This document provides guidance on writing a literature review. It explains that a literature review is not an essay or research paper, but rather a summary of major published works on a narrowed topic. The purpose is to improve the author's understanding, demonstrate their knowledge, and bring the reader up to date. It recommends organizing the literature review chronologically, by major advancements, or geographically. The writing process involves collecting relevant sources, analyzing them for patterns, outlining them by organizational technique, and summarizing and synthesizing the literature to discuss strengths and weaknesses.

1. The Pesky
Literature Review

2. What is it NOT?
1
• NOT a standard essay/research
paper(it may be part of a larger paper)
2
• NOT state or prove your main
point(that will be your FRA)
3
• NOT a Annotated Bibliography

3. What it IS:
1
• Major works that have been
published about your narrowed topic
2
• Reviewed = snapshot (major
concepts, points, whatever)
3
• Relationships between those
snapshots

4. The Purpose:
1
• To improve your own
understanding
2
• Demonstrate your knowledge
3
• Bring your reader up to date (fill
them in!)

5. Organizing your
Literature Review

6. Techniques
• Organize by date, decade, timeline (family structures in
Chronological America)
• From beginning to present, major advancements in the
Advancements field (nanotechnology)
Geographical • Organize by area (slave trade)
• What are the major questions in relationship to this topic
that have been addressed by researchers through the
years? (Find this through research)
Questions

7. Writing Process

8. Where do you start?
• Research. Gather scholarly articles and book chapters. Collect
Collect more than you need.
• Don’t read them. Scan the titles, abstract, headings, intro and
conclusion to assess possible usefulness. See what’s happening.
Get rid of what you don’t need. Then read what you need.
Analyze
• Figure out what kind of pattern happens with your sources.
Arrange Make an outline by organizational pattern.
• Summarize the literature. Pull together the connections
between the literature and make them clear to your reader. This
is synthesis. Discuss strengths and weaknesses of the literature.
Summarize&
Synthesize