Using AND: Woolf AND criticism--will locate resources containing both terms.
Using OR: Gender OR Woman will look for both, but they do not have to be present in the same resource (this gives you more options)
Using * (shift 8): Instead of woman use 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: "women writers" or "national identity"
Criticism or Interpretation are great search terms for literary research
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.
Most books on American and British Literature are located in P call number range on the first floor of the library. Here is a general call number range to help you:
P301 to P302
Rhetoric
PA
Greek Language and Literature. Latin Language and Literature
PN
Literature (General)--also includes performing arts/film/broadcasting
PR
English Literature
PS
American Literature
