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”!