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English 111 - Walker: Keywords & Search Strategies

This guide provides search strategies and recommended resources for research in English 111 with Cynthia Walker.

Suggested Keywords

Keywords are the words you type into a search box to search for information on your topic. The words you use to describe your topic may be different from the words used in library resources. For example, another way to describe teenagers might be adolescents.

You might want to try some of the terms listed below as you experiment with different keywords for your topic. If you have trouble finding information on your topic, ask a librarian for help choosing successful keywords.

Literary Criticism

Try combing the keywords below with the name of the author and/or the title of work, as in: Langston Hughes interpretation or A Dream Deferred themes.

  • criticism
  • analysis
  • interpretation
  • imagery
  • symbolism
  • themes
  • history
  • context

Historical Context

Try experimenting with keywords related to the historical/social/cultural/economic/political context in which the poem you are researching was written. For example, if you research the poem “A Dream Deferred,” you might try different combinations of some of the keywords below:

  • African Americans
  • Harlem
  • jazz
  • postwar era
  • nineteen fifties
  • race relations
  • segregation
  • social aspects
  • social classes
  • social conditions

 

Choosing & Using Keywords

Choosing and Using Keywords

This tutorial examines why identifying keywords is important, how to use key concepts from a research question to select initial keywords, and how to identify additional keywords as you search for information.

If you have trouble accessing this tutorial from off campus, try logging into My.SBCC.edu in a different browser tab, then reloading this page. If that doesn't work, follow the direct link above to open the tutorial outside of this guide.

Search Strategies

Identifying Search Strategies

This tutorial discusses different search strategies for finding information.

If you have trouble accessing this tutorial from off campus, try logging into My.SBCC.edu in a different browser tab, then reloading this page. If that doesn't work, follow the direct link above to open the tutorial outside of this guide.