The essential question is the very backbone of a literature review. This is the question you set out to answer by reading the available literature on the subject, and selecting the right question is important. To form a strong essential question, think about what questions you have about Frankenstein.
DO NOT limit your question to the novel itself! Consider how important is has been in culture and society? How has it influenced those that came after it and how was it influenced by those that came before? How have different movements viewed it? To help you form a strong essential question, visit the following link to read more about this step.
BUT REMEMBER: You must have a your essential question before you begin reviewing the available literature! AND you must share this question with me (I encourage you to do this by email BEFORE Monday, so I can help guide your question.
Essential Question Guide! CLICK HERE!
The Literature Review Paper's full details follow.
Frankenstein Literature Review Paper
Essential Question: Due November 28th (or by email before that date)
Rough Draft: Due December 2nd
Final Draft: Due December 16th (Subject to change)
Overview:
A literature review is an evaluative account of what has been published on a topic by scholars and researchers. The purpose of this assignment is to facilitate your abilities to research a topic of study so you can learn to:
- identify and formulate an inquiry question that defines what you’d like to learn,
- find sources of information that will satisfy the needs of your inquiry,
- analyze the information found, and
- synthesize new knowledge into a written literature review and
- establish context for your inquiries.
Thus, writing a literature review helps you develop and demonstrate two valuable skills:
- Research: the ability to scan the literature efficiently to identify a set of useful articles and/or books and to obtain those materials.
- Critical Evaluation: the ability to apply principles of analysis to identify unbiased and valid studies.
Literature reviews are routinely included in the opening sections of scholarly research reports. A successful literature review must be defined by a guiding concept such as your research objective, the problem or issue you wish to discuss (an Essential Question). A literature review is not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries.
Assignment Description:
For this assignment you are asked to complete a literature review on your Essential Question as it relates to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
You are to locate at least 3 sources on your topic. Half of your sources must be journal articles* or books. You may use credible web sites as well as interviews. You are to write a 4 -6 page (1000-1500 words) literature review based on the sources you have selected. Papers should comply with MLA (Modern Language Association) citation style throughout. Please explore Purdue University’s OWL website for style guidelines.