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    A+ Guide to Literature Reviews: A+ Guides to Writing, #3
    A+ Guide to Literature Reviews: A+ Guides to Writing, #3
    A+ Guide to Literature Reviews: A+ Guides to Writing, #3
    Ebook74 pages1 hour

    A+ Guide to Literature Reviews: A+ Guides to Writing, #3

    By Alison Plus

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    About this ebook

    Many students find literature reviews fiendishly difficult to write. That is because the literature review -- a paper summarizing a body of published works on a given topic -- requires the writer to abandon almost everything they've learned about writing and to use a brand new tone and approach. 

    This booklet explains everything the writer needs to generate a successful literature review in step-by-step fashion. By focusing on tone and organization and showing the writer how to use a grid system to develop the paper, this booklet will turn a difficult project into a finished one. 

    Table of Contents 
    - How to Use This Booklet 
    - What Is a Literature Review? 
    - Step One: Understand the Assignment 
    - A Preliminary Word About Tone 
    - Step Two: Organize the Material 
    - Step Three: Create Topic Sentences 
    - Step Four: Complete the Paragraphs 
    - Step Five: The First Paragraph 
    - Step Six: Thesis and Tone 
    - Step Seven: The Last Paragraph 
    - Step Eight: The Final Check 

    Here's what students have said about this method: 

    "The grid made a big job seem really manageable." 

    "Thank you for the guidance. I have made a breakthrough!" 

    "Awesome!"
     

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAlison Plus
    Release dateFeb 9, 2016
    ISBN9781524290320
    A+ Guide to Literature Reviews: A+ Guides to Writing, #3

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      Book preview

      A+ Guide to Literature Reviews - Alison Plus

      How to Use This Booklet

      Your instructor has asked you to write a literature review, and you are not sure what that means. Maybe you have never written a paper like this before and do not know what it should look like. Maybe you have written a paper like this in the past, but you were unhappy with your grade and you want to do better this time. Maybe, no matter your skills and experiences, you are just looking for extra help so that this kind of assignment will be easier to complete.

      If you find it difficult to plan and draft a paper, it is probably not your fault. Writing instructors often focus on aspects of grammar and theory that students do not use when planning and drafting a paper. Although these aspects of writing are important for the improving the way we think about writing and for the way we proofread papers, planning and drafting rely upon a different skill set. Therefore, you might find it difficult to draft a paper simply because the skills you have been taught, while important, are related to other aspects of the writing process.

      For example, maybe your instructor spent some time explaining the research methods used to gather material for a literature review. This can help you understand things such as broad and narrow topics, topic filters, and source evaluation. But will it tell you how to organize those sources in a coherent review? No. Will it tell you what to put in each paragraph? No. For that, a different kind of instruction is needed.

      This booklet can help you by showing you the complete process of writing a literature review. This practical, systematic method will start with your pre-assembled research and end with a final proofreading. In between that first and last step, this writing method relies upon a grid method to help you build an organized paper. This grid method will show you exactly what to include in different places within the paper. You will no longer need to guess what to write and where to write it. By using the grid, the various pieces of the paper will work together to create a coherent, synthesized draft.

      Follow the steps in order, from the first to the last, and do not skip any along the way. Each step builds on the previous steps. By completing each step before moving on to the next, the next step will be easier. And so will the one after that.

      This booklet not only helps you write a complete paper, but it shows you a method to apply in any similar review of literature. Working the steps carefully the first time will teach you the method. Then, when you must write another literature review, use this booklet as a reference to refresh your memory on the grid method. The more you use the grid method, the easier it will be.

      Are we ready to begin? Yes! So then, it is time to begin at the beginning, with the first step, understanding the unique nature of the literature review.

      What Is a Literature Review?

      TIP:

      In this context, review does not mean critique.

      Your instructor has asked you to write a review of the literature, either as a stand-alone paper or as a section of a larger paper. You know you have to do research for this assignment, but you are not sure whether a literature review is different from a standard research paper.

      It is different, and the ways in which it is different often confuse students. The primary goal of this booklet will be to eliminate as much of that confusion as possible. We will begin that process by highlighting the two key differences between a literature review and a research paper.

      Key Difference #1

      When you write a research paper, you take a position on the material. When you write a literature review, you must be completely objective and avoiding taking a position.

      Key Difference #2

      In a research paper, you deal with contradictory research by avoiding it or by explaining why one position is better than the other. In a literature review, you deal with contradictory research by describing the contradiction without choosing between conflicting conclusions.

      There are other differences, of course. A good literature review will have a strong internal organization scheme, and a good research paper will lead inexorably to a certain conclusion. A good research paper can indulge in a little cherry picking when deciding which sources to cite, but a good literature review will include everything necessary to explain the current thinking on a given topic. A good literature views the audience as people in need of comprehensive information on a subject, and a good research paper views the audience as people in need of a well-supported conclusion on a subject. But these differences in organization, source selection, and audience needs stem generally from the key differences in a literature review and

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