MagillOnLiterature Plus Tips

MagillOnLiterature Plus contains editorially reviewed critical analyses, brief plot summaries, character profiles, essays on genres, and biographical essays on select authors.

The database includes the full text of the following reference books: Masterplots, Masterplots II, Cyclopedia of World Authors, Cyclopedia of Literary Characters, Magill's Literary Annual 1990-2002, Magill's Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, Magill Book Reviews, Critical Surveys, Magill's Choice: Notable Poets, Magill's Choice: Shakespeare, Magill's Choice: 100 Masters of Mystery and Detective Fiction, and World Philosophers and Their Works.

To perform a broad search, search in the “default fields.” This searches for: Title, Author, Author’s Gender, Author’s National Identity, Author’s Cultural Identity, Literary Locale Information, Literary Characters, Subjects, Literary Genre, Movement, Publication Information, Abstract Summary, and the Time of Work.

For a narrower search, select one of the fields above (located in the drop down menu) or use the search form on the page.

Search terms can be combined by using the following search operators:

AND
Searches for both search terms
For example, Charlotte Brönte AND Jane Eyre retrieves articles that contain both Charlotte Brönte and Jane Eyre.

OR
Searches for either search term
For example, the search Mary Shelley OR Frankenstein retrieves articles that contain either term Mary Shelley or Frankenstein.

NOT
Searches for only one of the search terms
For example, the search Mark Twain NOT Huckleberry Finn searches only for Mark Twain; any articles that contain the term Huckleberry Finn will not be included.