Unit Four Materials and Literature review
Teaching Aims: Students should be able to
1. know how to collect materials 2. learn how to write literature review
I. Materials
1. How to collect materials?
Collecting materials is a process, a process of researching . Collect ample materials
Collect the original or first-hand materials Notice
We should also be careful with the following points:
1) It is wrong and impossible to try collecting all the materials that have little to do with what you are writing.
It is most important of all to collect the most important and most typical materials that you need.
2)Don’t be afraid that you can’t collect enough materials. You can get materials by many channels: A. Library B. Reading room C. Internet D. Bookstore E. Teachers F. Friends
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3) Understand your materials completely and make good use of the materials. Don’t cut the meanings in the materials into broken pieces without any relations.
4) Not only collect the materials that support your arguments, but also collect the materials that don’t support your arguments. Only in this way can your writing be proved to be scientific, and your arguments can hold water.
2. What should we write down when we collect and read materials?
While we are collecting and reading materials, try to form the habit of taking notes, including: the author, title, edition, press, publishing place and time, page, etc. for a book; magazine, volume, page, author, title and publishing place and time for a magazine, or else. 3. Note-taking
1) Preliminary bibliography
Bibliography—a list of sources about a subject
Preliminary bibliography helps you to pinpoint sources that might prove valuable. Whenever you find a promising source, jot it down. The information
Book Article Name of author, editor Name of author Date Date Title and subtitle Title
Edition Name of publication Place of publication Volume of publication Publisher Page numbers Page numbers
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2) Types of notes (1) Quotation note
A direct quotation copies exactly what your source said or wrote. Four reasons for using a direct quotation:
A. Accuracy –when the precise language of the original is crucial.
B. Authority—when the exact words of a writer or a speaker carry more weight than a summary.
C. Conciseness—when a quotation states an idea in fewer words than a summary would require. D. Vividness—when the language of the source is more colorful or more descriptive than a summary would be.
Not overuse quotation –less than 30% (2) Paraphrase note
Its purpose is to clarity the meaning of a passage.
Remember : A paraphrase is a complete rewriting, not just a game of rearranging words. (3) Summary note
A summary is a statement in your own words of the main idea of a passage. Use summary notes to record:
A general idea; a large amount of information succinctly
Remember:You must separate what is most important from what is less important. (4) Combination note
A combination note contains both quotation and summary. (5) Outline note
When only factual information is taken from a source, rough notes in outline form may be
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sufficient.
(6) Personal comment note—your own thoughts 3) Qualities of good notes (1) Legibility Suggestions :
Take notes on 4x6-inch cards Take notes in ink
Write on only one side of a card. Put only one idea on a card.
Use whatever abbreviations you find convenient for notes. (2) Accuracy
Read your research material carefully. Read precisely
Distinguish among fact, inference, and opinion
Use conventional mechanics of spelling, capitalization, and punctuation (3) Completeness
Identify the source of what appears on each card.
Note the page number from which you obtained information by putting them in the top right-hand corner.
Identify the subject of each card in the top left-hand corner. II. Literature review 1. Purpose
Once the area or topic of the research paper has been chosen and defined, it needs to be placed
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