AMS 207 Out of Africa Sydney Pollack, Universal Pictures, 1985. 1. Why does Karen Blixen originally go to Africa? What can she do there that she can’t do at home? How does the Emily Baughan reading help you understand Karen’s life in Africa? 2. What exactly makes the events in the film “colonial”? Refer to your notes from class lectures and discussion. Also be specific about which colonialism is being represented, where, and when. 3. How does the colonial landscape shape Denys and Karen’s relationship? Cite several specific examples from the film. 4. What are their relationships to Africans like? Cite several specific examples from the film. 5. What does Denys think about World War I and European colonialism? Why might he feel this way? 6. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Sound in 1985. Why do you think the film won all these awards? 7. At the end of the film, Karen says “Does Africa know a song of me…” and “I want to hear you say my name…”. What do you make of these two statements? Can you relate this to Taylor Swift in Wildest Dreams: “Say you’ll remember me”? 8. Given your short reading about the Kikuyu (Canvas/files/assignments/film & map project), how is it possible to reinterpret many of the events presented in the film? 9. What are some of the similarities you can discern between Out of Africa (the film is based on a memoir published in 1937) and the Roosevelt reading and short films we watched in class? What about the connections to the Alex Magaisa reading? 10. How does the colonial landscape of the film continue to surface as a backdrop in contemporary culture? Think about the Neelika Jayawardane and Nathan J. Robinson readings. Is this ongoing popularity “no big deal”? 1 Running head: RESEARCH PLAN Writing Literature Reviews Research Plan Gale R. Mazur Submitted to the faculty of Brandman University In partial fulfillment of the requirements of OLCU 501: Organizational Research January 7, 2013 RESEARCH PLAN 2 Research Plan This research plan includes (a) a statement of the research purpose for the literature review, (b) three specific research questions, (c) an outline that includes a statement of the need for the research and how the research questions will be answered, and (d) a preliminary list of references that will be used to write the literature review. Research Purpose The purpose of this research is to examine current research on writing literature reviews, and to model a well-written and comprehensive literature review Research Questions The literature review will answer three research questions: 1. What is a literature review? 2. What is the purpose of writing a review of the literature? 3. What is the process of researching and writing a literature review? Literature Review Outline I. Need for This R.

1. AMS 207
Out of Africa
Sydney Pollack, Universal Pictures, 1985.
1. Why does Karen Blixen originally go to Africa? What can she
do there that she can’t do at home? How does the Emily
Baughan reading help you understand Karen’s life in Africa?
2. What exactly makes the events in the film “colonial”? Refer
to your notes from class lectures and discussion. Also be
specific about which colonialism is being represented, where,
and when.
3. How does the colonial landscape shape Denys and Karen’s
relationship? Cite several specific examples from the film.
4. What are their relationships to Africans like? Cite several
specific examples from the film.
5. What does Denys think about World War I and European
colonialism? Why might he feel this way?
6. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best
Director, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best
Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Sound in
1985. Why do you think the film won all these awards?
7. At the end of the film, Karen says “Does Africa know a song
of me…” and “I want to hear you say my name…”. What do you
make of these two statements? Can you relate this to Taylor
Swift in Wildest Dreams: “Say you’ll remember me”?
8. Given your short reading about the Kikuyu
(Canvas/files/assignments/film & map project), how is it

2. possible to reinterpret many of the events presented in the film?
9. What are some of the similarities you can discern between
Out of Africa (the film is based on a memoir published in 1937)
and the Roosevelt reading and short films we watched in class?
What about the connections to the Alex Magaisa reading?
10. How does the colonial landscape of the film continue to
surface as a backdrop in contemporary culture? Think about the
Neelika Jayawardane and Nathan J. Robinson readings. Is this
ongoing popularity “no big deal”?
1
Running head: RESEARCH PLAN
Writing Literature Reviews
Research Plan
Gale R. Mazur
Submitted to the faculty of

3. Brandman University
In partial fulfillment of the requirements of
OLCU 501: Organizational Research
January 7, 2013
RESEARCH PLAN 2
Research Plan
This research plan includes (a) a statement of the research
purpose for the literature review, (b)
three specific research questions, (c) an outline that includes a
statement of the need for the
research and how the research questions will be answered, and
(d) a preliminary list of references

4. that will be used to write the literature review.
Research Purpose
The purpose of this research is to examine current research on
writing literature reviews,
and to model a well-written and comprehensive literature review
Research Questions
The literature review will answer three research questions:
1. What is a literature review?
2. What is the purpose of writing a review of the literature?
3. What is the process of researching and writing a literature
review?
Literature Review Outline
I. Need for This Research
A. A frequent academic assignment is to write a literature
review because examining,
critically analyzing, and discussing published research is
foundational to graduate-
level work and important to professional success (Jesson &
Lacey, 2006).
B. Bitchener and Turner (2011) research found that providing
graduate students with an

5. understanding of the requirements of how to write literature
reviews significantly
enhanced students’ success in completing the assignment.
RESEARCH PLAN 3
II. Research Question One: Literature Review Defined
A. A literature review is “a form of research that reviews,
critiques, and synthesizes
representative literature on a topic in an integrated way such
that new frameworks
and perspectives on the topic are generated” (Torraco, 2005, p.
356).
B. As the writers of literature reviews begin to read sources (i.e.
journal articles and
books) about a topic, they must critically examine and analyze
the strengths and
weaknesses of the articles (Torraco, 2005).
C. A literature review synthesizes and integrates the literature
so that new insights and
knowledge emerge (Torraco, 2005).

6. III. Research Question Two: Literature Review Purpose
A. In academia, there are two reasons why a literature review is
written; it is either
stand-alone assignment or the foundation for a thesis or
dissertation (Creswell, 2009;
Salkind, 2009).
B. Beyond academic research, researching the literature is
valuable to practitioners in all
professions; it enables them to remain current in their fields,
recognize new ideas, and
find new solutions to complex problems. (Rhoades, 2011; Zorn,
2006).
IV. Research Question Three: Literature Review Process
A. The first step in writing a literature review is identifying a
topic that fits with the
writer’s interests and/or addresses a problem that needs solving
(Timmons &
McCabe, 2005).
B. The writers of literature reviews need a thoughtful research
strategy that includes a
systemic approach to identifying and assessing relevant data
(Armitage & Keeble-

7. Allen, 2008).
RESEARCH PLAN 4
C. Researchers review and integrate different types of literature
including theoretical,
research, and experiential sources (Price, 2009).
a. Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods are valid but
different research
methods (Creswell, 2009).
b. Experiential data often comes from actual case studies (Zorn,
2006).
D. A well-crafted literature review is organized, clearly written,
and easily understood
by readers (Torraco, 2005). A literature review begins with an
introduction that
explains the purpose and objectives; content is organized into
clearly labeled themes;
and the conclusion summarizes the findings of the literature
review (Jesson & Lacey,
2006).

8. RESEARCH PLAN 5
Preliminary References
Armitage, A., & Keeble-Allen, D. (2008). Undertaking a
structured literature review or
structuring a literature review: Tales from the field. The
Electronic Journal of Business
Research Methods 6(2), 103 – 114. Retrieved from
http://www.ejbrm.com
Birchener, J., & Turner, E. (2011). Assessing the effectiveness
of one approach to teaching of
thematic unit construction of literature reviews. Assessing
Writing, 16, 123 – 136. doi:
10.1016/j.asw.2011.02.002
Creswell, J. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative
and mixed methods approaches
(3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Galvan, J. (2009). Writing literature reviews (4th ed.).
Glendale, CA: Pyrczak Publishing
Jesson, J., & Lacey, F. (2006). How to do (or not to do) a

9. critical review. Pharmacy Education
6(2), 139 – 148. doi: 10.1080/15602210600616218.
Price, B. (2009). Guidance on conducting a literature search and
reviewing mixed literature.
Nursing Standard, 23(24), 43 – 49. Retrieved from
www.nursing-standard.co.uk
Rhoades, E. (2011). Literature reviews. The Volta Review
111(3), 353 – 368. Retrieved from
http://nc.agbell.org
Salkind, N. (2009). Exploring research (7th ed.). Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson.
Smythe, E. & Spence, D. (2012). Reviewing literature in
hermeneutic research. International
Institute for Qualitative Methodology. Retrieved from
http://creativecommons.org
Timmons, F., & McCabe, T. (2005). How to conduct an
effective literature search. Nursing
Standard, 20(11), 41 – 47. Retrieved from www.nursing-
standard.co.uk
Torraco, R. (2005). Writing integrative literature reviews:
Guidelines and examples. Human
Resource Development Review, 4(3), 356 – 367, doi:
10.1177/1534484305278283

10. RESEARCH PLAN 6
Zorn, T. (2006). Improving the writing of literature review
through a literature integration
exercise. Business Communication Quarterly 69(2), 172 – 183.
doi:
10.1177/1080569906287960