WRITING A LITERATURE REVIEW AP Research The Literature

WRITING A LITERATURE REVIEW AP Research

The Literature Review is just a review of a book…right? WRONG!!! WHAT IS THE LITERAT URE REVIEW? So what is this all about? • The “literature” = a collection of materials on a topic • This can be government pamphlets, scholarly articles, etc… This IS NOT your OPINION! What you should discuss… • Published information in a particular area • A summary of sources – with an organizational pattern • You have to combine SUMMARY and SYNTHESIS here! • Summary – recap important information • Synthesis – re-organization of information

The academic research paper develops a NEW argument! A research paper WILL have a literature review as one of the parts! How will you use the literature review? Do you add the new information in the lit review? NO • As the foundation and support for a new insight that YOU will contribute! • Here, you just want to summarize what has already been done. HOW IS THIS DIFFEREN T FROM ACADEMI C RESEARC H PAPERS?

WHY WRITE A LITERATU RE REVIEW… This is a guide to a particular topic Literature Reviews = a stepping stone to your research • The information, summarized and synthesized, helps to emphasize the credibility of your research • This provides a solid background for a research paper’s investigation.

Introduction: Give the reader a quick idea of the topic of the literature (central theme or organizational pattern) Body: contains the discussion of sources and is organized in a pattern (chronologically, thematically, or methodologically) Conclusions/Recommendat ions: discuss what you have drawn from reviewing literature. Where can the discussion go? HOW DO I ORGANIZE MY LIT REVIEW?

GIVE ME AN EXAMPLE: https: //writingcenter. unc. edu/tips-andtools/literature-reviews/