Writers Choice
Literature Review
Objectives
In academic settings, literature reviews are documents (or sections of documents) that provide
an overview of the existing conversation on a subject. Generally speak, the goal of a lit review is
to demonstrate both your own awareness of critical discussions and to trace patterns or
progressions in those conversations.
You will begin by thinking about topics relating to chick lit and feminism(s) that interest you.
You’ll want to narrow your topic down—something like “chick lit” might generate far too many
results in a search, but something more narrow like “Christian chick lit,” “wedding lit,” or “queer
chick lit” will likely give you a much more manageable set of texts to work with. You can also
focus on reviews of a specific novel or film, either one we’ve read for class or one you’ve
encountered elsewhere in your reading and viewing.
You will then read at least five and no more than eight credible sources on your topic—ideally,
these will come from newspapers and magazines rather than people’s personal blogs. These
should be articles or essays that take a stance on your topic rather than informational
discussions; the authors should be making arguments, not just educating readers on definitions
or histories.
Read each of these sources carefully, paying attention to the claims they’re making about your
topic. As you gather your resources, trace larger patterns: do any claims seem to appear over
and over again? Are there any major disagreements about terms or claims in the sources
you’ve collected? (You might even find that some sources respond directly to others that you’ve
read, giving you an explicit sense of conversation between specific authors.)
Your paper will begin with a brief introduction that identifies your key question(s) and contexts.
That is, you will explain why you undertook this topic and why it matters in some larger context
(literary, cultural, historical, geographical, or so on). It will then briefly summarize each of the
sources you’ve read, but it should not simply be a list of summaries. Instead, those summaries
need to relate to one another and be organized in a thoughtful, logical way. (Don’t just use
chronological or alphabetical order, in other words.) If you see the conversation focusing on
three key ideas, organize your summaries around those ideas; if you see a progression, where
views seem to have changed from one stance to another, follow that evolution. Finally, you will
offer a brief conclusion about the significance of the patterns or progressions you’ve identified.
What’s important or notable about them? What could they signal about the larger context(s) you
discussed in your introduction? What are some gaps you noticed in the conversation, or what
might be directions that future conversations could follow or develop?
You will submit a proposal with your topic and the results of a preliminary search—that is,
citations or links for at least 3 sources—by Friday, Sept. 14. You may be asked to revise your
proposal before approval. I will not grade a finished project without an approved proposal.
Guidelines
Your literature review must:
• be 4-6 pages in length;
• engage with at least 5 and no more than 8 credible sources on your topic;
• follow MLA style for document design and citation.
Resources and Reminders
• When choosing a topic, feel free to focus on things related to your major, your future
career, or your personal interests when relevant. You’ll be doing a fair amount of reading
here, so it’s important that you actually want to know more about the topic you’ve
chosen.
• If you are struggling to find sources or feel unsure about whether a source meets the
guidelines for this assignment, email me or come talk to me about it. I’m happy to offer
feedback or suggestions at any stage of the project.
• Be thoughtful and systematic in your reading—annotate carefully, develop a system for
marking important ideas, and gather similarities and differences among articles. Give
yourself plenty of “breadcrumbs”!