ABSTRACT
This chapter explores students the process of making a disconnected set of sources into a coherent, persuasive “literature review.” Knowing how to do a literature review means students know how to see what they’re doing as an extension of what’s already been done. It means students can look at what competitors and people that disagree with their perspective are saying, and take what’s valuable from them before respectfully suggesting that there’s another solution. A literature review is pretty much what it sounds like: it’s a review of the literature on a topic. But this isn’t literature like “English literature.” What really sets a lit review apart from an annotated bibliography, though, is that this is where students begin their narrative. Students' literature review is where they make decisions about which topics they’re going to keep, and begin exploring the themes that exist between their sources.
