Dominique Robertson: Assignment 3

Assignment 3: MLA and WorldCat Author/Topic Search

In my approach to searching for information on John Gay’s “Beggars Opera” I utilized both MLA International and Worldcat. My initial idea was to gain about 10 sources from each website but I began to face immense difficulty with them both. With MLA International I pulled up 281 sources with the keyword as John Gay, yet many of these sources were in different languages. This made it difficult to decipher whether the content of the journal or book would be in English. I would have to track down the article and investigate the content. Another reason why MLA International was difficult was because of the materials pulled, many of the sources were dissertations and I was not sure if those qualified as scholarly text. I had some luck when researching with Worldcat; I found great articles and books about Gay’s life and his play. The only consistent problem was the lack of current information. Many of the books and articles were outdated and they were not available at the Robert Woodruff Library. I decided to stick with MLA international for most of my sources because I did find appealing articles and subjects that related to my topic. I found multiple articles analyzing “Beggars Opera” from cultural perspectives as well as historical. I also liked the article on Eighteenth Century crime and how it influenced Gay’s play. Many of the articles mentioned names like those of Alexander Pope and compared Gay to other British authors; I thought this information may be crucial as well. In my opinion to get the best sources both engines must be used.

1. Adrian, John. “The Slave, the Scourge, and Society: A Comparison of Gay's First and Second Series of Fables.” On Second Thought: Updating the Eighteenth-Century Text, pp. 43-65 IN: Bourdeau, Debra Taylor (ed. and preface); Kraft, Elizabeth. (ed. and preface);Newark, DE: U of Delaware P; 2007. 301 pp.

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2. Benedict, Barbara M. “Encounters with the Object: Advertisements, Time, and Literary Discourse in the Early Eighteenth-Century Thing.” Eighteenth-Century Studies, 2007 winter; 40 (2):193-207.

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3. Canfield, J. Douglas. “The Critique of Capitalism and the Retreat into Art in Gay's Beggar's Opera and Fielding's Author's Farce.” Cutting Edges: Postmodern Critical Essays on Eighteenth-Century Satire. pp. 320-34 IN: Gill, James E. (ed. and introd.); Cutting Edges: Postmodern Critical Essays on Eighteenth-Century Satire. Knoxville, TN: U of Tennessee P; 1995. xiv, 438 pp.

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4. Engelmann, Frank. “A Late Eighteenth-Century Ballad Opera and John Wilkes: The Bow-Street Opera (1773).” John Gay's The Beggar's Opera1728-2004, pp. 169-91 IN: Böker, Uwe (ed. and introd.); Detmers, Ines (ed. and introd.); Giovanopoulos, Anna-Christina (ed. and introd.); Adaptations and Rewritings. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Rodopi; 2006. 347 pp.

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5. Esslin, Martin. “The Threepenny Opera: Secrets of Its Success.” Communications from the International Brecht Society, 1999 June; 28 (1): 36-43.

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6. Friedman, Michael D.” He Was Just a Macheath': Boswell and The Beggar's Opera.” The Age of Johnson: A Scholarly Annual, 1993; 4: 97-114.

7. Gilman, Todd. “The Beggar's Opera and British Opera.” University of Toronto Quarterly: A Canadian Journal of the Humanities, 1997 Summer; 66 (3): 539-61.

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8. González, Daniel. “The Culture of Crime: Representations of the Criminal in Eighteenth-Century England.” Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 2002 Oct; 63 (4): 1353. Louisiana State U, 2002.

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9. Hall, Dewey W. “ AddedBeggars Can Be Choosers: From Gay to Inchbal.” European Romantic Review, 2006 July; 17 (3): 341-50.

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10. Mannion, Elizabeth. “The Poetry behind the Newgate Pastoral: Precursors to The Beggar's Opera.” Trinity College Dublin Journal of Postgraduate Research, 2005-2006; 5: 66-77.

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11. Morra, Irene Mary. “The Muddying of the Wells: Twentieth-Century British Opera and the Librettist.” Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 2002 Dec; 63 (6): 2254-55. U of Toronto, 2002.

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12. Newman, Steve. “The Value of 'Nothing': Ballads in the Beggar's Opera.” Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation, 2004 Fall; 45 (3): 265-83.

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13. Pellicer, Juan Christian. “John Gay, Wine (1708) and the Whigs.” British Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, 2004 Autumn; 27 (2): 245-55.

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14. Raine, Terryli McMillan. “The Cultural Theater: 'Being and Seeming' in Gay's Beggar's Opera and Burns' 'Jolly Beggars'.” Selected Essays on Scottish Language and Literature. Lewiston pp. 133-48 IN: McKenna, Steven R. (ed.). Lewiston, NY: Mellen; 1992. iii, 271 pp.

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15. Ribeiro de Oliveira, Solange. “Musical Comedy and Cultural Memory in Brazil: Chico Buarque's Transcultural Reading of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera and Bertolt Brecht's Threepenny Opera.” Methods for the Study of Literature as Cultural Memory, pp. 431-44 IN: Vervliet, Raymond (ed.); Estor, Annemarie (ed.); Amsterdam, Netherlands: Rodopi; 2000. 469 pp.

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16. Richardson, John. “John Gay, the Beggar's Opera, and Forms of Resistance.” Eighteenth-Century Life, 2000 Fall; 24 (3): 19-30.

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17. Richardson, John. “John Gay and Slavery.” Modern Language Review, 2002 Jan; 97 (1): 15-25.

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18. Timmons, Gregory. Gay's Retreatment of the Beggar's Opera in Polly. On Second Thought: Updating the Eighteenth-Century Text, Pp.112-22. Bourdeau, Debra Taylor ,Kraft, Elizabeth Newark, DE: U of Delaware P; 2007. 301

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19. Wanko, Cheryl. “Three Stories of Celebrity: The Beggar's Opera 'Biographies'.” SEL: Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, 1998 Summer; 38 (3): 481-98.

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20. Winton, Calhoun “The Beggar's Opera: A Case Study.” The Cambridge History of British Theatre, Donohue, Joseph (ed. and introd.); Volume 2: 1660-1895. Cambridge, England: Cambridge UP; 2004. xci, 481 pp.

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