C Humphreys
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Write about your topic.
 What is it? Tell me about it.
 Why are you interested in it?
 Do you think your topic is specific enough? Why or
why not?
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Office Hours – Email me to let me know
when/why you are coming.
2/13/15 – BA3 due
2/20/15 – Draft 1 of Lit. Review due
Open Tutoring Sessions – 2/12 and 2/17 (68pm in ENGL 352)
Check the blog for additional resources about
Lit. Review, synthesis, and annotated
bibliographies.
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Read with a focus. Know what you are
looking for.
Determine the critical questions that you
want to answer before you begin to read.
Take notes.
Ask questions.
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What are some ways that you can
procrastinate?
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Make a schedule, both daily and long term.
(Google calendar)
To do lists.
Limit distractions while working (Facebook,
email, Twitter, Netflix, text messages, etc.)
Focus.
Learn to prioritize.
Schedule time to relax. You’re in college
afterall.
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Objective: To demonstrate your ability to gather, filter, and evaluate source
material for your literature review
Purpose: You will need to locate and evaluate the sources you plan to use in your
literature review draft 1.1; this assignment will help you become more proficient
at doing so. Alternatively, use pre-selected topics and sources available through
Texas Tech's Library's e-reserve.
Directions for locating e-reserve articles:
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https://raiderwriter.engl.ttu.edu/files/UsingReserveMaterials.pdf.
You'll find the 1302 articles under the instructor name of Norris.
Description: To complete this assignment, prepare an annotated bibliography.
Each entry in an annotated bibliography consists of two elements: an initial
citation in MLA format (see Ch. 16 of your e-handbook) and a 200-250 word
summary and evaluation of each source. You will evaluate the relevance,
accuracy and quality of the source as well as include a brief summary of key
points of each source’s content. Your bibliography should contain a minimum of
six annotated entries. Your sources should be scholarly or other reputable or
credible articles located through the TTU library databases.
Make sure to write out a working thesis statement
at the top. This needs to be at least one
grammatically complete sentence. Review the
sample 1.2s in the back of your FYW textbook for
more guidance.
 Please list your entries alphabetically by the last
name of the first author (for each article).
 Make sure to use proper MLA format for each entry.
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 Check your textbook, e-book, etc. for how to create a
works cited.
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To learn about a topic.
To provide an overview of what has been said
about a topic.
To help you critically evaluate your sources.
To detail exigence.
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An urgent need or demand.
Why is your topic important or relevant?
Why are scholars still writing about your
subject?
From FYW and the BSM E-Handbook:
1.
Relevance:
1.
What ideas does this text offer? How does the article relate to your
research question? What is the scope of the research?
2.
Quality:
1.
What are the author’s credentials and qualifications regarding the
subject?
2. What are the credentials and qualifications of experts who are cited?
3.
What are the author’s affiliations, if any, that could affect their
credibility?
3.
Accuracy:
1.
How accurate and complete is the information and research of the
source?
2. How thorough is the research, and how large is scope of the
argument with respect to their topic?
Summary of document, including the main points, its
purpose, the theoretical perspective it is based on, scope.
 Evaluation of the source. This is where you briefly critique
the source.
 Look at:
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 Reliability (evaluation of research methods used and of theories
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and data it is based on)
Which audience is it intended for? Is it accessible to that
audience?
Evaluation of the authority or background of the author
Limitations (they can depend on the scope, reliability, age of
the document, bias)
Usefulness of the source (for your purposes)
After a brief summary, it would be appropriate to
assess this source and offer some criticisms of it. Does
it seem like a reliable and current source? Why? Is the
research biased or objective? Are the facts well
documented? Who is the author? Is she qualified in
this subject? Is this source scholarly, popular, some of
both?
 After summarizing and assessing, you can now reflect
on this source. How does it fit into your research? Is
this a helpful resource? Too scholarly? Not scholarly
enough? Too general/specific? Has this source helped
you to narrow your topic?
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Bruffee, K.A. (1985), A short course in writing: practical rhetoric for teaching
composition through collaborative learning (3rd ed), Boston: Little, Brown &
Company.
 Kenneth Bruffee’s Short Course in Writing has become a classic in the genre of
collaborative learning and teaching. It contains exercises and accompanying
notes for writers and teachers to be used in the context of the collaborative
classroom. The book is divided into five parts, plus a set of model essays. The first
two parts contain essay exercises that introduce students to the basic issues in
essay writing: discovering a topic, generalising it, and either defending or
explaining it. Parts four and five introduce students to the more complex issues in
essay writing: demonstrating the importance or relevance of an argument and
researching a topic. Between these two sections, part three contains most of the
explicitly instructional material in the book.
This is the most helpful section of the book for teachers who wish to have a
better understanding of the principles underlying collaborative group work and peer
review, as well as good examples of what can be done. Bruffee’s clearly written and
accessible text, with its extensive collection of exercises and model essays in a variety
of genres, is an essential reference tool for anyone engaged in collaborative teaching
and learning.
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In groups, write a summary in 20 words.
Explanation: The GIST of something is the main
idea. Sometimes we don’t need to remember all
the details but read just to get the GIST of the
material.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbA63a7H0
bo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHn39PCXp8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e2xY0pMz
70
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Determine an order for your sources (1-8) for
your strongest (1), most relevant source to your
least relevant source (?).
What are the differences between (1) and (?)?
How do their arguments differ? How do they
connect?
Next, try to group the articles according a
pattern (agreement, disagreement) based on a
potential thesis statement.
Check the blog for a Synthesis Grid that will help
you unite/combine the sources.
The thesis statement will not necessarily argue
for a position or an opinion; instead, it will argue
for a particular perspective on the material.
Some sample thesis statements for literature
reviews are as follows:
 The current trend in treatment for congestive
heart failure combines surgery and medicine.
 More and more cultural studies scholars are
accepting popular media as a subject worthy of
academic consideration.
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A thesis for a literature review should focus on the specific trend in the
literature and should feature the authors in some way.
Examples:
 “Recent research has indicated that the current methods of fish hatchery
stocking may have negative impacts on wild salmonid populations and should
be altered or in some cases discontinued in order to preserve our native
anadromous salmonid stock.”
 “While past research has speculated that word grouping improves children’s
reading, current research indicates that line spacing, word size, and typeface
are more noticeably effective factors in improving children’s reading.”
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In the above examples, note the focus of language: “While past research
has speculated…, current research indicates…”
“Research” or “authors” should be involved in some way with your
sentence subject.
A strong literature review thesis, like example two, might also include
the potential sub-points (body paragraph topics) in a concise, succinct
manner.
Evaluate the following theses as either “effective” or “ineffective” and note
why:
1.
Social media has a large effect on American businesses.
2.
Current research indicates that scholars believe economics plays the
more viable role in the function of international peace keeping.
3.
Because it has been proven through research, all authors believe that
hydrogen fuel cells can resolve the energy crisis worldwide.
4.
The pattern suggests that body image and advertisement are strongly
linked.
5.
While most researchers suggest that the NSA plays a viable role in
military-led peace keeping, the field is divided over the perception that
such programs violate human privacy rights in the name “peace.”
6.
Although many poetry scholars agree that Dickinson’s use of metaphor
is prototypical of modernism, they largely disagree on finer issues of
metaphor such as image, structural application, and conceptual
relationships.
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BA3 due Friday by 11:59.
Please type (12 pt. Times New Roman) a
completed draft of your introductory and
first body paragraphs for your literature
review.Your introduction should contain a
working thesis at the end. Bring a printed
copy of this assignment to class.