Activity Prompt:
Using the Lit Review outline, what you know from RL1-RL3, your revised research question, the synthesis work you’ve done, and all the research you’ve evaluated up until this point, draft your Literature Review.
Introduction:
An introductory paragraph that explains what your working topic and thesis is
A forecast of key topics or texts that will appear in the review
Potentially, a description of how you found sources and how you analyzed them for inclusion and discussion in the review (more often found in published, standalone literature reviews than in lit review sections in an article or research paper)
Body:
Summarize and synthesize: Give an overview of the main points of each source and combine them into a coherent whole
Analyze and interpret: Don’t just paraphrase other researchers – add your own interpretations where possible, discussing the significance of findings in relation to the literature as a whole
Critically Evaluate: Mention the strengths and weaknesses of your sources
Write in well-structured paragraphs: Use transition words and topic sentence to draw connections, comparisons, and contrasts.
Conclusion:
Summarize the key findings you have taken from the literature and emphasize their significance
Connect it back to your primary research question.