Assignment: Literature Review Paper
Overview
The first step in any research project is to understand what has already been writtenabout that topic. The universe of previous interpretations and investigations is what constitutes the "literature"on a particular topic, and you or I can't contribute meaningfully to the conversation about that topic without athorough understanding of the literature. For that reason, a key part of any research project is a "literature review."
In a thesis project, even at the undergraduate level, a literature review might take the form of a long essay, dealingwith scores of sources. We won't attempt anything of that scope in this class. Rather we'll focus on some of thebasic skills involved in reviewing the literature, using a limited number of sources. It doesn't sound exciting, but itgets more interesting if you're reading your sources critically. Moreover, good academic writing depends on yourability to evaluate sources critically.
For this project, you will discuss four sources related to a particular building. (Hagia Sophia, Istanbul)
Once you have chosen your building, you will need to locate sources. You should consult the bibliography in thetextbook as a starting point, but you will probably want to do searches ina number of academic databses. For the purposes of this assignment, you are also required to do a general internet search (to "Google" your topic)and find a non-academic web-site that deals with your building. This can be a Wikipedia page. All-told, you shouldhave at least four sources:
Two academic papers from journals
One discussion of the building in a book
One non-academic or quasi-academic online discussion
Once you've read these sources carefully, you should have a pretty good command of the Subject Matter Knowledgeyou need. This, of course, will be built on the general knowledge of the building or its type gained in class.Analysis and Genre Knowledge (what you will write) - Once you've done your research the problem is to formatit as literature review. This means doing some analysis. Is each source reliable? What points is each author tryingto make? What kinds of information (if any) do they use to support their argument? How do they use images tosupport their argument? Are there disagreements between them? Your job is to take your insights into these issuesand organize them comparatively into a discussion of approaches to the topic.
Synthesis and Rhetorical Knowledge (who will you write for) - Obviously, this is an academic paper, but ideallyyou need to have a reason to be comparing these sources, beyond the fact that you were assigned to do so. I'dlike you to assume that you are developing your literature review for a larger case study project with the goal ofbuilding a new example of that type. You should assume that you are writing because you have a commission froma rich and powerful client who wants to fund construction of the type of building you're studying. Obviously, youdon't know enough about this client to tailor your message to their specific interests. Nevertheless, you shouldthink about communicating your research to someone who actually wants to build. This should help you decidewhat information is really central and what points may be left out.
A good example of rhetorical knowledge in thiscase would be to recognize that there is no need to include the introductory paragraph of the traditional threeparagraphessay. You can get right into the topic without any "throat-clearing" about "since the beginning of time,"or whatever you might be tempted to write as an introduction.
Writing Process Knowledge (how you will write) - I've written this brief with a lot of second person pronouns.Focusing on what YOU need to do in this assignment. The paper itself would be primarily descriptive and thereforein third person. This is an example of writing process knowledge, using knowledge of the genre and therhetorical situation to make judgments about how you should phrase things and organize your thoughts. Anotherexample is using proper names and references to make sure the reader understands which of your sources you'redescribing at any particular point in the paper. Writing Process Knowledge also includes basic mechanics (spelling,grammar, punctuation) and proper citation and bibliography format.