Chapter One - The materials of literary criticism Writing your first literary research paper can make you feel as if you are trapped in a maze. This brief guide is intended to provide a framework for students encountering literary research for the first time. For the literary critic, the two main categories of library materials are called primary and secondary sources. Works like Frankenstein are considered primary sources.
Primary sources are the poems, plays, short stories, and novels studied in class.
Secondary sources , on the other hand, comprise any critical commentary on a primary source. A book of criticism is a secondary source, as is a student essay. The flowchart shows the types of secondary sources that students would find useful in conducting literary research. Although the chart shows research as a linear process, it must be noted that in literary research the process of discovery is not necessarily a straight line. The remainder of this chapter provides a brief introduction to the key types of secondary sources available in the library.