Using AND: yokai AND Japan--will locate resources containing both terms.
Using OR: Gender OR Woman will find at least one of the terms
Using * (shift 8): Examples: wom*n (this will include woman and women) or nation* (which would look up national, nationality, nationhood, and nationalism!).
Quotes when looking for a phrase: "material culture" or "oral traditions"
For most databases, start with a simple search, using 2 or 3 terms.
Pay attention to reference lists and bibliographies. You may find more sources you can use.
Example of Possible Searches
type of monster AND (history OR symbolism)
(criticism OR interpretation) AND Title of the Story
(Criticism OR interpretation) AND jaws
(Monster) AND myth OR folklore
(ocean OR sea) AND animal
