Undergrad Support group

lisa_75

I have a question..hope someone can help!

If you are doing a literature review as part of an essay (5000 words) how many words should the literature review be? Also how many books/journals should I be reviewing? Where abouts does the literature review go, after the introduction or before?

Karnam

depends on the essay question really. i tend to refer to my own 'review' or interpretation of texts throughout the essay at the end of each point, so every 400 or 500 words or so

lisa_75

Karnam wrote:

depends on the essay question really. i tend to refer to my own 'review' or interpretation of texts throughout the essay at the end of each point, so every 400 or 500 words or so

Thanks. The literature review has to be a seperate part of the essay.

elisebutt65

lisa_75 wrote:

I have a question..hope someone can help!

If you are doing a literature review as part of an essay (5000 words) how many words should the literature review be? Also how many books/journals should I be reviewing? Where abouts does the literature review go, after the introduction or before?

I'm also doing this as part of my dissertation - it's 4 connected extended essays, each with their own lit review. I'm putting them just after each introduction.

DrFluffy

lisa_75 wrote:

I have a question..hope someone can help!

If you are doing a literature review as part of an essay (5000 words) how many words should the literature review be? Also how many books/journals should I be reviewing? Where abouts does the literature review go, after the introduction or before?

Depends on the subject (science, art, etc) and the scope of the title. For science, in general for a literature review, if it's in core texts, it is deemed 'common knowledge' as approprate for the audience, so I usually avoid text books and go for review articles to inform my reading and then to orignal research articles.

However, for clinical medicine, the best level of evidence is a systematic review or randomised control studies.

For English, reflective texts are probably going to be your best bet, as that's the more common 'review' medium...

Tallulah22

Any good tips for stress relief? I seem to be getting myself all worked up over essays/exams making me not being able to focus straight

elisebutt65

I'm pants at exams!!!! No good asking me about stress relief for them - LOL Hate the damned things!! I'd rather stand up and do a Viva than write an exam paper:rotfl:

But essays are easy - When your next one due in???

Take loads of breaks - but not too many so that you;re just putting off the work. I write about 2-300 words and take a 15 minute break away from my desk.
Unless I'm on a roll and then I just keep going till I dry up.

If you have your essay all planned out beforehand, then it shouldn't be too stressful.Also draw yourself up a timetable - for the days you're not in college. I have to be incredibly organised as I have 2 kids at school and the house to run as well as coursework and my dissertation to write so I timetable in the shopping, ironing, cleaning and nights off etc. Then I know when it's 12pm on a Wednesday, I have 3 hours to concentrate on my essay . Or if it's 10pm on a Thursday, I have to get all my reading finished for Fridays seminar.

If you're a single young student, then you should have heaps of time free to do stuff. I find it's easier to get as much done as you can in the first few weeks of getting an assignment and then you don't have deadlines to worry about. This semester we were given our first seminar and essay to do within 3 weeks - Aaargh!!!!

But if you just get your head down and ignore the temptations of bars and nights out for a week, then you should be ok. Don't file it under 'Must do later'
or it will be panic stations the week before it's dues in

Tallulah22

Thanks a lot your post is much appreciated

lisa_75

Tallulah22 wrote:

Any good tips for stress relief? I seem to be getting myself all worked up over essays/exams making me not being able to focus straight

I have been taking Kalms tablets. You can get them from any chemist or Tescos/Asda. Planning ahead and taking your time also helps with stress. Don't leave things till the last minute.

Tallulah22

cheers Lisa