Week 1.2

1. Week 1.2 Literature Review and Research

2. Lesson Objectives Together, we will: • Identify key elements in a literature review. • Discuss thesis and topic sentences. • Research. • Know ourLibrarians and Databases.

3. Lit. Review: Key Points from Assignment Page • “[… A] literature review is not the same thing as an academic research paper.” • Research paper: Sources support the author’s argument or position about a topic. The tone is academically subjective. • “A literature review is written to summarize and synthesize other people’s ideas and perspectives about a topic.” The tone is academically objective. • “A thesis statement for a literature review must have as its subject the literature.”

4. Thesis Statement: Topic and Comment “While past research has speculated that word grouping affects children’s reading, current research indicates that line spacing, word size, and typeface (font) are more effective in improving children’s reading” (Yarbrough 609). Topic: “Current research [on children’s reading] indicates…” • What will be discussed? Comment: “… line spacing, word size, and typeface (font) are more effective in improving children’s reading [than word grouping].” • How will the topic be discussed?

5. Effectiveness of a Thesis Statement “A successful working thesis has three characteristics: • It is potentially interesting to the intended audience. • It is as specific as possible. • It limits the topic enough to make it manageable” (St. Martin’s Handbook, 3c). A fourth consideration: • It correlates, and gives structure, to the paper’s topic sentences.

6. Homework Friday, 6/6 Monday, 6/9 St. Martin’s: Ch. 2 “Rhetorical Situations” First-Year: Ch. 1-2, pages 2-36 Initial topic proposal due • Brief Assignment One: Pre-semester Diagnostic and Reflection • Comments on class blog • Original Comment to post • Comment on another student’s comment