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Jesus Garza

ENGL 1302-215

Ms. Mendoza

16 March 2024

Reflection for literature review

The literature review has been the pinnacle of my literature prowess, showing me how to

convert large masses of text and stray away from their summation but instead make them flow

cohesively from different writers. Combobulating all different perspectives in a short piece of

text is something I’ve never done before as a scholarly writer. Take, for instance, the second

paragraph of the literature review that was assigned to us. I had three similar articles with

contrasting results; I had to formulate this text to be cohesive and achieve the same conclusion,

making me bend the words to my liking while still keeping the original purpose of the author's

intended message (Garza 2). I’ve been able to carry this on to my other classes as I do have very

science heavy based textbooks; for example, in anatomy and physiology, the book is very dense

in information, but after doing the literature, I can condense this info with all the different pages

and start connecting the dots on how they form somewhat of an identical conclusion.

Furthermore, I can conclude that the writing practice that was given to me by finishing the

annotated bibliography helped tremendously as it was paired with a peer review done in class,

letting a second pair of eyes give their input to see how I can improve my literature paper.

To elaborate further, the creation of my annotated bibliography helped me collect and

synthesize information, which later propelled me to cohesively write a paper structure that aided

me in talking about different papers with similar or contrasting conclusions. Take, for example,

body paragraph three in my literature review. I talk about the similarities in treatments but still
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go on to add the contrasting and overall results that each paper achieved without making it sound

like the three papers were out of context (Garza 4). The annotated bibliography taught me how to

summarize these lengthy chunks of information that can be applied into small detailed parts; for

example, in body paragraph two in the first portion of the excerpt, I clearly state the true purpose

of all three articles in less than a few sentences, something that I would not be able to do before

the creation of the annotated bibliography (Garza 2). Another big mistake that I learned from the

annotated bibliography was MLA style, which is something on my part that never crossed my

mind as it is overlooked so easily. My citations got mixed up from MLA to APA and were not in

the correct order, which my instructor pointed out; I enhanced them in the literature review,

ensuring I didn’t make that mistake using the class book (Lunsford 639). These writing

techniques were just a few of the many practices I picked up during the writing process of the

initial annotated bibliography that I applied to my literature review.

Furthermore, the peer review that was presented to us actually helped me make a more

thorough case when explaining the similarities between conclusions at the end of my body

paragraphs. To elaborate further, my peer who reviewed my first draft had noted how I was

missing crucial details at the end of my second and third body paragraphs, to which I added if he

had any helpful tips from his literature review that might be able to pass through mine; he had

given me a list of concise words that let me conjoin two ideas while still keeping the overall text

short straying away from just rewriting the actual article and creating a paraphrased piece of

information by only keeping in crucial details (Garza 2). My peer also noted the importance of

transitional words, which I lack when noting their key information. After this improvement, the

beginning of each body paragraph and every concluding sentence sounded much more cohesive

and made the essay flow just that much better (Garza 3). These valuable strategies are how the
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peer review connects heavily with the literature review overall, acting as a second writer or a

very thorough proofread.

In conclusion, reflecting upon my literature review, I see the true meaning of what

synthesizing information really means: the breaking down of significant texts to summarize

cohesively and efficiently while pointing out similarities and differences, still leading to a central

conclusion. I learned and propelled myself forward from the annotated bibliography by picking

up distinctive strategies that helped me overcome large series of text and create proper MLA

structures to cite my information accordingly. Cooped with the fact that my peer review allowed

me to gain the knowledge of two by implementing helpful tips and tricks that allowed me to get

my point across clearly. All in all, it helped create an authentic piece of literature, which has now

come to light as my literature review.

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Work Cited:

Jesus, Garza. “Infertility: Biological and Psychological Effects.” 16 Mar.. 2024. ENGL 1302,

Texas A&M International University, literature review

Lunsford, Andrea. et al. Everyone’s an Author. Fourth ed. W. W. Norton & Company 2023.