论文写作

　2008 年度“国家精品课程”申报材料 2-2-1-1-4

　“英语写作”系列课程

　电子教案

　论文 写作

　 西安外国语大学英文学院

　 1 Week 1 Introduction of a Research Paper

　1. Teaching Focus:

　 Distribution and explanation of the Achievement Requirements  Definition of a research paper  Introduction of the textbook

　2. Time Arrangement:

　 Distribution and explanation of the Achievement Requirements: 20 mins  Definition of a research paper: 20 mins  Introduction and discussion of the textbook: 10 mins

　3. Teaching Procedures:

　 Students have a group discussion about their ideas of a research paper.  Teacher helps students with a rough idea.  Teacher shows students samples of a research paper.  Teacher answers students’ questions.

　4. Teaching Points:

　Research Paper A traditional research paper goes beyond all of the above in scope. First of all, you are typically looking to find out something you didn’t know before. A research paper about George Washington might set out to prove that George Washington was not a great general, but only won the American War of Independence because the British were incompetent. You would seek out many different sources to support your idea or thesis. You are expected to do more than just summarize what you read; you are expected to draw conclusions from it.

　Theses and Dissertations Thesis work generally refers to a high caliber of detailed research conducted on a graduate level, or on the undergraduate level in a senior honors class. A dissertation is a book-length report that culminates years of research on a topic. It is the completion of the doctoral degree and, as such, must conform to the most rigorous standards of research and writing.

　5. Class Activities:

　 Group discussion of a research paper  Group discussion of a sample research paper  Sample analysis and questions and answers

　6. Assignment: Do a preliminary research in areas you are interested in and decide on two or three topics that appear promising.

　 2 Week 2 Research Paper Topics 1. Teaching Focus:

　 Types of Research  Definition of a research problem  Discussion on finding a research topic and doing preliminary research

　2. Time Arrangement:

　 Types of Research: 20 mins  Definition of a research problem: 10 mins  Discussion on finding a research topic and doing preliminary research: 20 mins

　3. Teaching Procedures:

　 Students have a group discussion about their new understanding of a research paper.  Teacher helps students define the research problems.  Teacher helps students find a research topic.  Teacher answers students’ questions.

　4. Teaching Points:

　Types of Research  Historical research  Case study research  Developmental research

　Finding and clarifying your topic In many classes, you’ll never need to worry about finding a topic for your research paper—it will be provided for you. Many teachers like to assign one topic for the class, or to give a list of assignments that you must choose from. If your professor does not assign a topic, your first job is to find one.

　You may think that the thing to do is to pick a topic that you find interesting. While you do want to have interest in the topic, it it equally important to find one on which you can conduct research. While you may have always wondered about the nocturnal habits of the animals of Ndola, if there is no scholarly work on the subject, you will be in trouble. So your first job is to select a broad category. Perhaps it will be dictated by the nature of the course you are taking. If not, you may consider one of the following sources:  Personal experience  Peer groups  Topics in the news  Your course syllabus  Table of contents for the standard text in your course  Bibliography for the standard text in your course  The Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature  An encyclopedia  A librarian

　 3

　Characteristics of a research topic  It is of interest of you.  There appears to be a lot of information available on the topic.  You have the background or expertise to understand and write about the information you’ll be reading.

　5. Class Activities:

　 Group discussion of personal research work  Reading supplementary material  Sample analysis and questions and answers

　6. Assignment: Do a preliminary research in areas you are interested in and decide on two or three topics that appear promising.

　 Week 3 Format of a Research Paper 1. Teaching Focus:

　 Discussion of students’ topics  Discussion of doing library and Internet research  Discussion of formatting a research paper

　2. Time Arrangement:

　 Discussion of students’ topics: 20 mins  Discussion of doing library and Internet research: 15 mins  Discussion of formatting a research paper: 15 mins

　3. Teaching Procedures:

　 Students have a group discussion about their research topics.  Teacher helps students with doubts and uncertainties.  Teacher shows students the strong and the weak points.  Teacher answers students’ questions.

　4. Teaching Points:

　The Mechanics of Writing  Spelling  Punctuation  Italics  Names of Persons  Numbers  Capitalization and Personal Names in Languages Other Than English

　 4 The Format of the Paper  Printing or Typing  Paper  Margins  Spacing  Heading and Title  Page Numbers  Corrections and Insertions

　5. Class Activities:

　 Group discussion of research topics  Peer-review of the research topics  Questions and answers

　6. Assignment: Continue your research on topics.

　Week 4 Note-taking 1. Teaching Focus:

　 Discussion of students’ research work  Discussion of students’ research topics  Discussion of note-taking

　2. Time Arrangement:

　 Discussion of students’ research work: 10 mins  Discussion of students’ research topics: 10 mins  Discussion of note-taking: 30 mins

　 3. Teaching Procedures:

　 Students have a group discussion about their research topics.  Teacher shows students examples of note-taking.  Teacher answers students’ questions.

　4. Teaching Points:

　Note-taking Information on note cards  Title of the book, article, or journal  The full name of the author, editor(s), translator(s), etc.  The date of publication  The pages you are referencing

　 5

　Sample note card  Sample book note card  Sample journal note card  Sample magazine or newspaper note card

　Rules for note-taking  Keep notes for different sources on different sheets of paper or different sets of note cards.  Clearly label notes taken from the same source.  Write the author’s name at the top of each page or card.  Keep note-taking to a minimum.

　5. Class Activities:

　 Group discussion of different methods of note-taking  Questions and answers

　6. Assignment: Continue your research on topics.

　Week 5 National Day Break—No Class

　Week 6 Questionnaires

　1. Teaching Focus:

　 Introduction  Four major methods of information-gathering

　 Advantages and disadvantages  The response process  Question construction  Examination

　2. Time Arrangement:

　 Introduction: 5 mins  Four major methods of information-gathering: 5mins  Advantages and disadvantages: 5mins  The response process: 5mins  Question construction:25mins  Examination: 5 mins  Comments on students’ assignment 5 mins

　 6 3. Teaching Procedures:

　1. Students have a group discussion about different methods of information-gathering. 2. Teacher helps students summarize the different methods. 3. Teacher gives students handouts about important steps of question construction. 4.

　Teacher helps students analyze the purpose, format, designing principles of the Questionnaires.

　4. Teaching Points:

　Introduction Questionnaire:

　It is a communication method of designing questionnaires to collect the requisite information. it is used for research work by scientists, business entities, etc. It is a list of questions framed to get facts. The questionnaire is the most commonly used method of gathering information about use and users. Questionnaires are easy to prepare and it is surprisingly easy to prepare a bad one. It is important to be able to avoid major pitfalls and to be able to identify them in the research done by others.

　Four major methods of information-gathering: The use of records, files, and existing evidence.

　Observation

　Interviews

　Questionnaires.

　 Advantages & Disadvantages The Response Process Fundamental Concerns The Process Type of Information Sought Question Types Wording Questions Select Words with Care General Format Page Format Questionnaire construction

　Revise and continue to test until your are satisfied that the questionnaire is as good as it can be. 5. Class Activities:

　1. Group discussion of different methods of information-gathering 2. Reading supplementary material and pair work for important steps of question construction 3. Sample analysis and questions and answers for questionnaires. 6. Assignment: 1. Do a preliminary research on the topics they have chosen 2. Design questionnaires of their own.

　 7 Week 7 Interviews 1. Teaching Focus:

　 Introduction  Advantages and disadvantages  The need for a skilled interviewer  Planning  Question type  Question sequence  Conducting the interview  Telephone interviewing

　2. Time Arrangement:

　 Introduction: 5 mins  Advantages and disadvantages: 5mins  The need for a skilled interviewer: 5mins  Planning: 5mins  Question type: 5mins  Question sequence: 5 mins  Conducting the interview: 10 mins  Telephone interviewing: 5 mins  Comments on students’ assignment 5 mins 3. Teaching Procedures:

　1. Students have a group discussion about the need for a skilled interviewer 2. Teacher helps students summarize the different question type. 3. Teacher gives students handouts about important steps of conducting the interview. 4.

　Teacher helps students analyze the purpose, format, designing principles of the interview questions.

　4. Teaching Points:

　Interviews A research interview is a structured social interaction between a researcher and a subject who is identified as a potential source of information, in which the interviewer initiates and controls the exchange to obtain quantifiable and comparable information relevant to an emerging or previously stated hypothesis. Advantages & Disadvantages The need for a skilled interviewer Observation

　Language Bias Attitudes

　5. Class Activities:

　1. Group discussion of different need for a skilled interviewer 2. Reading supplementary material and pair work for important steps of conducting the

　 8 interview 3. Sample analysis and questions and answers for interviews. 6. Assignment: 1. Design an interview of your own. 2. Think about the kind of research you can do for your research paper.

　 Week 9 1. Teaching Focus:

　The basic elements of a thesis statement How to write a good thesis statement Problems in writing the thesis statement

　2. Time Arrangement:

　The basic elements of a thesis statement: 20 minutes How to write a good thesis statement: 25 minutes Problems in writing the thesis statement: 15 minutes

　3. Teaching Procedures:

　1) Teacher explains the basic elements of a thesis statement with the help of teaching slides. 2) Teacher gives students handouts and makes analysis of the sample outlines. 3) Students work in pair to summarize the principles of how to write a good thesis statement based on the teacher’s guidance and their peer’s suggestions. 4) Teacher encourages students to ask questions about problems and difficulties in writing the thesis statement.

　4. Teaching Notes (Including the extended studying material):

　 What is a thesis statement? A thesis statement declares what you believe and what you intend to prove. A good thesis statement makes the difference between a thoughtful research project and a simple retelling of facts.

　A good tentative thesis will help you focus your search for information. But don"t rush! You must do a lot of background reading before you know enough about a subject to identify key or essential questions. You may not know how you stand on an issue until you have examined the evidence. You will likely begin your research with a working, preliminary or tentative thesis, which you will continue to refine until you are certain of where the evidence leads.

　The thesis statement is typically located at the end of your opening paragraph. (The opening paragraph serves to set the context for the thesis.)

　Remember, your reader will be looking for your thesis. Make it clear, strong, and easy to find.

　 9 Attributes of a Good Thesis Statement:

　 It should be contestable, proposing an arguable point with which people could reasonably disagree. A strong thesis is provocative; it takes a stand and justifies the discussion you will present.

　 It tackles a subject that could be adequately covered in the format of the project assigned.

　 It is specific and focused. A strong thesis proves a point without discussing “everything about …” Instead of music, think "American jazz in the 1930s" and your argument about it.

　 It clearly asserts your own conclusion based on evidence. Note: Be flexible. The evidence may lead you to a conclusion you didn"t think you"d reach. It is perfectly okay to change your thesis!

　 It provides the reader with a map to guide him/her through your work.

　 It anticipates and refutes the counter-arguments

　 It avoids vague language (like "it seems").

　 It avoids the first person. ("I believe," "In my opinion")

　 It should pass the So what? or Who cares? test (Would your most honest friend ask why he should care or respond with "but everyone knows that"?) For instance, "people should avoid driving under the influence of alcohol," would be unlikely to evoke any opposition.

　 Thesis Brainstorming

　5. In-Class Activities:

　Students work in pair to summarize the principles of how to write a good thesis statement based on the teacher’s guidance and their peer’s suggestions.

　6. After-Class Assignment: Students are required to write the thesis statement for their paper and do a peer-review to revise their thesis statement.

　 Week 10 1. Teaching Focus:

　The basic structure of an outline How to write a good outline Problems in writing the outline

　2. Time Arrangement:

　The basic structure of an outline: 20 minutes How to write a good outline: 20 minutes Problems in writing the outline: 20 minutes

　3. Teaching Procedures:

　1) Teacher explains and presents the samples to show the basic structure of an outline.

　 10 2) Teacher organizes students to have a group discussion on the difficulties and problems in writing the outline.

　3) The group representatives summarize the major problems and teacher answers the question.

　 4. Teaching Notes (Including the extended studying material):

　The Structure of the Essay Outline

　The beginning is the, introduction containing your thesis statement; the end is the conclusion; and the middle or body of the essay contains the argument, supported by evidence or example and designed to prove your thesis.

　The essay should progress towards the conclusion. At this stage, all you are preparing Is the outline, which will take you from one end of the essay to the other, like a road map. It should be constructed to keep you from losing your sense of direction as you research and write the essay. A good outline will ensure that everything you write in the essay supports your thesis, preventing you from wandering off into the tempting byways of irrelevance.

　Construct your outline by listing all the important points you want to cover in your essay. You should provide one main point for each paragraph. Start with the introduction, under which you will write out your thesis statement and work through logically, point by point, until you reach the conclusion. Categorize your points according to their importance, keeping in mind the method of organization you intend to use.

　Group related ideas together under general headings and arrange them so they flow logically. It may be useful to number each point, giving more weight to major points and less to minor ones (e.g. A 1 2 3 B 1 2 3); alternatively, you can simply set the points off further from the margin of the paper as they decrease in importance:

　Some essays read as if each point had been written on an index card, then the pile thrown down a flight of stairs to determine the order. Make clear why one point follows another: each point in your outline should connect with the next; each main category should be linked to your thesis; and each sub-category should be linked to the main category. Focus your outline by discarding anything not useful or pertinent to your thesis.

　One of the most helpful things about a full outline is that it will quickly make clear to you where the gaps lie. If you don"t yet have enough support in one area, you will know that you have more reading or thinking to do. Remember that sometimes your reading will unearth new facts or idea--and you will modify your essay to reflect them. If you take the time to think about what you want to say and to put your ideas into an outline, writing the actual paper will be easier. An outline is a listing of brief ideas that will be in the paper.

　The Outline"s Outline

　I. Reasons to write an outline

　A. Organizes your ideas

　B. Provides a “map” for the paper

　C. Your teacher made you do it

　D. You decided to give it a try

　 11 II. Parts of the outline

　A. Title

　1. Should include the subject of the paper

　2. Descriptive title will grab reader’s attention

　B. Introduction

　1. States the subject of the paper

　2. States what areas will be focused on

　3. Keep introduction concise and brief

　a) Helps to keep reader’s attention

　b) Save something for the “Main Body”

　C. Main Body

　1. Where all your information is presented

　2. It’s time to use your notes

　a) Find all your notes

　b) Review your notes

　c) Put the information in order

　d) Write brief phrases for ideas to be discussed

　 (1) No need to write in complete sentences

　 (2) Write just the main ideas down

　 (3) Elaborate on the main ideas in the actual paper

　 e) The ideas should follow in logical order

　 f) If you have an "A" or an "a" you must have a "B" or "b"

　 g) If you have a "1" you must have a "2"

　D. Conclusion

　 1. Think of how you want the paper to end

　 2. Be sharp, concise and to the point

　 3. Breathe a sigh of relief!

　The outline is done

　Sample Outline Format: The traditional outline has three sections: introduction, body, and conclusion. The basic model looks like this:

　Title

　I. Introduction

　A. The background

　B. The thesis statement

　II. Body

　A. First major category of support

　1. Supporting detail

　2. Supporting detail

　3. Supporting detail

　B. Second major category of support

　1. Supporting detail

　2. Supporting detail

　 12 C. Third major category of support

　1. Supporting detail

　2. Supporting detail

　III. Conclusion

　A. Review of the major categories of support

　B. The answer, solution, or final option

　 Helpful Hints - Follow these guidelines to complete your outline:

　1. Title the outline - write the title of your paper at the top of the page.

　2. Follow the sample outline format for numbering and lettering. Main ideas are chief points. Label them I, II, III, etc. Each main topic must include at least two subtopics.

　3. Subtopics for each main topic are labeled A, B, C, etc.

　4. Details for subtopics are labeled 1, 2, 3, etc.

　5. Sub-details or examples for details are labeled a, b, c, etc.

　6. Use a period after each division letter or number. Do not place periods after topics or subtopics not stated in the form of a sentence.

　7. Begin the main topic, subtopics, and details with capital letters.

　8. Maintain a parallel structure throughout the outline; if you start with phrases, don"t switch to sentences.

　9. Indent as shown in the example. You should be able to draw a line through all the

　periods after Roman numerals, another through all the periods after capital letters, etc.

　5. In-Class Activities:

　Students have a group discussion on the difficulties and problems in writing the outline.

　 6. After-Class Assignment: Students are required to write the outline for their thesis and do a peer-review to revise their outline.

　Week 11 1. Teaching Focus:

　The basic elements of the thesis abstract The format of the thesis abstract The organization of the thesis abstract

　2. Time Arrangement:

　The basic elements of the thesis abstract: 20 minutes

　The format of the thesis abstract: 20 minutes

　 13 The organization of the thesis abstract: 20 minutes

　3. Teaching Procedures:

　1) Teacher explains the basic elements of the thesis abstract with reference notes presented in the teaching slides. 2) Teacher gives students handouts and explains the basic format of the abstract. 3) Teacher explains the organizational pattern of the thesis abstract through sample analysis. 4) Teacher encourages students to ask questions related to writing the abstract.

　4. Teaching Notes(Including the extended studying material):

　 Function of an Abstract Because on-line search databases typically contain only abstracts, it is vital to write a complete but concise description of your work to entice potential readers into obtaining a copy of the full paper. This article describes how to write a good computer architecture abstract for both conference and journal papers. Writers should follow a checklist consisting of: motivation, problem statement, approach, results, and conclusions. Following this checklist should increase the chance of people taking the time to obtain and read your complete paper.

　Now that the use of on-line publication databases is prevalent, writing a really good abstract has become even more important than it was a decade ago. Abstracts have always served the function of "selling" your work. But now, instead of merely convincing the reader to keep reading the rest of the attached paper, an abstract must convince the reader to leave the comfort of an office and go hunt down a copy of the article from a library (or worse, obtain one after a long wait through inter-library loan). In a business context, an "executive summary" is often the only piece of a report read by the people who matter; and it should be similar in content if not tone to a journal paper abstract.

　Checklist: Parts of an Abstract Despite the fact that an abstract is quite brief, it must do almost as much work as the multi-page paper that follows it. In a computer architecture paper, this means that it should in most cases include the following sections. Each section is typically a single sentence, although there is room for creativity. In particular, the parts may be merged or spread among a set of sentences. Use the following as a checklist for your next abstract:

　Motivation: Why do we care about the problem and the results? If the problem isn"t obviously "interesting" it might be better to put motivation first; but if your work is incremental progress on a problem that is widely recognized as important, then it is probably better to put the problem statement first to indicate which piece of the larger problem you are breaking off to work on. This section should include the importance of your work, the difficulty of the area, and the impact it might have if successful.

　Problem statement: What problem are you trying to solve? What is the scope of your work (a generalized

　 14 approach, or for a specific situation)? Be careful not to use too much jargon. In some cases it is appropriate to put the problem statement before the motivation, but usually this only works if most readers already understand why the problem is important.

　Approach: How did you go about solving or making progress on the problem? Did you use simulation, analytic models, prototype construction, or analysis of field data for an actual product? What was the extent of your work (did you look at one application program or a hundred programs in twenty different programming languages?) What important variables did you control, ignore, or measure?

　Results: What"s the answer? Specifically, most good computer architecture papers conclude that something is so many percent faster, cheaper, smaller, or otherwise better than something else. Put the result there, in numbers. Avoid vague, hand-waving results such as "very", "small", or "significant." If you must be vague, you are only given license to do so when you can talk about orders-of-magnitude improvement. There is a tension here in that you should not provide numbers that can be easily misinterpreted, but on the other hand you don"t have room for all the caveats.

　Conclusions: What are the implications of your answer? Is it going to change the world (unlikely), be a significant "win", be a nice hack, or simply serve as a road sign indicating that this path is a waste of time (all of the previous results are useful). Are your results general, potentially generalizable, or specific to a particular case?

　Other Considerations An abstract must be a fully self-contained, capsule description of the paper. It can"t assume (or attempt to provoke) the reader into flipping through looking for an explanation of what is meant by some vague statement. It must make sense all by itself. Some points to consider include:

　Meet the word count limitation. An abstract word limit of 150 to 200 words is common.

　Any major restrictions or limitations on the results should be stated, if only by using "weasel-words" such as "might", "could", "may", and "seem".

　Think of a half-dozen search phrases and keywords that people looking for your work might use. Be sure that those exact phrases appear in your abstract, so that they will turn up at the top of a search result listing.

　Usually the context of a paper is set by the publication it appears in (for example, IEEE Computer magazine"s articles are generally about computer technology). But, if your paper appears in a somewhat un-traditional venue, be sure to include in the problem statement the domain or topic area that it is really applicable to.

　Some publications request "keywords". These have two purposes. They are used to facilitate keyword index searches, which are greatly reduced in importance now that on-line abstract text searching is commonly used. However, they are also used to assign papers to review committees or editors, which can be extremely important to your fate. So make sure that the keywords you pick make assigning your paper to a review category obvious (for example, if there is a list of conference topics, use your chosen topic area as one of the keyword tuples).

　Conclusion

　 15 Writing an efficient abstract is hard work, but will repay you with increased impact on the world by enticing people to read your publications. Make sure that all the components of a good abstract are included in the next one you write.

　5. In-Class Activities: Students have a pair discussion about the writing principles and skills of writing the abstract.

　6. After-Class Assignment: Students are required to write the abstract of their thesis.

　Week 12 1. Teaching Focus:

　The basic concepts of literature review The organizational pattern of literature review The basic elements of summarizing in thesis writing The basic skills of summarizing in thesis writing

　2. Time Arrangement:

　The basic organizational pattern of literature review: 15 minutes The basic skills of writing literature review: 15 minutes The basic elements of summarizing in thesis writing: 15 minutes The basic skills of summarizing in thesis writing: 15 minutes

　3. Teaching Procedures:

　 1) Teacher summarizes the basic organizational pattern of literature review. 2) Students work in pairs to discuss the principles and skills of summarizing in thesis writing and each group choose a representative to summarize their ideas. 3) Teacher summarizes the basic skills of summarizing in thesis writing and emphasizes the key points in teaching slides. 4) Teacher answers students questions about writing literature review and summarizing in thesis writing.

　4. Teaching Notes (Including the extended studying material):

　 What is a review of the literature? A literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers. Occasionally you will be asked to write one as a separate assignment (sometimes in the form of an annotated bibliography--see the bottom of the next page), but more often it is part of the introduction to an essay, research report, or thesis. In writing the literature review, your purpose is to convey to your reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. As a piece of writing, the literature review must be

　 16 defined by a guiding concept (e.g., your research objective, the problem or issue you are discussing, or your argumentative thesis). It is not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries.

　 A literature review is a piece of discursive prose, not a list describing or summarizing one piece of literature after another. It"s usually a bad sign to see every paragraph beginning with the name of a researcher. Instead, organize the literature review into sections that present themes or identify trends, including relevant theory. You are not trying to list all the material published, but to synthesize and evaluate it according to the guiding concept of your thesis or research question.

　 5. In-Class Activities: Students have a pair discussion about the writing principles and skills of the literature review. Students work in pairs to discuss the principles and skills of summarizing in thesis writing and each group choose a representative to summarize the group members’ ideas.

　6. After-Class Assignment: Students are required to practice the skills of writing literature review and summarizing.

　 Week 13-14

　 Parts of a Thesis 1 ．Teaching Focus: The components of a thesis The connection between parts and concentration of each

　Plagiarism Documentation styles (1)

　2 ．Time Arrangement Parts of a thesis: 20 min Concentration of each part: 30 min Plagiarism: 10 min Rules to follow: 20 min Documentation styles: 20 min Note-taking skills: annotated bibliography:

　10 min Assignment: 10 min

　3 ．Teaching Procedures

　Show students a thesis so that they know the major parts of a thesis. Explain the function and logical connection between parts, and how to write each part. Give a brief account of academic honesty and introduce documentation styles. MLA documentation format.

　4 ．Teaching Points Parts of a thesis: introduction, literature review, method, results, discussion,

　 17 conclusion. Introduction

　An introduction

　 captures your audience"s attention.

　 gives background on your topic.

　 develops interest in your topic.

　 guides your reader to your thesis. Good ideas for introductions: Orienting readers to your topic: Some faculty members will urge you to "dive right into" the paper. This can lead to trouble, if the reader does not know why you are beginning where you do. Testing the introduction: An introduction is a great test for the writer--it maps the rest of the paper and will quickly show whether the topic is covering too much ground. When you write the introduction, imagine yourself as the reader. If you had not read the paper before, what would you expect next, given what you have already read? Are there topics in the essay that are not briefly mentioned in the introduction? If so, include a mention of these topics. Focusing the introduction: The goals just mentioned could, if abused, lead you to write an introduction that is pages and pages long. Remember, the introduction should not contain every bit of detail you have in the paper, and it should not include support for a thesis (save that for the body of the paper). An introduction might, however, include the reasons for supporting the thesis as you do. Literature review Stages of preparation: i). Do a literature search. Find out what has been written about your topic. A good starting point is the list of references or bibliography of a recent article or book on the topic, as what we have done in the previous weeks.

　ii). Write short summaries. For each relevant text, try to write a one paragraph summary similar to an abstract.

　iii). Organize the summaries. Try to identify similarities and group the summaries accordingly. The headings under which the summaries are grouped will vary, depending on the topic and the subject.

　iv). Write each section. Each section of your literature review should deal with a specific aspect of the literature.

　v). Decide on the order of presentation. In most cases, this would be from most important to least important, or from established to more controve...

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