Literature Review Essay

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Overview

A literature review essay summarizes key sources on a topic and discusses how those sources relate to one other (this is called synthesis). “Literature” in this case refers to scholarship or research, and the literature review is widely used in many academic fields.

Length

1250-2000 words, plus any images you choose to include.

Due Dates

First draft: March 26

Final draft: April 2

Points

First draft:

On Time: 5 points. 1 point off for every day late. No credit after 4 days late. 

Final draft: 

On Time: 15 points, 1 point off for every day late. No credit after 15 days late.

Essay Format

1.The first and largest part of the essay is the literature review. This is where you summarize and synthesize ideas from the different texts you have read or watched. This section should be at least 1000 words.

2. Then comes a separate section, which you can label “My Response.” This is where you write about what you learned from your research and how this learning connects with your own experiences, ideas, and interests. This section should be at least 250 words.

3. At the end is your Works Cited page, with sources listed in MLA formatting.

Assignment Requirements

• Your paper will be 1250-2000 words pages (12 pt font, 1 inch margins, double-spaced)
• Any images will be in addition to the minimum word requirements
• MLA citation within the body of your essay
• Works Cited page

Essay Topic

Choose a topic from our introduction to language politics.

Option 1. Respond to a claim made in our texts, or research your own question (personal connections welcome) to share a new perspective not covered in the readings.

Option 2. Consider language and literacy’s relationship with one or more of these issues:

• identity, culture, and background
• social and linguistic hierarchies
• government, educational, and (socio)economic influences
• public and cultural beliefs
• family, personal, and other interpersonal dynamics and conflicts
• accent politics
• the dominance of standardized English
• language subordination; colonization; race and racism.
• Language and disability If you are not sure whether your topic is appropriate, ask your professor!

What makes a good topic?

• It should be debatable or an complex, so that you can explore multiple perspectives.
• It must be specific enough that your literature review can cover much of the important scholarship on the subject.
  • For example, “Language Discrimination” is too broad, but “Workplace Discrimination Against Spanish Speakers” isn’t.

Sources

Your essay must include 4-7 sources comprised of the following:

• 1-2 scholarly sources specific to your topic that you locate. This can be a peer-reviewed academic research article or a chapter in a scholarly book.
• 2-3 non-scholarly sources such as newspapers, magazines, documentaries, encyclopedia, and websites. We will discuss how to make sure you are using credible sources.
• 1-2 multi-media sources: video/movie clips, photographs, images, memes, (political) cartoons, sound bites, links, lyrics, Tweets, graphs, etc.

Include the Following Strategies in Your Essay

1. Choose your intended audience.

• Will they be your classmates and instructors? Friends or family? The general public? An academic crowd?
• Is your audience informed or uninformed about the topic?
• What are their interests and values?
• How will that impact the language and rhetorical strategies you use in your essay?

Remember: You decide the order, tone, style, and language you’ll use. You’re welcome to draw on your “native,” “home,” or “other” languages, literacies, and ways of being as you so choose.

2. Make some persuasive rhetorical “moves.”

Consider your own goals alongside your audience’s needs and expectations: What will capture their interest? What sorts of evidence will they find credible/persuasive? What tone will appeal to them? What sorts of claims will be welcome or cause alarm? What sort of conclusion will compel them? How much do you want to adhere to or defy audience expectations?

3. Summarize, paraphrase, and quote.

Introduce each source in your paper by providing a brief (1-3 sentence) summary of the rhetorical situation (the audience, genre, publication, purpose, and context) and the overall argument. Strike a balance between paraphrasing and quoting key ideas/passages from sources.

4. Signpost.

Provide “signposts” (or “metacommentary”) throughout your essay, aka topic sentences, transitions, and other “guiding” language aimed at helping your reader follow along and make sense of what connections exist between sources, ideas, examples, you, and your claims.

Assessment Rubric

1. Audience Awareness

How effectively are ideas, arguments, and sources introduced given the specific audience, their perspectives, and expectations?

2. Source Use

How effectively are ideas and sources delivered and developed in the essay? How specific and appropriate are the examples and passages used? How effectively and accurately does the essay introduce and summarize the rhetorical situations and main ideas from each source used? How effectively are specific ideas/passages paraphrased and/or quoted?

3. Signposting

How effectively are readers “guided” throughout the essay so that ideas, sources, and different claims are clearly attributed and distinguished from one another? Are the perspectives and relationship across texts named explicitly? That is, are ideas from across texts shown as supporting, extending, complicating, and/or challenging one another?

4. Revision, Editing, and Formatting

Does the essay show evidence of thoughtful revision and editing? Has the essay been effectively formatted, including the title, in-text citations, and Works Cited page?

5. General Requirements

Were all general requirements for length, source use, and due date met?