A literature review goes beyond simply giving a novel a thumbs up or thumbs down. In fact, it may not require an opinion at all. Using a handout on literature reviews, part of a larger series on specific writing assignments, writers discover how to effectively focus and organize their literary paper. They also learn the purpose behind literary reviews and how they differ from academic research papers.

Concepts

responding to literature, literary analysis, book reviews

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Practice reading a short story and writing a review as a class
• Share examples of reviews using the different organizational methods mentioned in the handout

Classroom Considerations

• Applies to papers in a range of subjects from the humanities to sciences

Pros

• Breaks down the writing process into a series of simple steps
• Uses a conversational, accessible tone

Cons

• Only contains one short example to illustrate key points

Common Core

W.9-10.9.a W.11-12.9.a