Anthologies, published collections of fiction and non-fiction works, hold a wealth of information about literature. If you need help with a particular literature course, your anthology textbook is the best place to start. Your anthology contains numerous works exemplifying the style or worldview of a particular era or period, often categorized in several different ways in the table of contents to help you locate a specific kind of work, whether from a genre or movement. Most anthologies begin with an introduction that outlines the major themes and ideas you need to know to understand and interpret the works following. Check if your anthology includes a CD that contains readings of some of the works in the book. Usually anthologies will also list a website on the back cover with quizzes and extra reading.
Scholarly journals are particularly helpful if you are a college or graduate student. Many English essays require accurate and peer-reviewed research. Most colleges subscribe to scholarly journal databases such as JSTOR, which can be accessed free through their library website if you are a registered student. Scholarly journals contain carefully written and researched articles on a vast range of literary subjects that you can cite in your essay or incorporate into your lecture. Check the endnotes and bibliographies at the end of articles; they will list even more related resources.
Increasingly, electronic databases are publishing books online for free, particularly those with expired copyrights. Project Gutenberg offers more than 33,000 titles that you can download immediately onto your computer or any electronic reading device. Electronic databases such as Project Gutenberg and others make a vast amount of literature available to anyone with online access.
Study guides such as Coles Notes and SparkNotes are great for the high school and college level. These guides nicely summarize and organize major themes, motifs and literary devices used in major literary works. They also summarize each chapter of a novel or book. These can be found at any large bookstore chain. Consult your teacher about using study guides as acceptable research sources.
Reading texts written in old English, such as Shakespeare or Chaucer, can be laborious, especially for today's young readers, or for readers whose second language is English. However, more and more publishers are printing original texts side-by-side with modern translations. These types of books can also be found at large bookstore chains.