Issue Overview (Literature Review)
Purpose
Lit reviews are a common first step for research in many disciplines. It is similar to a book report, but it does a bit more than one. Instead of reporting on one book, a lit review reports findings from many sources, and it also identifies the trends, connections, and differences in those sources. It's a report on the current state of the academic conversation happening on the chosen topic.
Now that you've chosen your issue/challenge to write about, it's time to see what's been said by scholars already. This assignment is your chance to do that. If you want a refresher about lit reviews, go back to Reading 2.
Task
- Identify keywords that you can use to search for this topic.
- Locate the following sources on your topic:
- An eBook from GALILEO
- A peer-reviewed article from GALILEO
- A news article
- Another source from GALILEO
- Two more sources of your choice
- Use your six sources to write a lit review of 500-700 words that summarizes the sources and identifies the commonalities and/or contradictions between them. Use in-text citations generously and include a Works Cited list. Both should follow MLA formatting rules.
- Revise and proofread as needed.
- Submit it to this assignment folder.
Criteria for Success
This assignment should:
-
- contain a 500-700 word lit review
- contain organized paragraphs
- summarize six sources that fit the source requirements listed above
- include both in-text citations and a Works Cited list in MLA format (Works Cited list should be in the same computer file as the lit review)
- be written in a formal, academic tone (3rd person point of view only)
- be an MLA formatted document (Times New Roman, size 12 font, 1 inch margins, double-spaced, author block in top left of first page only, no title page, centered informative title, header and page number in top right,) For more information and a picture of an MLA formatted document, visit "MLA General Format" @ Purdue OWL
- be written in readable, carefully proofread standard American English prose