Literature Review and Rhetorical Analysis of Research
The purpose of the literature review is:
1.) to give you the opportunity to familiarize yourself with recent scholarship on your topic
2.) to help you fine tune the topic of your research paper
3.) to help stimulate your thinking about the thesis of your own research paper
The basic idea is to see how other scholars have approached your topic so you can draw on—and, ideally, contribute to—their experiences. A literature review is a neutral synthesis of multiple
sources’ arguments and possibly identifying the need for more research (on your part or as a society). Your opinions should not be included in this paper.
Form a research question (or a few potential questions) about a topic (or two) so you’re able to approach the research assignment seeking answers.
You’ll then research answers to your question using the HACC article databases (accessed from the course libguide). When you’re evaluating sources, make sure the articles are indeed articles (not books, book reviews, blogs, etc.) and that they are addressing and answering your question. Resist the temptation to pick the first you see or shortest; instead, focus on choosing articles that you believe are important and helpful. You must find 3-5 articles that address/answer your research question.
Read the articles carefully—at least twice. Some articles are fairly clear and straightforward; others will be extremely long or complicated. A solid understanding of the author’s argument is necessary before you begin to write the literature review. Once you’ve settled on your 3-5 articles, create an MLA works cited page (perhaps an annotated WC page).
Before your begin writing a first draft, it’s important to identify themes (repeated or overlapping ideas). Take notes/use a graphic organizer to identify and organize how the information from your 3-5 sources overlaps and addresses your question. You can think of each of those themes as a subtopic to help you organize what you’re reading about. You should not be summarizing each source individually, but need to cover topics/subtopics from multiple sources within each paragraph.
Your final submission:
You will submit a well-written essay identifying and analyzing the research readily available about your topic. You’ll discuss what others have said/done through their studies and writing, any gaps in research or the studies, any common assumptions about the topic, whether the research agrees or has a variety of different conclusions, etc. A literature survey is an important part of any serious research project. Before you enter into a conversation to express your own ideas, you need to understand everyone else’s. Before you begin writing a researched position paper, you need to prove to your reader that you understand both the primary texts and the scholarly concerns surrounding the topic. A solid grasp of the literature and research already available should help you generate lots of ideas for your upcoming research paper.
IMPORTANT FEEDBACK FROM PROFESSOR ON DRAFT(PLEASE REVISE ESSAY ACCORDING TO PROFESSORS FEEDBACK):
Avoid using 1st person plural – 3rd person is more appropriate for academic writing.
In your first paragraph, only the first two sentences are appropriate. The rest of that paragraph is announcement after announcement. You should never announce what you’re going to do; instead, your introduction provides background information about the topic building to a thesis that makes a statement the rest of your essay will prove.
The topic sentence of your second paragraph doesn’t make sense as written.
Eliminate passive voice – reword into active voice instead
MLA requests all numbers of one or two words are spelled out.
your parenthetical citations are in APA, not MLA.
In your second to last paragraph, eliminate the links to your source’s sources.
Make sure you’re putting quotation marks around exact words from your sources or you’re truly paraphrasing or summarizing (which requires citations, but not quotation marks)
Avoid phrases such as “in conclusion” or “in summary” and instead naturally draw your essay to a close by summarizing the main ideas. Your conclusion is “overdone” – it’s reaching too far and isn’t sticking to informing and summarizing.
You did not include your WC page, so I cannot say whether your sources are in MLA format.
