Explore general information about your author and the work using Wikipedia, general encyclopedias, or a subject encyclopedia (800’s). Jot down questions, rough out an outline, list ideas of the information you might need.
This is investigative work! Try searching using the name of your author. Search in all categories, i.e. title, author, subject, and keyword. Last name, first name or initial, is the preferred sequence in the title, author, and subject searches. For keyword search use both sequences (last name, first name/first name, last name) and see if you get different hits. Most sources should be in the 810’s (American literature section) or 92’s (biography).
Get the book(s). Scan the table of contents. Read the back of the book or the inside flap. Hopefully you’ll have success in finding information you can use.
Biography Resource Center
Literature Resource Center
Scribner Writers Series
Academic OneFile – may find journal articles in here.
Charleston County Public Library
Magill On Literature
This site will be very helpful for bio and criticism. See the librarian for help accessing this site.
ETV StreamlineSC
Video on Eugene O’Neill, bios on the rest.
The American Experience
Biography.com
SSSL: Bibliography: A Checklist of Scholarship on Southern
Literature
eOneill.com: An Electronic Eugene O'Neill Archive
The Arthur Miller Society Official Web Site
Today in Literature
Lillian Hellman Papers