical sources discuss an author's overall writing and may not even mention the specific work you are reading, or they may not focus precisely on a theme or question you have in mind. This sort of criticism can still be useful if you apply the overall interpretation of an author to your own ideas.
Literary criticism is usually published in scholarly books and journals as opposed to popular magazines and newspapers. It is difficult to find for free on the open Internet. The HF Library offers several subscription-based databases and ebook collections that will help you locate literary criticism.
Sebranek, Patrick, et al. Write for College: A Student Handbook. Wilmington, MA, Write Source, 1997.
SEARCH TIP: USE THE "WORKS SEARCH" OPTION in Gale Literature Resource Center.