Need help in Literature review. Question for english major =D?

Question

My teacher told me to write a 5 to 6 pages essay about Affluenza/ Consumption topic. Here is what she wrote:

You must begin by selecting a topical area within, or related to, the broader subject of affluenza/consumption.

Then, you must pose a “research question” appropriate to the topic.

Your assignment, however, is not to answer the question, but to conduct and write a literature review such as you would write if you were actually conducting the research and writing a journal article on your findings.

I dont get it~ what does she mean? Can any one give me an example?
I was thinking about the topic : how cosmetic affect human boday and enviroment. Is this one suit with the topci about affluenza/ consumption?

What step I need to do to write a literature review?? ~ I dont get it.

10 points for best answer. Dont write anything like " ask your professior"

Answer 1

You don't need an English major here - you need a research writer. ☺

Bottom line is that she wants you to look at the academic journals and see what has been written about your question. You must create a research question - your chosen topic is not a research question and it's way too broad, you could write a book or two on that topic.

So, first get a good question that is very specific. An example "Does the cosmetic industry cause damage to the environment?" or "Does cosmetic use damage skin structure over time?" -- those are studyable and specific.

Then you need to find some academic journal articles on this specific question. I use Google Scholar as my first stop and then the college library as my second. The librarian will order anything you need as long as you can tell him/her what you want. http://scholar.google.com/schhp?tab=ws

I did a quick search on "cosmetic industry environment" and came up with 37,100 articles to look at.

Consider though - this isn't really about your assigned topic. You need to reconsider the model. Affluenza assumes that people want to have more stuff to excess. You're considering the effect of using or making the stuff. If you want to study affluenza related to cosmetics, maybe you should find examples of products that don't work or that serve no useful purpose but that people still insist on owning because other people said to. I'm not familiar enough with your field to help much here specifically.

Then, after you have a question and some journals addressing the question, you can write the review of the articles you read.

http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/literature_review.html
is a really good explanation of the process of writing the lit review.

The important thing to remember with the lit review is to keep your own opinion and conclusions out of it. This is about what the other people who have researched the topic found. You get to put your opinions and conclusions in the next part about your own research on another day.

If you go at this with an open mind, you may find that you really like the process. Some people really enjoy research once they get to this level and others totally hate reading academic journals. Either way, give it an open minded chance.