Reference materials can help you find a paper topic, can help you generate keywords for your search, and helps to definite technical or unknown terms.
On this page, you will find:
Credo Reference is a database that Joyner Library has access to that will be of great use to you as your start your research. The database includes many reference books like encyclopedias, dictionaries, and more. Two other things that will be helpful in coming up with keywords and ideas for your research are their mind maps (pictured below) and their pro/con research tools, which shows both sides of current issues.
To use Credo Reference to develop your topic, you may want to try:
Here is a video that shows you how to use the Credo Mindmap, as well as a link to a mindmap about the author Pablo Neruda.
And here is a search box to search for items in Credo on the topic of Language:
Dictionary of Italian Literature by 
Encyclopedia of German Literature by 
Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature by 
World Literature in Spanish by
Containing roughly 850 entries about Spanish-language literature throughout the world, this expansive work provides coverage of the varied countries, ethnicities, time periods, literary movements, and genres of these writings. * Contains roughly 850 A-Z entries related to Spanish-language literature and related topics throughout the world, from the Middle Ages up to the present day * Includes contributions from nearly 200 scholars from the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia * Provides bibliographies containing major English-language print reference works, free electronic sources with peer-reviewed information, major academic websites, and well-established electronic journals * Contains an extended glossary of literary and cultural terms such as "subaltern" and basic cultural features of Hispanic society, such as "el barrio" and "Negrismo" * Includes a chronological appendix containing entries organized by date