What's a literature review and why should I care? How do I do one?
A literature review is a summary and evaluation of published scholarship in a particular area or field of research. The purpose of a literature review is to discuss the scholarship and how it's shaped the field; you want to bring your reader "up to speed" so they know where research in the field has been, where it is now, and where it might be going. The literature review is not the place to include your own research and arguments--save that for the research paper! You should, however, use the finished literature review to support your own contribution and new insights.
