https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/ReviewofLiterature.html

Litrerary Review 

The literary review guide provided to us by the University of Wisconsin-Madison advises the following:

-  first, one should get acquainted with the peculiarities of the literary reviews formats relating to their subjects because those may vary

- in the introduction, it is important to identify the topic and provide the context, as well as point the overall trends of the matter and writer's reasoning for the relevance of his or her work

- the body should include group research studies, summary of individual studies, have strong "umbrella" sentences at beginnings of paragraphs, "signposts" throughout, and brief "so what" summary sentences at intermediate points in the review

- the conclusion should include the summarizations of major contributions to the topic and point out major methodological flaws, gaps and inconsistencies of the research to lay the importance of the future studies of the subjecy

- at the very end, one should provide some insight into the relationship between the central topic of the literature review and a larger area of study

Bogdan, Alina. “Racial Issues in American Stand-up Comedy .” Cultural Intertexts, vol. 1-2, 2014, pp. 268–274., doaj.org/article/f103483ba16946a3908fa4f3a29ce994. 

Summary 

The given article explores the racial issues of American stand-up comedy. First, the author talks about the nature of stand-up comedy and stresses the importance of its differences to other forms of humor. After that, she procedes to emphasize the acuteness of the racial issues even in our times when people constantly raise the issue of racial injustice. She says that when it is brought up in a humorous shell, it is easier to conceive  such a difficult concept. Following that statement, Bogdan procedes to explain the necessity of the use of racism in such type of discourse due to the impact it produces on masses. She then adds that stand-up comedy has more research value than simple funny texts because it utilizes not only the written word, but the personality of the comedian and his or her connection to the audience that strikes the crowd in a more profound way as a result of everyone (including both the performer and the listeners) being "in the moment" and having no distractions from the topic. The author draws the conclusion that stand-up comedy has a true value to the society and it should not be uncomfortable to joke about serious issues. She believes that by doing so, people can move on from their biases, and essentially, it becomes more realistically possible to fix the issues that are being joked about.

	1. Mankato, Minnesota (http://www.mankato-mn.gov/)	2. Mankato, Minnesota (http://descy.50megs.com/mankato/Mankato.html)
OBJECTIVITY/ADVOCACY:	1. no 2. no 3. yes	1. yes  2. no 3. yes
AUTHORITY:	1. no 2. no 3. no	1. yes 2. yes (not working) 3. no
ACCURACY:	1. yes 2. yes	1. no 2. yes
CURRENCY:	1. no 2. yes 3. no  4. yes	1. no 2. no 3. no 4. yes
COVERAGE:	1. yes 2. yes	1. yes 2. no

Disney, Walt. “Humor: An International Sixth Sense.” The Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 35, no. 8, 1954, pp. 327–329. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20332466.

 

Summary 

  

This article by Walt Disney summarizes his observations of the way humor is represented through his classic characters like Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. Later he proceeds to clarify the methods he used while creating the hilarious atmosphere in a concise manner. For instance, he distinguishes such ways to appeal to the audience as making the jokes universal for all people by trying to make something very general to be the essence of the joke. Some other ways include personification  of the qualities peculiar to some certain animals in a way that is relatable to people, as well as drawing the joke to humanity itself. Disney also speaks against vulgarisms in international works due to the fact that not all languages operate in the same concepts, therefore making vulagar language difficult to translate in a way that would not lose its humorous meaning. Finally, he stresses the importance of the informal bonds of sympathy that are peculiar to folklore. In his opinion, such notions provoke humorous reactions, but also instill the younger generations with a deeper understanding of the world and empathy towards it. The author is certain that that way hmor may even become the facillitator of the world peace.