what is research in english literature

Chapter Four: Theory, Methodologies, Methods, and Evidence

Research Methods

You are viewing the first edition of this textbook. a second edition is available – please visit the latest edition for updated information..

This page discusses the following topics:

Research Goals

Research method types.

Before discussing research   methods , we need to distinguish them from  methodologies  and  research skills . Methodologies, linked to literary theories, are tools and lines of investigation: sets of practices and propositions about texts and the world. Researchers using Marxist literary criticism will adopt methodologies that look to material forces like labor, ownership, and technology to understand literature and its relationship to the world. They will also seek to understand authors not as inspired geniuses but as people whose lives and work are shaped by social forces.

Example: Critical Race Theory Methodologies

Critical Race Theory may use a variety of methodologies, including

• Interest convergence: investigating whether marginalized groups only achieve progress when dominant groups benefit as well
• Intersectional theory: investigating how multiple factors of advantage and disadvantage around race, gender, ethnicity, religion, etc. operate together in complex ways
• Radical critique of the law: investigating how the law has historically been used to marginalize particular groups, such as black people, while recognizing that legal efforts are important to achieve emancipation and civil rights
• Social constructivism: investigating how race is socially constructed (rather than biologically grounded)
• Standpoint epistemology: investigating how knowledge relates to social position
• Structural determinism: investigating how structures of thought and of organizations determine social outcomes

To identify appropriate methodologies, you will need to research your chosen theory and gather what methodologies are associated with it. For the most part, we can’t assume that there are “one size fits all” methodologies.

Research skills are about how you handle materials such as library search engines, citation management programs, special collections materials, and so on.

Research methods  are about where and how you get answers to your research questions. Are you conducting interviews? Visiting archives? Doing close readings? Reviewing scholarship? You will need to choose which methods are most appropriate to use in your research and you need to gain some knowledge about how to use these methods. In other words, you need to do some research into research methods!

Your choice of research method depends on the kind of questions you are asking. For example, if you want to understand how an author progressed through several drafts to arrive at a final manuscript, you may need to do archival research. If you want to understand why a particular literary work became a bestseller, you may need to do audience research. If you want to know why a contemporary author wrote a particular work, you may need to do interviews. Usually literary research involves a combination of methods such as  archival research ,  discourse analysis , and  qualitative research  methods.

Literary research methods tend to differ from research methods in the hard sciences (such as physics and chemistry). Science research must present results that are reproducible, while literary research rarely does (though it must still present evidence for its claims). Literary research often deals with questions of meaning, social conventions, representations of lived experience, and aesthetic effects; these are questions that reward dialogue and different perspectives rather than one great experiment that settles the issue. In literary research, we might get many valuable answers even though they are quite different from one another. Also in literary research, we usually have some room to speculate about answers, but our claims have to be plausible (believable) and our argument comprehensive (meaning we don’t overlook evidence that would alter our argument significantly if it were known).

A literary researcher might select the following:

Theory: Critical Race Theory

Methodology: Social Constructivism

Method: Scholarly

Skills: Search engines, citation management

Wendy Belcher, in  Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks , identifies two main approaches to understanding literary works: looking at a text by itself (associated with New Criticism ) and looking at texts as they connect to society (associated with Cultural Studies ). The goal of New Criticism is to bring the reader further into the text. The goal of Cultural Studies is to bring the reader into the network of discourses that surround and pass through the text. Other approaches, such as Ecocriticism, relate literary texts to the Sciences (as well as to the Humanities).

The New Critics, starting in the 1940s,  focused on meaning within the text itself, using a method they called “ close reading .” The text itself becomes e vidence for a particular reading. Using this approach, you should summarize the literary work briefly and q uote particularly meaningful passages, being sure to introduce quotes and then interpret them (never let them stand alone). Make connections within the work; a sk  “why” and “how” the various parts of the text relate to each other.

Cultural Studies critics see all texts  as connected to society; the critic  therefore has to connect a text to at least one political or social issue. How and why does  the text reproduce particular knowledge systems (known as discourses) and how do these knowledge systems relate to issues of power within the society? Who speaks and when? Answering these questions helps your reader understand the text in context. Cultural contexts can include the treatment of gender (Feminist, Queer), class (Marxist), nationality, race, religion, or any other area of human society.

Other approaches, such as psychoanalytic literary criticism , look at literary texts to better understand human psychology. A psychoanalytic reading can focus on a character, the author, the reader, or on society in general. Ecocriticism  look at human understandings of nature in literary texts.

We select our research methods based on the kinds of things we want to know. For example, we may be studying the relationship between literature and society, between author and text, or the status of a work in the literary canon. We may want to know about a work’s form, genre, or thematics. We may want to know about the audience’s reading and reception, or about methods for teaching literature in schools.

Below are a few research methods and their descriptions. You may need to consult with your instructor about which ones are most appropriate for your project. The first list covers methods most students use in their work. The second list covers methods more commonly used by advanced researchers. Even if you will not be using methods from this second list in your research project, you may read about these research methods in the scholarship you find.

Most commonly used undergraduate research methods:

• Scholarship Methods:  Studies the body of scholarship written about a particular author, literary work, historical period, literary movement, genre, theme, theory, or method.
• Textual Analysis Methods:  Used for close readings of literary texts, these methods also rely on literary theory and background information to support the reading.
• Biographical Methods:  Used to study the life of the author to better understand their work and times, these methods involve reading biographies and autobiographies about the author, and may also include research into private papers, correspondence, and interviews.
• Discourse Analysis Methods:  Studies language patterns to reveal ideology and social relations of power. This research involves the study of institutions, social groups, and social movements to understand how people in various settings use language to represent the world to themselves and others. Literary works may present complex mixtures of discourses which the characters (and readers) have to navigate.
• Creative Writing Methods:  A literary re-working of another literary text, creative writing research is used to better understand a literary work by investigating its language, formal structures, composition methods, themes, and so on. For instance, a creative research project may retell a story from a minor character’s perspective to reveal an alternative reading of events. To qualify as research, a creative research project is usually combined with a piece of theoretical writing that explains and justifies the work.

Methods used more often by advanced researchers:

• Archival Methods: Usually involves trips to special collections where original papers are kept. In these archives are many unpublished materials such as diaries, letters, photographs, ledgers, and so on. These materials can offer us invaluable insight into the life of an author, the development of a literary work, or the society in which the author lived. There are at least three major archives of James Baldwin’s papers: The Smithsonian , Yale , and The New York Public Library . Descriptions of such materials are often available online, but the materials themselves are typically stored in boxes at the archive.
• Computational Methods:  Used for statistical analysis of texts such as studies of the popularity and meaning of particular words in literature over time.
• Ethnographic Methods:  Studies groups of people and their interactions with literary works, for instance in educational institutions, in reading groups (such as book clubs), and in fan networks. This approach may involve interviews and visits to places (including online communities) where people interact with literary works. Note: before you begin such work, you must have  Institutional Review Board (IRB)  approval “to protect the rights and welfare of human participants involved in research.”
• Visual Methods:  Studies the visual qualities of literary works. Some literary works, such as illuminated manuscripts, children’s literature, and graphic novels, present a complex interplay of text and image. Even works without illustrations can be studied for their use of typography, layout, and other visual features.

Regardless of the method(s) you choose, you will need to learn how to apply them to your work and how to carry them out successfully. For example, you should know that many archives do not allow you to bring pens (you can use pencils) and you may not be allowed to bring bags into the archives. You will need to keep a record of which documents you consult and their location (box number, etc.) in the archives. If you are unsure how to use a particular method, please consult a book about it. [1] Also, ask for the advice of trained researchers such as your instructor or a research librarian.

• What research method(s) will you be using for your paper? Why did you make this method selection over other methods? If you haven’t made a selection yet, which methods are you considering?
• What specific methodological approaches are you most interested in exploring in relation to the chosen literary work?
• What is your plan for researching your method(s) and its major approaches?
• What was the most important lesson you learned from this page? What point was confusing or difficult to understand?

Write your answers in a webcourse discussion page.

• Introduction to Research Methods: A Practical Guide for Anyone Undertaking a Research Project  by Catherine, Dr. Dawson
• Practical Research Methods: A User-Friendly Guide to Mastering Research Techniques and Projects  by Catherine Dawson
• Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches  by John W. Creswell  Cheryl N. Poth
• Qualitative Research Evaluation Methods: Integrating Theory and Practice  by Michael Quinn Patton
• Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches  by John W. Creswell  J. David Creswell
• Research Methodology: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners  by Ranjit Kumar
• Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques  by C.R. Kothari

Strategies for Conducting Literary Research Copyright © 2021 by Barry Mauer & John Venecek is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

• Dalhousie University Libraries

English Literature

• Research step-by-step
• Dictionaries, encyclopedias, and more
• Find articles
• Primary sources
• Recommended websites
• Book reviews
• MLA citation
• Citation management

On this page...

Step 1: choose a topic, step 2: consult reference sources, step 3: grab some books, step 4: search for articles, step 5: collect, read, evaluate, and write what you have learned, step 6: cite your sources.

• Document delivery
• Exercises & training
• Arthurian Literature series
• ENGL 2232: Contemporary Science Fiction
• ENGL 3301: Graphic Novels This link opens in a new window
• CRWR 4010: Advanced Creative Writing - Poetry I

This page walks you through the basic steps of research. Keep in mind that the research process is actually quite messy, and you might find yourself jumping back and forth between the steps listed here. These steps are meant to orient you to the research process, but you do not necessarily have to follow this exact order:

• Choose a topic
• Consult reference sources
• Grab some books
• Search for articles
• Collect, read, evaluate, and write what you have learned
• Cite your sources

When choosing a topic, keep the following points in mind:

• Choose a topic that ACTUALLY interests you.
• Your topic is not set in stone. Once you start doing some initial research on your topic, you will probably decide to tweak it a bit.
• Pick a topic that is manageable. If your topic is too broad, it will be hard to condense it all into one university paper. But if your topic is too narrow, you may have a hard time finding enough scholarly research for your paper.
• Handout: Choosing a topic Check out this helpful handout on choosing a research topic!

Or, watch this incredibly useful video from North Carolina State University Library on choosing a topic:

When you first get started on a research project, you might not have very much prior knowledge of your topic. In that case, it's a great idea to start with some background information. The most heavily-used reference source in the world is Wikipedia, but as a student you also have access to many other excellent scholarly reference sources.

Jump to the "Dictionaries, encyclopedias, and more" page of this guide.

Time to get down to it! Books will help you get an even better handle on your topic. Books provide more in-depth information than reference sources, but are often much better for background information than journal articles. Keep the following in mind:

• Start by registering your Dal card as your library card. Fill out your registration form and bring it to the service desk at the Killam Library, or register online using our online form (this will take about 24 hours to process).
• Use the Novanet library catalogue to search for books on your topic.
• You can access ebooks immediately online; if you find a print book that interests you, write down the call number and visit the stacks!
• Check out this quick video: How to read a call number in 90 seconds
• Remember that in most cases you won't need to read the whole book!
• You may borrow print books for 3 weeks, and renew them twice. To renew books online, start here . Click "Guest," at the top right of the screen, and then "My library card." Log in with your barcode and password. You should see an overview of the books you have checked out, and an option to renew. You can also check out this quick video tutorial on renewing books .  

Jump to the "Find books" page of this guide.

Scholarly journals are specialized journals that publish new research on specialized topics. They are written FOR academics, researchers, and students to keep them aware of new developments in the field. They are written, for the most part, BY academics and researchers who are actively involved with the field of study. You can find scholarly articles in databases that the library subscribes to. Make sure to search in subject-specific databases (such as a history database), as well as multidisciplinary databases that include a wider scope of material.

Jump to the "Find journal articles" page of this guide.

• Handout: Identifying and reading scholarly works New to reading scholarly articles? Check out this helpful handout.

Or, check out this great video from Western Libraries:

Take very careful notes as you read your sources! This will help you trace themes and develop an argument. Check out the following two videos on writing a research paper, and make an appointment at the Dalhousie Writing Centre if you would like assistance with your writing.

• Dalhousie Writing Centre: Make an appointment
• Video tutorial: Writing a research paper, Part 1
• Writing Research Papers Part 2 Draft -- Revise -- Proof read -- References

Very important! When you use somebody else's words or ideas in your academic papers, you must to give credit to the original source. This is one of the reasons why keeping good notes is so important to the research process.

Jump to the MLA Citation page of this guide.

• << Previous: Citation management
• Next: Document delivery >>
• Last Updated: Aug 28, 2024 12:11 PM
• URL: https://dal.ca.libguides.com/English

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Literature Topics and Research

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

What kinds of topics are good ones?

The best topics are ones that originate out of your own reading of a work of literature, but here are some common approaches to consider:

• A discussion of a work's characters: are they realistic, symbolic, historically-based?
• A comparison/contrast of the choices different authors or characters make in a work
• A reading of a work based on an outside philosophical perspective (Ex. how would a Freudian read Hamlet ?)
• A study of the sources or historical events that occasioned a particular work (Ex. comparing G.B. Shaw's Pygmalion with the original Greek myth of Pygmalion)
• An analysis of a specific image occurring in several works (Ex. the use of moon imagery in certain plays, poems, novels)
• A "deconstruction" of a particular work (Ex. unfolding an underlying racist worldview in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness )
• A reading from a political perspective (Ex. how would a Marxist read William Blake's "London"?)
• A study of the social, political, or economic context in which a work was written — how does the context influence the work?

How do I start research?

Once you have decided on an interesting topic and work (or works), the best place to start is probably the Internet. Here you can usually find basic biographical data on authors, brief summaries of works, possibly some rudimentary analyses, and even bibliographies of sources related to your topic.

The Internet, however, rarely offers serious direct scholarship; you will have to use sources found in the library, sources like journal articles and scholarly books, to get information that you can use to build your own scholarship-your literary paper. Consult the library's on-line catalog and the MLA Periodical Index. Avoid citing dictionary or encyclopedic sources in your final paper.

How do I use the information I find?

The secondary sources you find are only to be used as an aid. Your thoughts should make up most of the essay. As you develop your thesis, you will bring in the ideas of the scholars to back up what you have already said.

For example, say you are arguing that Huck Finn is a Christ figure ; that's your basic thesis. You give evidence from the novel that allows this reading, and then, at the right place, you might say the following, a paraphrase:

According to Susan Thomas, Huck sacrifices himself because he wants to set Jim free (129).

If the scholar states an important idea in a memorable way, use a direct quote.

"Huck's altruism and feelings of compassion for Jim force him to surrender to the danger" (Thomas 129).

Either way, you will then link that idea to your thesis.

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• We're Hiring!
• Help Center

The Handbook to Literary Research

Edited by Delia da Sousa Correa and W.R. Owens The Handbook to Literary Research is a practical guide for students embarking on postgraduate work in Literary Studies. It introduces and explains research techniques, methodologies and approaches to information resources, paying careful attention to the differences between countries and institutions, and providing a range of key examples. This fully updated second edition is divided into five sections which cover: • Tools of the trade-a brand new chapter outlining how to make the most of literary resources; • Textual scholarship and book history-explains key concepts and variations in editing, publishing and bibliography; • Issues and approaches in literary research-presents a critical overview of theoretical approaches essential to literary studies; • The dissertation-demonstrates how to approach, plan and write this important research exercise; • Glossary-provides comprehensive explanations of key terms, and a checklist of resources. Packed with useful tips and exercises and written by scholars with extensive experience as teachers and researchers in the field, this volume is the ideal handbook for those beginning postgraduate research in literature. Delia da Sousa Correa is Senior Lecturer in English at

Related Papers

anita nur azizah

Anthony Adams

This course will introduce graduate students to the most essential methods and standards for research in graduate literary studies. Students will be expected to demonstrably advance from amateur toward quasi-professional status during the scope of the course. Assignments will include historical and analytical bibliographies, state-of-the-field research presentations, and analyses of scholarship history and field formation. Students will be encouraged to pursue research in those fields they find themselves most motivated by; however, a range of literary and historical materials and methods will be covered, possibly including but not limited to manuscript culture, early printed books and book history, textual editing, the archive, the article, the review, the abstract, and the production and management of digital materials.

Emelia Samanhyia

Question: The Setting of a literary work contributes to the development of characters and themes, among other relevance. Examine this notion with reference to at least two of the texts studied in this course.

wassila Rouabah , Linda Tint

A Reader's Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory is a classic introduction to the ever-evolving field of modern literary theory, now expanded and updated in its fifth edition. This book presents the full range of positions and movements in contemporary literary theory. It organises the theories into clearly defined sections and presents them in an accessible and lucid style.

Javed Hussain Khan

Drawing upon Hillway’s three types of research, this paper seeks to take a look at the nature and scope of literary research. It focuses on early works on the subject: Altick (1950, 1963), Sanders (1951), and Bateson (1972) – to demonstrate how some facts lying there can be uncovered through a slightly different reading of these texts. It highlights the similarities that make literary criticism, literary research, and literary scholarship synonymous, if not the same. It ends by mentioning briefly the approaches and methods of literary research.

Jean-Pierre Devroey

Markéta Gregorová

Lesson 5 in a one-term course of academic writing. The course aims at providing students with basic instruction in essay writing, with a special emphasis on literary critical essays. The students are guided through all the stages involved in the process of writing, ranging from choosing the topic to compiling a bibliography. The course deals with a logical structure of the essay, its unity and coherence, with using secondary sources as well as with the issue of plagiarism. Other topics include the suitable language and style and formal requirements in academic writing.

CENTRAL ASIAN JOURNAL OF LITERATURE, PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE

Urvashi Kaushal

Zeeshan Ali

Anthony J CASCARDI

Sorry, this document isn't available for viewing at this time.

In the meantime, you can download the document by clicking the 'download' button above., related papers.

Iris Vidmar Jovanović

Lovelyn Supilanas

Neza Jean d'Amour

Gazelle Academic

Martin Coyle

Paula Kennedy

Alina Aiush

Michel Delville

Comparative Literature Studies

peter simonsen

Shahid Hussain 1030-FLL/BSENG/S13

Gregory Castle

Usman Anwar

Adrian-Ioan Popovici

Lorenzo Modia

Mohamed Kabayare

bruce bigley

Demoiselle Duma

Geza Kallay

•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base

Methodology

• How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates

How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates

Published on January 2, 2023 by Shona McCombes . Revised on September 11, 2023.

What is a literature review? A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources on a specific topic. It provides an overview of current knowledge, allowing you to identify relevant theories, methods, and gaps in the existing research that you can later apply to your paper, thesis, or dissertation topic .

There are five key steps to writing a literature review:

• Search for relevant literature
• Evaluate sources
• Identify themes, debates, and gaps
• Outline the structure
• Write your literature review

A good literature review doesn’t just summarize sources—it analyzes, synthesizes , and critically evaluates to give a clear picture of the state of knowledge on the subject.

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

Table of contents

What is the purpose of a literature review, examples of literature reviews, step 1 – search for relevant literature, step 2 – evaluate and select sources, step 3 – identify themes, debates, and gaps, step 4 – outline your literature review’s structure, step 5 – write your literature review, free lecture slides, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions, introduction.

• Quick Run-through
• Step 1 & 2

When you write a thesis , dissertation , or research paper , you will likely have to conduct a literature review to situate your research within existing knowledge. The literature review gives you a chance to:

• Demonstrate your familiarity with the topic and its scholarly context
• Develop a theoretical framework and methodology for your research
• Position your work in relation to other researchers and theorists
• Show how your research addresses a gap or contributes to a debate
• Evaluate the current state of research and demonstrate your knowledge of the scholarly debates around your topic.

Writing literature reviews is a particularly important skill if you want to apply for graduate school or pursue a career in research. We’ve written a step-by-step guide that you can follow below.

Receive feedback on language, structure, and formatting

Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

• Academic style
• Vague sentences
• Style consistency

See an example

Writing literature reviews can be quite challenging! A good starting point could be to look at some examples, depending on what kind of literature review you’d like to write.

• Example literature review #1: “Why Do People Migrate? A Review of the Theoretical Literature” ( Theoretical literature review about the development of economic migration theory from the 1950s to today.)
• Example literature review #2: “Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines” ( Methodological literature review about interdisciplinary knowledge acquisition and production.)
• Example literature review #3: “The Use of Technology in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Thematic literature review about the effects of technology on language acquisition.)
• Example literature review #4: “Learners’ Listening Comprehension Difficulties in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Chronological literature review about how the concept of listening skills has changed over time.)

You can also check out our templates with literature review examples and sample outlines at the links below.

Download Word doc Download Google doc

Before you begin searching for literature, you need a clearly defined topic .

If you are writing the literature review section of a dissertation or research paper, you will search for literature related to your research problem and questions .

Make a list of keywords

Start by creating a list of keywords related to your research question. Include each of the key concepts or variables you’re interested in, and list any synonyms and related terms. You can add to this list as you discover new keywords in the process of your literature search.

• Social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok
• Body image, self-perception, self-esteem, mental health
• Generation Z, teenagers, adolescents, youth

Search for relevant sources

Use your keywords to begin searching for sources. Some useful databases to search for journals and articles include:

• Your university’s library catalogue
• Google Scholar
• Project Muse (humanities and social sciences)
• Medline (life sciences and biomedicine)
• EconLit (economics)
• Inspec (physics, engineering and computer science)

You can also use boolean operators to help narrow down your search.

Make sure to read the abstract to find out whether an article is relevant to your question. When you find a useful book or article, you can check the bibliography to find other relevant sources.

You likely won’t be able to read absolutely everything that has been written on your topic, so it will be necessary to evaluate which sources are most relevant to your research question.

For each publication, ask yourself:

• What question or problem is the author addressing?
• What are the key concepts and how are they defined?
• What are the key theories, models, and methods?
• Does the research use established frameworks or take an innovative approach?
• What are the results and conclusions of the study?
• How does the publication relate to other literature in the field? Does it confirm, add to, or challenge established knowledge?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the research?

Make sure the sources you use are credible , and make sure you read any landmark studies and major theories in your field of research.

You can use our template to summarize and evaluate sources you’re thinking about using. Click on either button below to download.

Take notes and cite your sources

As you read, you should also begin the writing process. Take notes that you can later incorporate into the text of your literature review.

It is important to keep track of your sources with citations to avoid plagiarism . It can be helpful to make an annotated bibliography , where you compile full citation information and write a paragraph of summary and analysis for each source. This helps you remember what you read and saves time later in the process.

Don't submit your assignments before you do this

The academic proofreading tool has been trained on 1000s of academic texts. Making it the most accurate and reliable proofreading tool for students. Free citation check included.

Try for free

To begin organizing your literature review’s argument and structure, be sure you understand the connections and relationships between the sources you’ve read. Based on your reading and notes, you can look for:

• Trends and patterns (in theory, method or results): do certain approaches become more or less popular over time?
• Themes: what questions or concepts recur across the literature?
• Debates, conflicts and contradictions: where do sources disagree?
• Pivotal publications: are there any influential theories or studies that changed the direction of the field?
• Gaps: what is missing from the literature? Are there weaknesses that need to be addressed?

This step will help you work out the structure of your literature review and (if applicable) show how your own research will contribute to existing knowledge.

• Most research has focused on young women.
• There is an increasing interest in the visual aspects of social media.
• But there is still a lack of robust research on highly visual platforms like Instagram and Snapchat—this is a gap that you could address in your own research.

There are various approaches to organizing the body of a literature review. Depending on the length of your literature review, you can combine several of these strategies (for example, your overall structure might be thematic, but each theme is discussed chronologically).

Chronological

The simplest approach is to trace the development of the topic over time. However, if you choose this strategy, be careful to avoid simply listing and summarizing sources in order.

Try to analyze patterns, turning points and key debates that have shaped the direction of the field. Give your interpretation of how and why certain developments occurred.

If you have found some recurring central themes, you can organize your literature review into subsections that address different aspects of the topic.

For example, if you are reviewing literature about inequalities in migrant health outcomes, key themes might include healthcare policy, language barriers, cultural attitudes, legal status, and economic access.

Methodological

If you draw your sources from different disciplines or fields that use a variety of research methods , you might want to compare the results and conclusions that emerge from different approaches. For example:

• Look at what results have emerged in qualitative versus quantitative research
• Discuss how the topic has been approached by empirical versus theoretical scholarship
• Divide the literature into sociological, historical, and cultural sources

Theoretical

A literature review is often the foundation for a theoretical framework . You can use it to discuss various theories, models, and definitions of key concepts.

You might argue for the relevance of a specific theoretical approach, or combine various theoretical concepts to create a framework for your research.

Like any other academic text , your literature review should have an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion . What you include in each depends on the objective of your literature review.

The introduction should clearly establish the focus and purpose of the literature review.

Depending on the length of your literature review, you might want to divide the body into subsections. You can use a subheading for each theme, time period, or methodological approach.

As you write, you can follow these tips:

• Summarize and synthesize: give an overview of the main points of each source and combine them into a coherent whole
• Analyze and interpret: don’t just paraphrase other researchers — add your own interpretations where possible, discussing the significance of findings in relation to the literature as a whole
• Critically evaluate: mention the strengths and weaknesses of your sources
• Write in well-structured paragraphs: use transition words and topic sentences to draw connections, comparisons and contrasts

In the conclusion, you should summarize the key findings you have taken from the literature and emphasize their significance.

When you’ve finished writing and revising your literature review, don’t forget to proofread thoroughly before submitting. Not a language expert? Check out Scribbr’s professional proofreading services !

This article has been adapted into lecture slides that you can use to teach your students about writing a literature review.

Scribbr slides are free to use, customize, and distribute for educational purposes.

Open Google Slides Download PowerPoint

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Sampling methods
• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources (such as books, journal articles, and theses) related to a specific topic or research question .

It is often written as part of a thesis, dissertation , or research paper , in order to situate your work in relation to existing knowledge.

There are several reasons to conduct a literature review at the beginning of a research project:

• To familiarize yourself with the current state of knowledge on your topic
• To ensure that you’re not just repeating what others have already done
• To identify gaps in knowledge and unresolved problems that your research can address
• To develop your theoretical framework and methodology
• To provide an overview of the key findings and debates on the topic

Writing the literature review shows your reader how your work relates to existing research and what new insights it will contribute.

The literature review usually comes near the beginning of your thesis or dissertation . After the introduction , it grounds your research in a scholarly field and leads directly to your theoretical framework or methodology .

A literature review is a survey of credible sources on a topic, often used in dissertations , theses, and research papers . Literature reviews give an overview of knowledge on a subject, helping you identify relevant theories and methods, as well as gaps in existing research. Literature reviews are set up similarly to other  academic texts , with an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion .

An  annotated bibliography is a list of  source references that has a short description (called an annotation ) for each of the sources. It is often assigned as part of the research process for a  paper .  

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, September 11). How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates. Scribbr. Retrieved September 3, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/literature-review/

Is this article helpful?

Shona McCombes

Other students also liked, what is a theoretical framework | guide to organizing, what is a research methodology | steps & tips, how to write a research proposal | examples & templates, "i thought ai proofreading was useless but..".

I've been using Scribbr for years now and I know it's a service that won't disappoint. It does a good job spotting mistakes”

• Hirsh Health Sciences
• Webster Veterinary

English Literature: Resources for Graduate Research

• Articles on Your Topic
• Books on Literary History, Theory, Criticism & More
• Novels, Poems & Other Primary Texts

What is a literature review?

How to conduct a literature review, books at tufts & beyond.

• Historic Newspapers & More
• Reviews, Essays & More
• English & the Digital Humanities
• How to Find Cited Material
• Citing Your Sources This link opens in a new window
• Getting Items that Tufts Doesn't Own
• Copyright & Publication This link opens in a new window

"A literature review is a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge on and/or methodological  approaches to a particular topic. They are secondary sources and discuss published information in a particular subject area, and sometimes information in a particular subject area within a certain time period.  Its ultimate goal is to bring the reader up to date with current literature on a topic and forms the basis for another goal, such as future research that may be needed in the area.

A literature review usually precedes a research proposal and may be just a simple summary of sources. Usually, however, it has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis. 

A summary is a recap of important information about the source, but a synthesis is a re-organization, or a reshuffling, of that information. It might give a new interpretation of old material or combine new with old interpretations. Or it might trace the intellectual progression of the field, including major debates. Depending on the situation, the literature review may evaluate the sources and advise the reader on the most pertinent or relevant of them.

Keep in mind that the main focus of an academic research paper is to develop a new argument, and a research paper will contain a literature review as one of its parts. In a research paper, you use the literature as a foundation and as support for a new insight that you contribute. The focus of a literature review, however, is to summarize and synthesize the arguments and ideas of others without adding new contributions."

The following resource include a number of interesting tips on conducting literature reviews:

• The Literature Review: A Few Tips On Conducting It Valuable guidelines from the University of Toronto.
• Literature Reviews From UNC Chapel Hill, this site explains what literature reviews are and offer insights into the form and construction of literature reviews in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.
• How to Write a Literature Review A comprehensive guide from UC Santa Cruz Libraries.
• Software Tools for a Literature Review A tutorial that explains how mind maps, pdf readers, and citation managers can be used for a literature review (see first part of the tutorial).
• Review of Literature A useful overview of literature reviews from UW-Madison.

This is a sample of books at Tufts and beyond that include helpful tips for conducting literature reviews and writing dissertations and theses.

• << Previous: Novels, Poems & Other Primary Texts
• Next: Historic Newspapers & More >>
• Last Updated: Aug 15, 2024 2:46 PM
• URL: https://researchguides.library.tufts.edu/EnglishGraduateResources

Department of English and Related Literature

Research in English and related literature

Field-defining research covering a wide range of periods, regions, languages and disciplines.

Our researchers have a unique approach to what literature is, what it does, how we read it, and how we write about it.

We cover the whole spectrum of English literary studies, including Africa, Australasia and the US. Our research expertise extends to the literature and language of other cultures  – from ancient Greece to modern Pakistan.

The Research Excellence Framework 2021

• We’re a top ten research department according to the Times Higher Education’s ranking of the latest REF results (2021), and 98% of our research is rated 3* and higher.

Learn more about the 2021 REF results

Research strengths

The focal points of our research are our four major schools: Medieval, Renaissance, Eighteenth Century and Romantics, and Modern.

All staff and postgraduate researchers belong to at least one school, which creates the ideal environment for collaboration and discussion. The chronological range of our collective expertise enables opportunities for large-scale collaborations, and many staff members conduct research that crosses the historical boundaries of the schools. 

 Our researchers also work on a series of featured research projects .

Renaissance

Eighteenth Century and Romantics

Impact and engagement

Our research is underpinned by our belief in the intrinsic aesthetic and social value of literary texts, whether as agents of social and political change or of historical understanding.

We work closely with arts organisations, councils, schools and other partners to ensure our research contributes positively to society and culture.

• Remembering the Reformation
• Challenging perceptions of Dickens
• Writing by Muslims in South Asia and Britain

The Humanities Research Centre , based in the Berrick Saul Building, is an interdisciplinary hub for arts and humanities research.

Research centres

We are involved in a number of interdisciplinary research centres:

• Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies
• Centre for Indigenous and Settler Colonial Studies
• Centre for Medieval Literature
• Centre for Medieval Studies
• Centre for Modern Studies
• Centre for Narrative Studies
• Centre for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies
• Centre for Women's Studies
• Humanities Research Centre

Meet our research students

Writers at York

Writers at York is a lively programme of readings and workshops, bringing exciting new voices and some of the most important contemporary writers to York.

Our recent events have featured poets Denise Riley, Alice Oswald and Seamus Heaney, playwright David Edgar, novelists Graham Swift, Emma Donoghue, J. M. Coetzee, Booker-shortlisted novelist (and York PhD student) Fiona Mozley, and many others.

Explore our upcoming and past events

One of our recent events saw Dr Alexandra Kingston-Reese in conversation with New Zealand's  Eleanor Catton, a prominent contemporary novelist.

Publications

See our recently published books and articles as well as forthcoming work.

Research degrees

Push the boundaries of knowledge in our supportive and stimulating environment.

Fellowships and Postdoctoral Research

Benefit from a dynamic research culture and excellent facilities.

Academic visitors

We welcome scholars who wish to work with us for up to one year.

• Harvard Library
• Research Guides
• Faculty of Arts & Sciences Libraries

Literature: A Research Guide for Graduate Students

• Get Started
• Find a Database
• Research Dos & Don'ts

Welcome! This guide is maintained by Odile Harter , the library liaison to the departments of Comparative Literature and English. Here you'll find:

Get Started - a to-do list for new graduate students

Find a Database - how to locate the best search engines for your field or project

Research Dos & Don'ts - tips to help you be productive and efficient

All of which supplement Literary Research in Harvard Libraries , where you will find my favorite tools and strategies to:

• Get Organized - access, organize, and cite
• Find Background - from simple encyclopedia entries to detailed guides and histories
• Find Scholarship and Criticism - top sources and search strategies
• Literary Theory - deceptively tricky to search for!
• Foreign Language Literatures - if you're working with languages other than English

Odile Harter

Research & Pedagogy Librarian

Email Odile

• Next: Get Started >>

Except where otherwise noted, this work is subject to a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , which allows anyone to share and adapt our material as long as proper attribution is given. For details and exceptions, see the Harvard Library Copyright Policy ©2021 Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College.

Fields of Study

Research in English used to be categorized by traditional field designations such as Renaissance or Victorian, but Chicago's English faculty have always been more interested in critical inquiry (the journal Critical Inquiry was founded and lives here) than in working within categorical boxes. That exploratory ethos continues to unify us as a department and animate our research interests, which are otherwise various, even heterogeneous, and which are constantly evolving.

Research interests, however, may be defined in a variety of ways and at various degrees of specification. For instance, a scholar such as Ken Warren , who has written a book on Ralph Ellison, could be said to be working within the American field, but also within the fields of African American literature and literary history. Visitors to this site may also have many interests, at many levels. They may want to identify the subset of faculty who are working in a specific  historical period  such as the Renaissance, on a particular  object of study  such as the novel, or on a specialized  theoretical or methodological problem  such as gender and sexuality . See the lists and categories below to help guide your search.

Research Clusters

Cultural studies and global literatures.

• Black Studies 
• Caribbean Studies
• African-American Literature
• African Literature in English
• Asian American/Pacific Studies
• Global Anglophone
• Latinx/Indigenous/Comparative Americas
• American Literature
• Early American
• 20-21c American
• American Literature and Cultural Studies
• African-American
• British Literature
• Medieval and Early Renaissance
• Renaissance 
• 18th c British/ Romanticism
• 19th c British/British Empire
• 20-21c British
• British Culture

Critical Theory, Methodology, or Objects of Study

• Critical Theory/Cultural Studies
• Drama/Theater and Performance Studies
• Gender and Sexuality Studies
• Media Studies
• Poetry and Poetics
• Postcolonial/Decolonial

Common Areas of Academic Study

• 18th Century British/Romanticism
• 19th Century
• 20/21st Century British Literature
• 20th Century American Literature
• Black Studies
• Caribbean Studies
• Critical Theory and Objects of Study
• Global Literatures
• Renaissance

Libraries | Research Guides

Literature reviews, what is a literature review, learning more about how to do a literature review.

• Planning the Review
• The Research Question
• Choosing Where to Search
• Organizing the Review
• Writing the Review

A literature review is a review and synthesis of existing research on a topic or research question. A literature review is meant to analyze the scholarly literature, make connections across writings and identify strengths, weaknesses, trends, and missing conversations. A literature review should address different aspects of a topic as it relates to your research question. A literature review goes beyond a description or summary of the literature you have read. 

• Sage Research Methods Core This link opens in a new window SAGE Research Methods supports research at all levels by providing material to guide users through every step of the research process. SAGE Research Methods is the ultimate methods library with more than 1000 books, reference works, journal articles, and instructional videos by world-leading academics from across the social sciences, including the largest collection of qualitative methods books available online from any scholarly publisher. – Publisher

• Next: Planning the Review >>
• Last Updated: Jul 8, 2024 11:22 AM
• URL: https://libguides.northwestern.edu/literaturereviews

English Literature Research Paper Topics

This guide, centered on English literature research paper topics , serves as a comprehensive resource for students seeking to delve deep into the diverse epochs, authors, and themes that have shaped English literary tradition. Navigating the intricate tapestry of English literature offers scholars a multitude of avenues for exploration. From the mystique of medieval tales to the introspective narratives of modernism, this guide not only provides a plethora of English literature research paper topics but also offers insights on choosing the ideal topic, structuring the research paper, and harnessing the unmatched writing services of iResearchNet. Dive in to unravel the rich heritage of English literature and discover the myriad opportunities it presents for academic exploration.

100 English Literature Research Paper Topics

Diving into English literature is like embarking on a journey through time and culture. From ancient ballads to modernist narratives, it offers a vast panorama of themes, styles, and societal reflections. Below is a comprehensive list of English literature research paper topics spanning across different eras and genres:

Academic Writing, Editing, Proofreading, And Problem Solving Services

Get 10% off with 24start discount code.

Medieval Literature

• The significance of chivalry in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight .
• The Christian and Pagan elements in Beowulf .
• Courtly love in The Knight’s Tale from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales .
• Dream visions in Pearl and Piers Plowman .
• The role of fate and providence in The Consolation of Philosophy .
• The art of storytelling in The Decameron vs. The Canterbury Tales .
• The Seven Deadly Sins in Everyman .
• The evolution of the English language: Old English vs. Middle English.
• Religious allegory in The Second Shepherd’s Play .
• Women and femininity in the Lais of Marie de France .

Renaissance and Elizabethan Age

• Shakespeare’s portrayal of power in Macbeth .
• Love and beauty in Sonnet 18 .
• The idea of the “New World” in The Tempest .
• The virtues in Spenser’s The Faerie Queene .
• Magic and science in Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe.
• The pastoral settings of As You Like It .
• The politics of gender in Twelfth Night .
• Revenge and madness in Hamlet .
• John Donne’s metaphysical poetry and its innovation.
• The darker side of the Renaissance: The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster.

The Restoration and the 18th Century

• The satirical world of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels .
• Class struggles in Daniel Defoe’s Moll Flanders .
• Alexander Pope’s critique of society in The Rape of the Lock .
• Aphra Behn and the emergence of the woman writer.
• The wit and wisdom of Samuel Johnson’s essays.
• The rise of the novel: Richardson vs. Fielding.
• Sentimentality and society in Sterne’s Tristram Shandy .
• Politics and plays: John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera .
• Women, education, and literature: Mary Wollstonecraft’s ideas.
• The mock-heroic in English literature.

Romantic Period

• Nature and transcendence in Wordsworth’s Tintern Abbey .
• The Byronic hero in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage .
• Shelley’s Ozymandias and the ephemeral nature of power.
• The Gothic romance of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights .
• George Gordon Lord Byron and the Romantic antihero.
• The visionary world of William Blake’s poems.
• The exotic and the familiar in Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
• Keats’s exploration of beauty and mortality.
• The industrial revolution’s reflection in literature.
• Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the dangers of ambition.

Victorian Era

• Charles Dickens and his critique of Victorian society.
• The challenges of morality in Thomas Hardy’s novels.
• The bildungsroman in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre .
• The plight of women in George Eliot’s Middlemarch .
• Oscar Wilde’s wit and irony in The Importance of Being Earnest .
• The debate on science and religion in In Memoriam A.H.H by Alfred Lord Tennyson.
• The mystery and suspense of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories.
• The “Woman Question” in Victorian literature.
• The realism of Anthony Trollope’s Chronicles of Barsetshire.
• Gothic elements in Dracula by Bram Stoker.
• The fragmented narrative of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse .
• T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land and the disillusionment of the post-war era.
• The struggles of the working class in D.H. Lawrence’s novels.
• The impact of World War I on English poetry.
• James Joyce’s revolutionary narrative techniques in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man .
• E.M. Forster’s exploration of social and racial themes.
• The critique of colonialism in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness .
• W.B. Yeats and the Irish literary revival.
• The emergence of the stream-of-consciousness technique.
• The Jazz Age and decadence in the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The Gothic Tradition

• Origins of Gothic fiction: Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto .
• The supernatural and macabre in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
• Ann Radcliffe’s influence on the Gothic novel.
• The role of the Byronic hero in The Vampyre by John Polidori.
• Duality of human nature in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde .
• The haunting atmospheres in Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.
• Gender and sexuality in Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu.
• Edgar Allan Poe’s influence on English Gothic literature.
• Dracula by Bram Stoker: Themes of sexuality and fear of the unknown.
• The Gothic novel as a reflection of societal fears and anxieties.

The Angry Young Men Era

• Social criticism in John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger .
• Exploring masculinity in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning by Alan Sillitoe.
• The disillusionment of post-war Britain in The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner .
• The class struggle in Kingsley Amis’s Lucky Jim .
• Existential themes in John Wain’s Hurry on Down .
• Feminine perspectives in the era: Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey .
• The critique of academia in The History Man by Malcolm Bradbury.
• The Angry Young Men and their influence on modern theater.
• The transformation of British literature in the 1950s and 1960s.
• The lasting legacy of the Angry Young Men movement in contemporary literature.

Postmodern British Literature

• Metafiction in Julian Barnes’s Flaubert’s Parrot .
• The playfulness of language in Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses .
• Intertextuality in Jeanette Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit .
• The fragmented narrative in Graham Swift’s Waterland .
• Reality and fiction in Ian McEwan’s Atonement .
• Gender and postcolonial themes in Angela Carter’s The Passion of New Eve .
• The exploration of identity in Zadie Smith’s White Teeth .
• The deconstruction of traditional narrative in Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.
• Postmodern gothic in The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.
• Magical realism in The Porcelain Doll by Julian Barnes.

Contemporary English Literature

• The multicultural London in Brick Lane by Monica Ali.
• Exploring family dynamics in On Beauty by Zadie Smith.
• The concept of time in Ian McEwan’s Amsterdam .
• The role of history in Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall .
• The exploration of love and loss in Julian Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending .
• Postcolonial Britain in Andrea Levy’s Small Island .
• The challenges of modern life in Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity .
• The evolution of the English detective novel: Kate Atkinson’s Case Histories .
• The legacy of the British Empire in The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai.
• The digital age and its influence on literature: The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon.

English literature boasts a rich and varied tapestry of themes, periods, and genres. This comprehensive list is a testament to the dynamism and depth of the field, offering a myriad of research avenues for students. As they venture into each topic, they can appreciate the nuances and complexities that have shaped the literary tradition, making it an invaluable component of global culture and heritage.

English Literature and the Range of Topics It Offers

English literature, encompassing the vast historical, cultural, and artistic legacy of writings in the English language, boasts a rich tapestry of narratives, characters, and stylistic innovations. From the earliest Old English epic poems to the reflective and multifaceted postmodern novels, English literature offers an expansive array of topics for analysis, discussion, and research. The depth and breadth of this literary tradition are mirrored by the diverse range of English literature research paper topics it can inspire.

The Medieval Foundation

Diving into the early origins of English literature, we encounter works like Beowulf , an Old English epic poem of heroism, fate, and the struggle against malevolent forces. Medieval English literature, characterized by religious texts, chivalric romances, and philosophical treatises, sets the stage for the evolution of narrative styles and thematic explorations. The rich allegorical narratives, like Piers Plowman or Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , present intricate societal and spiritual commentaries that still resonate with readers today. These works invite inquiries into the socio-religious dynamics of medieval England, the evolution of the English language, and the literary techniques employed.

Renaissance and Enlightenment: A Burst of Creativity

The Renaissance and Elizabethan Age saw the emergence of revered playwrights like William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, whose dramas, whether tragedies, comedies, or histories, plumbed the depths of human emotion, politics, and existence. The genius of Shakespeare’s Hamlet or Othello , juxtaposed against Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus , provides a fertile ground for investigating themes of ambition, betrayal, love, and existential angst. Moreover, with poets like Edmund Spenser and his epic The Faerie Queene , English literature expanded its horizons, both thematically and stylistically.

The subsequent Restoration and the 18th century ushered in a period of social and literary change. With authors like Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope, satire became a powerful tool to critique society and politics. Furthermore, the emergence of the novel, as exemplified by Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Samuel Richardson’s Pamela , offered researchers a chance to explore the evolving societal values, gender norms, and narrative techniques.

Romanticism, Victorian Era to Modernism: A Spectrum of Emotion and Thought

The Romantic period, marked by poets like William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and John Keats, celebrated nature, emotion, and individualism. In contrast, the Victorian era, with novelists like Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, and the Brontë sisters, addressed societal change, morality, and industrialization. Both periods are a goldmine for English literature research paper topics around the individual vs. society, the role of nature, and the exploration of the self.

Modernism in English literature, with heavyweights like Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, and T.S. Eliot, revolutionized narrative structure and thematic depth. Works from this era, such as To the Lighthouse or The Waste Land , demand analysis on fragmented narrative, stream of consciousness, and the introspective exploration of the human psyche.

Contemporary Reflections

Contemporary English literature, shaped by postcolonial, feminist, and postmodern influences, gives voice to a plethora of perspectives. Authors like Salman Rushdie, Zadie Smith, and Julian Barnes tackle issues of identity, multiculturalism, history, and reality versus fiction. Such works present a plethora of avenues for research, from analyzing the postcolonial identity in Rushdie’s narratives to the intricate tapestries of familial and societal dynamics in Smith’s novels.

Concluding Thoughts

In essence, English literature is an evolving entity, reflecting and shaping societal, cultural, and individual values and challenges over the centuries. For students and researchers, the wealth of English literature research paper topics it offers ranges from historical and linguistic analyses to deep dives into thematic cores and stylistic innovations. Whether one wishes to explore the chivalric codes of medieval romances, the biting satires of the 18th century, the emotional landscapes of Romanticism, or the fragmented realities of postmodern narratives, English literature provides an inexhaustible reservoir of research opportunities.

How to Choose an English Literature Topic

Choosing a research paper topic, especially within the expansive field of English literature, can be a challenging endeavor. The centuries-spanning literature offers a treasure trove of stories, themes, characters, and socio-political contexts that beckon exhaustive exploration. As such, students often find themselves at a crossroads, wondering where to begin and how to narrow down their choices to find that one compelling topic. Here’s a detailed guide to streamline this process:

• Align with Your Interests: Dive into periods, genres, or authors that genuinely intrigue you. If Victorian novels captivate your imagination or if Shakespearean dramas resonate with you, use that as your starting point. Genuine interest ensures sustained motivation throughout your research journey.
• Evaluate Academic Relevance: While personal interest is vital, ensure your chosen topic aligns with academic goals and curriculum requirements. Some English literature research paper topics, while intriguing, might not offer substantial academic value for a particular course or level of study.
• Seek Familiar Ground (But Not Too Familiar): Leverage your previous readings and coursework. Familiarity offers a foundation, but challenge yourself to explore uncharted territories within that domain. If you enjoyed Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice , maybe delve into its feminist interpretations or comparative studies with other contemporaneous works.
• Embrace Complexity: Opt for English literature research paper topics that lend themselves to multifaceted exploration. Simple topics might not provide enough depth for comprehensive research papers. Instead of a general overview of Romantic poetry, explore the portrayal of nature in Wordsworth’s works versus Shelley’s.
• Historical and Cultural Context: Literature isn’t created in a vacuum. Understand the historical and societal backdrop of a literary work. This context can offer a fresh perspective and can be an excellent lens for your research.
• Contemporary Relevance: How does a particular work or literary period converse with today’s world? Exploring the modern implications or relevance of classic works can be both enlightening and academically rewarding.
• Diverse Interpretations: Embrace English literature research paper topics open to various interpretations. Works like George Orwell’s 1984 or Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot can be analyzed from political, psychological, existential, or linguistic viewpoints.
• Consult with Peers and Professors: Engage in discussions with classmates and seek advice from professors. Their feedback can provide new perspectives or refine your existing topic ideas.
• Read Critiques and Literary Journals: Academic journals, critiques, and literary analyses offer insights into popular research areas and can help you identify gaps or lesser-explored aspects of a work or period.
• Flexibility is Key: As you delve deeper into your research, be open to tweaking or even changing your topic. New findings or challenges might necessitate slight shifts in your research focus.

Choosing the right research topic in English literature requires a blend of personal passion, academic relevance, and the potential for in-depth exploration. By aligning your interests with academic goals, and being open to exploration and adaptation, you pave the way for a fulfilling and academically enriching research experience. Remember, the journey of researching and understanding literature can be as enlightening as the end result. Embrace the process, and let the vast ocean of English literature inspire and challenge you.

How to Write an English Literature Research Paper

Penning an English literature research paper is a task that demands meticulous planning, a deep understanding of the subject, and the ability to weave thoughts coherently. English literature, with its vast and rich tapestry, offers endless avenues for exploration, making it both an exciting and daunting endeavor. Below are step-by-step guidelines to craft a compelling research paper in this domain:

• Understanding the Assignment: Before diving into the research phase, ensure you fully understand the assignment’s requirements. Is there a specific format? Are certain sources mandatory? What’s the word count? This foundational clarity sets the stage for efficient research and writing.
• Preliminary Research: Start with a broad exploration of your topic. Read general articles, introductory chapters, or review papers. This will give you a general overview and can help narrow down your focus.
• Thesis Statement Formulation: Your thesis is the backbone of your research paper. It should be clear, precise, and arguable. For instance, instead of writing “Shakespeare’s plays are influential,” you might specify, “ Macbeth illustrates the dire consequences of unchecked ambition.”
• Diving Deeper – Detailed Research: With your thesis in hand, dive deeper into primary (original texts) and secondary sources (critiques, essays). Libraries, academic databases, and literary journals are treasure troves of valuable information.
• Organize Your Findings: Use digital tools, index cards, or notebooks to categorize and annotate your findings. Grouping similar ideas together will make the writing process smoother.
• Drafting an Outline: An organized structure is essential for clarity. Create an outline with clear headings and subheadings, ensuring a logical flow of ideas. This will serve as a roadmap as you write.
• Introduction Crafting: Your introduction should be engaging, offering a glimpse of your thesis and the significance of your study. Remember, first impressions count!
• Literary Analysis: Delve into the text’s intricacies – symbols, themes, character development, stylistic devices, and historical context.
• Critiques and Counter-arguments: Discuss various interpretations of the text, and don’t shy away from addressing dissenting views. This lends credibility and depth to your paper.
• Comparative Analysis (if applicable): Compare the chosen work with others, drawing parallels or highlighting contrasts.
• Maintaining Coherence and Transition: Each paragraph should have a clear main idea and transition smoothly to the next, maintaining the paper’s flow and ensuring the reader’s engagement.
• Conclusion Crafting: Reiterate your thesis and summarize your main findings. Discuss the broader implications of your study, potentially suggesting areas for further exploration.
• Citing Your Sources: Always attribute ideas and quotations to their original authors. Depending on the assigned format (MLA, APA, etc.), ensure that in-text citations and the bibliography are correctly formatted.
• Revision and Proofreading: Once your draft is complete, take a break before revisiting it. Read it aloud to catch awkward phrasings. Check for grammatical errors, consistency in argumentation, and clarity in presenting ideas. Consider seeking peer reviews or utilizing editing tools.
• Seek Feedback: Before final submission, consider sharing your paper with a mentor, professor, or knowledgeable peer. Their insights can be invaluable in refining your research paper.

Writing an English literature research paper is as much an art as it is a science. While meticulous research and structured writing are crucial, allowing your passion for literature to shine through will elevate your paper. Remember, literature is about exploring the human experience, and as you dissect these masterpieces, you’re not just analyzing texts but delving into profound insights about life, society, and humanity. Embrace the journey, and let every step, from research to writing, be a process of discovery.

iResearchNet Writing Services for Custom English Literature Research Paper

For any student of English literature, the voyage through various eras, authors, and their imaginative universes is both exhilarating and overwhelming. Each period, from the mystical narratives of the Middle Ages to the raw modernism of the 20th century, has its distinctive character, themes, and voices. However, writing a research paper on such vast and diverseEnglish literature research paper topics can be challenging. This is where iResearchNet steps in, bridging the gap between intricate literary exploration and top-notch academic writing.

• Expert Degree-Holding Writers: Our team consists of scholars who not only hold advanced degrees in English literature but are also passionate about their specialization. Whether you’re delving into Chaucer’s tales or Virginia Woolf’s modernist prose, rest assured, there’s an expert at iResearchNet familiar with the nuances of the topic.
• Custom Written Works: Each paper is crafted from scratch, ensuring originality and authenticity. We understand that English literature is an interpretative art, and we strive to provide fresh insights tailored to your specific requirements.
• In-Depth Research: With vast resources at our disposal, from academic journals to rare manuscripts, our writers conduct rigorous research, ensuring a comprehensive exploration of the topic.
• Custom Formatting: Whether you require APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian, or Harvard style, our writers are well-versed in various academic formatting standards. With keen attention to detail, we ensure your paper aligns with institutional requirements.
• Top Quality: We uphold the highest quality standards, ensuring clarity, coherence, and cogent arguments. Every paper undergoes a thorough review process, guaranteeing academic excellence.
• Customized Solutions: English literature is diverse, and so are the requirements of every assignment. iResearchNet’s approach is inherently flexible, catering to unique needs, be it comparative analysis, thematic exploration, or literary criticism.
• Flexible Pricing: We believe that quality academic support should be accessible. Our pricing model is designed to provide premium service without straining your budget.
• Short Deadlines: Crunch time? With a team of dedicated writers, we can cater to tight deadlines, ensuring timely delivery without compromising on quality.
• Timely Delivery: Respecting deadlines is fundamental to our ethos. Whether you’ve planned months in advance or are seeking last-minute assistance, we guarantee punctual delivery.
• 24/7 Support: Any queries or concerns? Our support team is available round the clock, ensuring seamless communication and swift resolution of any issues.
• Absolute Privacy: Your confidentiality is paramount. All personal and academic data is encrypted, ensuring complete privacy and security.
• Easy Order Tracking: Stay in the loop with our intuitive order tracking system, keeping you updated on the progress of your research paper at every stage.
• Money-Back Guarantee: We are committed to delivering excellence. However, if, for any reason, our service doesn’t meet your expectations, we offer a comprehensive money-back guarantee.

At iResearchNet, our primary goal is to support and elevate your academic journey in English literature. With a blend of profound literary knowledge and impeccable writing skills, we bring to life the narratives, themes, and voices of the past and present. So, whether you’re venturing into the allegorical world of The Faerie Queene or analyzing the post-colonial undertones in Wide Sargasso Sea , with iResearchNet, you’re not just getting a paper; you’re obtaining a piece of scholarly art.

Delve into the Literary Chronicles with iResearchNet

English literature, a tapestry woven with tales of heroism, love, tragedy, and introspection, spans over centuries, capturing the essence of an evolving nation and its people. From the ethereal romance of the Arthurian legends to the stark realism of the 20th century, the literary works of England are a testament to the country’s rich cultural and historical legacy.

But as profound and diverse as English literature is, the challenge lies in understanding its nuances, interpreting its layers, and articulating insights in a coherent and captivating manner. That’s where the journey often becomes daunting for many students. But what if this journey could become less overwhelming and more enlightening?

Enter iResearchNet—a beacon for those navigating the intricate alleys of English literary exploration.

Why trudge through the dense forests of Shakespearean plays, Brontëan landscapes, or Eliotean modernism alone when you can have an expert guiding you every step of the way? With iResearchNet, you don’t just get a service; you get a scholarly companion. Our dedicated team of experts, well-versed in the vast expanse of English literature, are eager to assist you in crafting research papers that resonate with depth, originality, and scholarly rigor.

But don’t just take our word for it. Experience it.

Embark on a transformative academic journey through the heart of English literature. Delve deeper, question further, and write better with iResearchNet as your trusted guide. Let the timeless tales of England come alive in your research, and let your paper stand as a testament to your academic dedication and literary passion.

Are you ready to illuminate the chronicles of England’s literary heritage? With iResearchNet, the odyssey of English literature awaits. Dive in, and let the literary saga unfold!

ORDER HIGH QUALITY CUSTOM PAPER

Holman Library

• GRC Holman Library
• Green River LibGuides
• Library Instruction

ENGL 127 Research Writing: Social Sciences

What is scholarly literature.

• English 127
• Explore Research Topics
• Map out your Concept & Keywords
• Get an Overview with One Search
• Get Started with Reference
• Find Magazine and Newspaper Articles
• Find Multimedia: Documentary, TV, Radio, Podcasts
• Find Books/Book Chapters
• Find Professional/ Trade Articles
• Find Websites
• Find Legislation
• Find Statistics
• Find Editorial, Opinion & Argument
• Evaluating Sources
• Interlibrary Loan
• APA citations
• Find Help @ GRC
• Special Topic 20-21: the US Carceral System & Injustice This link opens in a new window
• Special Topic 21-22 One Book: So You Want to Talk about Race This link opens in a new window
• Special Topic 22-23: Environmental Justice This link opens in a new window
• What Makes Information Scholarly?
• What is Peer-Review and Why Does it Matter?
• Anatomy of a Scholarly Research Article in Social Sciences
• Compare: Scholarly vs Popular Article

Features of Scholarly Literature

• Written by scholars and subject experts
• Written for other scholars, professionals. and policy makers. Also read by student researchers
• It reflects a specific discipline or interdisciplinary field, such as sociology, history, gender studies, etc.
• Literature reviews, for example, give an overview of the body of research on a specific topic.
• Original research studies, on the other hand, present original research findings in a field.
• Theoretical articles offer original analysis.
• Research studies aim to be transparent. They outline the purpose of the study, the methodology, findings, and conclusions. One of the goals of a research study is that it be reproduceable so that its conclusions may be verified.
• Scholarship is usually, though not always, lengthy, and it engages with issues at a more substantial level than magazine articles.
• Scholarship in the social sciences will include an extensive list of References at the end of the work, and comprehensive in-text citations throughout for all claims made in the body of the article.
• Scholarship is published in scholarly journals and in books generally from university presses.
• The purpose of a body of scholarship on a subject is to advance our knowledge and understanding in that field.

What can you ask to determine if a source is scholarly?

When you are determining whether or not the article you found is a peer-reviewed article, you should consider the following.

(Click on image to enlarge) 

Also consider...

• Is the journal in which you found the article published or sponsored by a professional scholarly society, professional association, or university academic department? Does it describe itself as a peer-reviewed publication? (To know that, check the journal's website). 
• Did you find a citation for it in one of the  databases that includes scholarly publications? (Academic Search Complete, PsycINFO, etc.)?  Read the database description to see if it includes scholarly publications.
• In the database, did you limit your search to scholarly or peer-reviewed publications? (See video tutorial below for a demonstration.)
• Is the topic of the article narrowly focused and explored in depth?
• Is the article based on either original research or authorities in the field (as opposed to personal opinion)?
• Is the article written for readers with some prior knowledge of the subject?
• Introduction
• Theory or Background
• Literature review

What is the peer review process?

In academic publishing, the goal of peer review is to assess the quality of articles submitted for publication in a scholarly journal. Before an article is deemed appropriate to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, it must undergo the following process:

• The author of the article must submit it to the journal editor who forwards the article to experts in the field. Because the reviewers specialize in the same scholarly area as the author, they are considered the author’s peers (hence “peer review”).
• These impartial reviewers are charged with carefully evaluating the quality of the submitted manuscript.
• The peer reviewers check the manuscript for accuracy and assess the validity of the research methodology and procedures.
• If appropriate, they suggest revisions. If they find the article lacking in scholarly validity and rigor, they reject it.

Because a peer-reviewed journal will not publish articles that fail to meet the standards established for a given discipline, peer-reviewed articles that are accepted for publication exemplify the best research practices in a field.

Attribution: Much of the information about the  the peer-review process  was used with permission from the awesome librarians at the  Lloyd Sealy Library at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice .

Source: "Peer Review in 3 Minutes" by libncsu , is licensed under a Standard YouTube License.

Identifying common elements in a journal article

Look through the images and notes below to learn more about the various parts common to a scholarly article

The Citation information: Authors, Article title, Journal information and Abstract

• As shown in the image below, much of the citation information about the article appears on the first page. Here we see the title of journal, page numbers, and the publication date.
• Multiple authors are common in search and they usually include academic affiliations that are listed just near the authors' names, as shown in this image, or as a footnote at the bottom of the page. 
• Also on the first page, you can often see the abstract to the article, which is common.

The Abstract:

Read the abstract to determine if an article will be relevant, helpful, and comprehensible.

The abstract is more than a summary. It maps out the article with a brief overview of each section. The abstract may present the article's claim, purpose, methodology, and conclusions. 

In-Text Citations

• As show in the image of the article text below, you can see that in-text citations are common. This article also shows the contact information for the main author. 

(click on image to enlarge)

The Methodology:

If the article is a research study, the article will include the methodology and findings. 

The methodology lays out how the study was done. Check to see if the study was conducted with many or few subjects, over a long or short period of time, if subjects represent a broad or narrow cross-section of stakeholders, and if controls make results reliable.

The Results:

The results section presents the raw data gathered in the study. Seeing the data helps one determine if the conclusions are supported by the data.

Data set up for comparison - Tables and Charts:

The Discussion & Conclusion:

The References:

The references section of scholarly articles (and books) document the works upon, and sometimes against, which the current study was conducted. 

Use the references section as a research tool and "mine it" for relevant works you might look for.

Click on images to enlarge

Open the full articles linked below for a hands-on exploration of differences between popular and scholarly texts.

• A Balanced Life: How One Mom Finds Time for Work and Life Learning Magazine article by Vanessa Sheets, Natural Life, May/June 2009
• Well-balanced families?: A gendered analysis of work-life balance policies and work family practices

Video: How Library Stuff Works: Scholarly vs Popular Sources

Source: "How Library Stuff Works: Scholarly vs. Popular Sources" by McMaster Libraries , is licensed under a Standard YouTube License.

• << Previous: Find Scholarship
• Next: Evaluating Sources >>
• Last Updated: Aug 23, 2024 5:31 PM
• URL: https://libguides.greenriver.edu/engl127

• Article Databases
• Google Scholar
• Interlibrary Services
• Research Guides
• Staff Directory
• Study Rooms
• Citation Linker
• Digital Collections
• Digital Commons
• Reference Tools
• Special Collections
• All Resources
• Ask-A-Librarian
• Borrowing & Renewals
• Computing & Printing
• Copyright@Wayne
• Course Reserves
• Equipment Checkout
• Instruction
• Research Support
• Rooms & Spaces
• The Publishing House
• Technology Support
• All Services
• Arthur Neef Law Library
• Purdy/Kresge Library
• Reuther Library
• Shiffman Medical Library
• Undergraduate Library
• Accessibility
• Desktop Advertising
• Maps & Directions
• All Information
• Appointments
• WSU Login Academica, Canvas, Email, etc.
• My Library Account Renew Books, Request Material, etc.
• Make a Gift
• back to Wayne.edu
• Skip to Quicklinks
• Skip to Sitemap
• Skip to Main Navigation
• Skip to News
• Interlibrary Loan

Information

• Faculty & Graduate Students
• Finding Articles in Databases
• Rhetoric & Writing Studies
• Literary Theory,, Literary Criticism & Cultural Studies

Recommended Article Databases

About annotated bibliographies, loading the microfilm machine.

• Creative Writing
• Linguistics
• Finding Books
• Internet Resources
• Publishing Undergraduate Research and Creative Work
• ENG 1020 - Introductory College Writing
• ENG 2120 - World Fiction
• ENG/AFS 2390 - Introduction to African American Literature
• ENG 3010 - Intermediate Writing
• ENG 3020 - Community and Writing
• ENG 3050/3060 - Technical Communication
• ENG3060 - Technical Communication (Instructor: Elrick)
• ENG 5690 - History & Future of the Book
• Digital Humanities
• Children's Literature This link opens in a new window
• Detroit School of Arts: The Harlem Renaissance
• Film Studies/Media Studies
• OER for Composition and Rhetoric
• OER for Literary and Cultural Studies

Searching the library catalog will help you locate books and book chapters/essays about your author and topic.

Using the library catalog keyword search, type your author's last name and a word that describes your topic.

For example, if the topic is feminist approaches to Emily Dickinson, the search terms might be:

dickinson feminism

Now, do your search:

Search here for books , media , and the titles of journals we own.

Books from other libraries

• MeLCat A database of books in libraries throughout Michigan. Books can be ordered and delivered to WSU libraries.
• WorldCat This link opens in a new window Over 36 million records of any type of material cataloged by OCLC member libraries. Includes manuscripts written as early as the 11th century.
• The New Yorker (online 2002-present ) Includes reviews of noteworthy books. Earlier issues (1925 - 2002) available as print or microfilm. Search the catalog for locating issues prior to 2002.
• New York Times Book Review Search for in-depth reviews of contemporary works, 1980-present.
• The Atlantic Monthly Substantial reviews of contemporary works, 1983-present.
• MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window MLA BIBLIOGRAPHY (online) is the largest and most comprehensive database covering current scholarship in the modern languages, literatures, and folklore. MLA BIBLIOGRAPHY (online) corresponds to the printed annual bibliography of the Modern Language Association.
• Web of Science This link opens in a new window This database is an online version of the ISI indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index from 1975-. A search can be limited to one index (i.e. Science Citation Index OR Social Science Citation Index).
• Scopus This link opens in a new window "Scopus is the world's largest abstracts database of 13,450 titles from more than 4,000 international publishers with access to over 25 million abstracts (going back to 1966)." Full-text is included for some citations.
• JSTOR This link opens in a new window Provides image and full-text online access to back issues of selected scholarly journals in history, economics, political science, demography, mathematics, and other fields of the humanities and social sciences. WSU has perpetual access to the Arts and Sciences I-XV, Hebrew Journals and Sustainability Collections.
• Project Muse This link opens in a new window A searchable database that provides access to the full text of journals published by Johns Hopkins University Press and other university presses.
• America: history and life This link opens in a new window Online version of: America: history and life. Includes full-text of hundreds of journals originally published in paper.
• Historical abstracts This link opens in a new window Historical coverage of the world from 1450 to the present. Coverage is identical to the expanded edition of the CD-ROM version.
• "Annotated Bibliographies" From the OWL at Purdue University.
• How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography From the Cornell University Libraries.
• Google Books Google Books can be a useful tool to help search the contents of books to identify those that contain information about your topic.
• Google Scholar Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites.
• Scholarly Sources for Literary Studies Step-by-step guide to using resources for literary studies.

• User Guide for Microfilm Machine
• << Previous: Literary Theory,, Literary Criticism & Cultural Studies
• Next: Creative Writing >>

DIGITAL TEXTS

• Nineteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window Nineteenth Century Collections Online is a digitized collection of primary sources related to the nineteenth century. Materials within the collection consist of monographs, newspapers, pamphlets, manuscripts, ephemera, maps, statistics, and more. Four archives are available: "British Politics and Society;" "European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection;" "Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange;" and "British Theatre, Music, and Literature: High and Popular Culture."
• Early English Books Online This link opens in a new window Early English Books Online (EEBO) contains digital facsimile page images of virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700 - from the first book printed in English by William Caxton, through the age of Spenser and Shakespeare and the tumult of the English Civil War.
• American Memory Collection (from the Library of Congress) An extensive digital collection that includes photographs, oral histories, manuscripts, and ephemera related to all aspects of American history. A search on Detroit brings up a long list of items, including documents from the Thomas Jefferson Papers about early Detroit. Of note is the Detroit Publishing Company Photograph Collection.
• Eighteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window Consisting of every significant English-language and foreign-language title printed in the United Kingdom during the 18th century, along with thousands of important works from the Americas onThe American Revolution, The French Revolution and The Industrial Revolution.

Historical Newspapers & Magazines

• African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 This link opens in a new window African American Newspapers, Series 1, 1827-1998, provides online access to 280 U.S. newspapers chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience. This unique collection, which includes papers from more than 35 states, features many rare and historically significant 19th-century titles.
• Chicago Tribune Historical Full-Text This link opens in a new window The Chicago Tribune (1849-1998) offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.
• Detroit Free Press Historical Full-Text (1831-1922) This link opens in a new window ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Detroit Free Press offers full page and article images with searchable full text. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.
• New York Times Historical Full-Text This link opens in a new window The New York Times (1851-2006) offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.
• Washington Post Historical Full-Text This link opens in a new window The Washington Post (1877-1997) offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.
• American periodicals series online, 1740-1900 This link opens in a new window Consists of digitized reproductions of more than 1,100 eighteenth and nineteenth century newspapers and periodicals in the original microfilm reproduction series, American periodical series, I, II, and III. When completed in 2003, this database will have more than 7,000,000 pages of full text periodicals.
• Last Updated: Aug 19, 2024 3:52 PM
• URL: https://guides.lib.wayne.edu/english
• Borrowing & Renewals
• Computing & Printing
• Rooms & Spaces
• Maps & Directions
• Make Appointment

Literature Reviews

What is a Literature Review?

• Steps for Creating a Literature Review
• Providing Evidence / Critical Analysis
• Challenges when writing a Literature Review
• Systematic Literature Reviews

A literature review is an academic text that surveys, synthesizes, and critically evaluates the existing literature on a specific topic. It is typically required for theses, dissertations, or long reports and  serves several key purposes:

• Surveying the Literature : It involves a comprehensive search and examination of relevant academic books, journal articles, and other sources related to the chosen topic.
• Synthesizing Information : The literature review summarizes and organizes the information found in the literature, often identifying patterns, themes, and gaps in the current knowledge.
• Critical Analysis : It critically analyzes the collected information, highlighting limitations, gaps, and areas of controversy, and suggests directions for future research.
• Establishing Context : It places the current research within the broader context of the field, demonstrating how the new research builds on or diverges from previous studies.

Types of Literature Reviews

Literature reviews can take various forms, including:

• Narrative Reviews : These provide a qualitative summary of the literature and are often used to give a broad overview of a topic. They may be less structured and more subjective, focusing on synthesizing the literature to support a particular viewpoint.
• Systematic Reviews : These are more rigorous and structured, following a specific methodology to identify, evaluate, and synthesize all relevant studies on a particular question. They aim to minimize bias and provide a comprehensive summary of the existing evidence.
• Integrative Reviews : Similar to systematic reviews, but they aim to generate new knowledge by integrating findings from different studies to develop new theories or frameworks.

Importance of Literature Reviews

• Foundation for Research : They provide a solid background for new research projects, helping to justify the research question and methodology.

Identifying Gaps : Literature reviews highlight areas where knowledge is lacking, guiding future research efforts.

• Building Credibility : Demonstrating familiarity with existing research enhances the credibility of the researcher and their work.

In summary, a literature review is a critical component of academic research that helps to frame the current state of knowledge, identify gaps, and provide  a basis for new research.

The research, the body of current literature, and the particular objectives should all influence the structure of a literature review. It is also critical to remember that creating a literature review is an ongoing process - as one reads and analyzes the literature, one's understanding may change, which could require rearranging the literature review.

Paré, G. and Kitsiou, S. (2017) 'Methods for Literature Reviews' , in: Lau, F. and Kuziemsky, C. (eds.)  Handbook of eHealth evaluation: an evidence-based approach . Victoria (BC): University of Victoria.

Perplexity AI (2024) Perplexity AI response to Kathy Neville, 31 July.       

Royal Literary Fund (2024)  The structure of a literature review.  Available at: https://www.rlf.org.uk/resources/the-structure-of-a-literature-review/ (Accessed: 23 July 2024).

Library Services for Undergraduate Research (2024) Literature review: a definition . Available at: https://libguides.wustl.edu/our?p=302677 (Accessed: 31 July 2024).

Further Reading:

Methods for Literature Reviews

Literature Review (The University of Edinburgh)

Literature Reviews (University of Sheffield)

• How to Write a Literature Review Paper? Wee, Bert Van ; Banister, David ISBN: 0144-1647

• Next: Steps for Creating a Literature Review >>
• Last Updated: Sep 4, 2024 11:43 AM
• URL: https://library.lsbu.ac.uk/literaturereviews

• Accessibility Tools
• Current Students
• The University
• Our Faculties
• College of Arts and Humanities
• Arts and Humanities Research

Research in English Language and Literature

• Digital Humanities and Society
• Global Challenges and Sustainability
• Health and Wellbeing
• Heritage, Regeneration and Communities
• Arts and Humanities Research Centres and Groups
• College of Arts and Humanities Recent Research Projects
• College of Arts and Humanities Past Research Projects
• Arts and Humanities Postgraduate Research

Research in English Language and Literature.

English language and literature.

English Language and Literature draws together researchers from Applied Linguistics and English Literature and Creative Writing .  We conduct research in wide range of literary, linguistic, creative fields and interdisciplinary areas, from medieval manuscripts to contemporary graphic novels, from language acquisition to linguistic analysis of security and safeguarding online, from avant garde poetry to collaborative theatre.

Our expertise in Welsh writing in English  and interdisciplinary Wales Studies  is world-leading, and we have particular expertise in gender studies , medical humanities  and disability studies , applied linguistics  and language acquisition , medieval literature  and  digital humanities .

Our research is collaborative, interdisciplinary and connected.   We have a strong community of research users , from the creative industries and arts organisations, to schools to national governments. Our research:

• shapes language, education, digital and cultural policies in Wales and abroad;
• provides inspiration and new sources for arts practitioners, production companies and publishers;
• generates new content for TV and radio in English and Welsh, stimulating new knowledge and cultural debate.

In the last REF assessment, English Language and Literature at Swansea ranked 7 th in the UK and came joint 1 st in the UK for research impact. 

Our Pioneering Research:

The correspondence of elizabeth montagu.

• Medieval Enclosed Gardens project

Pioneering research projects

• CorEnCC: Corpws Cenedlaethol Cymraeg Cyfoes, the National Corpus of Contemporary Welsh
• Disability and Industrial Society
• The Queer Life and Fiction of Amy Dillwyn
• Digital Literary Atlas
• Cambridge History of Welsh Literature
• Library of Wales

Our research centres coordinate cutting-edge interdisciplinary research

• Centre for Research into the English Literature and Langauge of Wales (CREW)
• Richard Burton Centre for the Study of Wales
• Language Research Centre (LRC)
• Gender, Culture and Society (GENCAS)
• Medieval and Early Modern Studies (MEMO)
• Medical Humanities Research Centre (MHRC)
• Centre on Digital Arts and Humanities

University Libraries

• Contact a Librarian
• Databases A-Z
• Guides by Subject
• Resources by Type
• Find Books & Articles
• Government Information
• Iowa Digital Library
• Iowa Research Online
• Special Collections & University Archives
• Iowa Women's Archives
• Course Reserves
• Office Delivery
• Borrowing From Another Library & Document Delivery
• Undergraduate Research Services (The SEAM)
• Research Consultations
• Instructional Services
• Research Data Services
• Open Educational Resources
• Distance Education
• Scholarly Publishing & Copyright
• More services...
• Check My Account
• Renew My Books
• My Interlibrary Loan
• Recommend Library Purchase
• EndNote Basic
• Departments
• Collection Management
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Publications, Plans & Reports
• Make a Gift
• History of the Library
• For the Media
• Research Guides & Tutorials
• Directions & Maps
• Assistance for Users with Disabilities
• All Campus Libraries
• Learning Commons
• Main Library Gallery
• Art Library
• Business Library
• Engineering Library
• Health Sciences Library
• Law Library
• Music Library
• Sciences Library
• Contact a Librarian or the UI Libraries
• Staff directory by name
• Staff directory by organizational unit
• Campus Libraries

ENGL:1200:0059 The Interpretation of Literature - Bonner, Fall 2024: Home

• MLA Citations

Library Links

• InfoHawk+ InfoHawk+ is the University of Iowa Libraries' catalog and provides information about books, articles, and media. This is typically the best place to start your research.
• WorldCat The world's most comprehensive catalog of items held by libraries, particularly libraries in North America. WorldCat is valuable for finding items that have been published but are not held at the University of Iowa Libraries.
• Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Found an item, but we don't have it? ILL it! Log in and provide information about the item you would like to borrow from another library.
• Recommend a Purchase Is there a book, journal, DVD, or database you think the University of Iowa Libraries should purchase? Submit a suggestion!
• Have a different question? The Library FAQ's have answers to many of your library questions.

General Research Tips

• Generate a list of your search terms  and  any synonyms.
• Search for each term in databases or  InfoHawk+ .
• If searching for a phrase, insert quotation marks around the phrase.
• Limit your search by a date range if you want results from certain years.
• Try your search terms in multiple databases.
• Look at the footnotes and bibliography of scholarly articles - they can lead you to related sources!
• The first sources that you find may not be the best. Keep looking!

The resources listed in this guide will help you find information to inspire your writing for ENGL:1200:0059 with Instructor Hannah Bonner, Fall 2024. This guide will also help you understand the wide variety of resources available in the library and how to use them.

If you have questions or problems, contact your librarian !

InfoHawk+ Articles

View in Panopto (upper-right pointing arrow) for full-screen.

Add this direct link to ICON or other webpages:

https://uicapture.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=e9a410a4-f005-45ce-be13-adea0127cb8d

InfoHawk+ Books

Add this link to ICON or other webpages:

https://uicapture.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=2981ce6d-8eca-448c-bb35-adea0127d830

Land Acknowledgement

The University of Iowa is located on the homelands of the Ojibwe/Anishinaabe (Chippewa), Báxoǰe (Iowa), Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo), Omāēqnomenēwak (Menominee), Myaamiaki (Miami), Nutachi (Missouri), Umoⁿhoⁿ (Omaha), Wahzhazhe (Osage), Jiwere (Otoe), Odawaa (Ottawa), Póⁿka (Ponca), Bodéwadmi/Neshnabé (Potawatomi), Meskwaki/Nemahahaki/Sakiwaki (Sac and Fox), Dakota/Lakota/Nakoda (Sioux), Sahnish/Nuxbaaga/Nuweta (Three Affiliated Tribes) and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Nations. The following tribal nations, Umoⁿhoⁿ (Omaha Tribe of Nebraska and Iowa), Póⁿka (Ponca Tribe of Nebraska), Meskwaki (Sac and Fox of the Mississippi in Iowa), and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska) Nations continue to thrive in the State of Iowa and we continue to acknowledge them.

Click here for the Acknowledgement of Land and Sovereignty from the UI Native American Council.

• Next: Resources >>
• Last Updated: Sep 4, 2024 10:56 AM
• URL: https://guides.lib.uiowa.edu/1200bonnerfall24

Letters (Correspondence)

A letter from Henry III, king of England (1235)

Henry III, king of England

This is a letter from "Epistolae: Medieval Women's Letters". Epistolae is a collection of medieval Latin letters to and from women. The letters collected date from the 4th to the 13th centuries, and they are presented in their original Latin as well as in English translation. Dr. Joan Ferrante, Professor Emerita of English and Comparative Literature of Columbia University, has, with her colleagues, collected and translated these letters mainly from printed sources. She worked with the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning to develop this unique open online collection for teaching and research purposes.

• Latin letters
• Women authors
• Latin language--Translating into English
• Manuscripts, Latin (Medieval and modern)

More About This Work

Related items.

• DOI Copy DOI to clipboard