Final Paper, due July 3rd, by 11:59AM

Education 140AC, Literacy: Societal and Individual Development

Summer 2012, Session A

Final Paper

Due: Tuesday, July 3^rd, 2012

The final paper (5-7 pps., not including title or works cited pages) for this course will be a literature review, which will demonstrate both understanding and mastery of course concepts. You are required to include a minimum of three course texts.

What is a literature review?

A literature review surveys scholarly articles, books and other sources relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, and by so doing, providing a description, summary, and critical evaluation of these works. Literature reviews are designed to provide an overview of sources you have explored while researching a particular topic and to demonstrate to your readers how your research fits into the larger field of study.

Literature reviews are designed to provide an overview and synthesis of pertinent sources you have explored; that said, there are a number of approaches you could adopt depending upon the type of analysis underpinning your study. For this paper, your review will assume the form of an Argumentative Review:

Argumentative Review

     This form examines literature selectively in order to support or refute an argument, deeply imbedded assumption, or philosophical problem already established in the literature. The purpose is to develop a body of literature that establishes a contrarian viewpoint. Given the value-laden nature of some social science research [e.g., educational reform; immigration control], argumentative approaches to analyzing the literature can be a legitimate and important form of discourse. However, note that they can also introduce problems of bias when they are used to make summary claims of the sort found in systematic reviews.

Requisite part of a literature review

Establishing a Critical Response for a Literature Review:

When reviewing your sources, explore the following areas to help develop your critical response:

1.      Introduction: Clearly state your position/thesis; identify the “problem” that you are seeking to address (or redress).

2.      Review of pertinent literature: Provide a brief synopsis of the articles that you will cover; and, describe how they speak to your overall thesis; i.e., discuss your rationale in choosing these particular articles.

3.      Conclusion: Make your line of argumentation clear such that your conclusion simply reiterates whatever it ids that you have “proven” via the literature that you reviewed.

Some additional considerations

(You will want to bear these questions in mind while constructing your literature review)

·        What is the purpose of the research or work?

·        What research or literary methods are used?

·        How do the major concepts operate?

·        In a research study, how accurate are the measurements?

·        In a literary work, is the author’s position objective or biased?

·        What are the different interpretations of the results of the study or of the literary work itself?

**For this paper, students are required to include a minimum of three course texts. Your thesis should be clear, and the texts that you choose should both substantiate and problematize your thesis. That is to say, do not simply select three (or more) texts that bolster your position; instead, choose at least one text that can be used contrastively, to better illustrate and illuminate your presupposition. Additionally, remember to define all key words and key constructs. You cannot, simply, assume that I hold the same definitions for the words and concepts that you employ. Also, be sure to have clear transitions, which function to signal to the reader that your argument is shifting, transitioning, etc. **

Optional Literature Review prompts:

1.      Please define literacy or literacies, based on course materials.  You may include several aspects of literacy in your answer.  Be specific with course readings that you weave into your answer.

2.      How does literacy reflect relations of power?  Please discuss at least three of the readings from the course, and show how literacy and power are intimately interconnected.   

3.      Discuss how literacies and identities interrelate in three course readings.   

4.      Several authors that we have read argue that students benefit from culturally relevant curriculum in schools, related to language instruction.  Give examples of how out-of-school literacy practices might serve as a bridge to in-school learning.  Discuss at least two articles or readings from the course that engage these topics.

5.      Discuss the ways in which race informs access to literacy, and, concomitantly, the ways in which literacy has been (and continues to be) used to enact racist, and inherently inequitable schooling practices.