Posted: February 1st, 2014
synthesis essay.
Writing Assignment #3 will be a synthesis essay.
Courses that fulfill the General Education Requirements (GERs) at UMUC all have a common theme—technological transformations. In following this theme this semester in WRTG 291, we have examined numerous authors on the impact of technology on society.
Approach and Requirements
According to Kennedy and Kennedy (2102), two of the authors of your textbook, Research Writing, the synthesis essay asks you 1) to look at a group of sources that share a topic or interest, 2) to “identify grounds for grouping the textual components,” and 3) to “organize this textual material under a controlling theme.” (p. 65)
You will write a synthesis essay on one of the general themes introduced in pages 89-120 in your textbook, Research Writing.
You have conducted extensive research on a theme already for your annotated bibliography. For this reason, you have a collection of sources to get you started. You will most likely want to find additional sources for your synthesis paper.
With your present collection of sources, you can take the following steps:
First, analyze your sources to identify what topics and subtopics the sources may have in common. Remember to identify a specific purpose for writing a synthesis. Articulate this purpose with a working thesis.
Second, identify relationships among the sources to group them. You might find the section “Baseline Questions for Initial Reading” in the Research Writing text on page p. 68 to be helpful. You will spend some time searching for common ground within the texts that you choose. In addition, you will find the section, “In-depth Questions for Identifying Relationships among Texts” on page 69 an effective resource. You will ask yourself what points you want to make about the sources that you’ve chosen.
Third, find additional sources as needed as focus in on a topic for your paper. Your annotated bibliography may have been written on a fairly broad topic. For the synthesis paper, you may need to focus the topic more as you further develop your working thesis.
Finally, using your working thesis, develop a draft that synthesizes the material that you’ve gathered from your chosen texts. Remember that you are not comparing and contrasting your sources. You are synthesizing the sources.
You can find sample synthesis essays in Research Writing on pages 72-75 and on pages 82-85.
Organization
There is no single, set way to organize a synthesis essay. However, it is important for a writer to formulate a logical method for presenting her work or she runs the risk of losing her audience.
Look closely at Farr’s sample synthesis argument on p. 72 in Research Writing. Farr writes an original introduction and conclusion. The rest of her essay follows the main topic of privacy versus technology by synthesizing multiple sources. Please note that Farr supports her topic throughout the essay with specific summaries and quotes. Pay particular attention to the signal phrases that Farr uses to present her synthesis.
The following are some points to consider while organizing a synthesis essay:
· The introduction of the synthesis should sum up the reason for the synthesis and introduce the texts to be synthesized. The purpose of the essay should be clearly introduced.
· The body of the essay should be organized by theme, aspect, etc. Each paragraph should have a clear topic sentence, should include material from more than one source, and should clearly cite sources to avoid plagiarism. The paragraphs should directly support the main point of the essay.
· The conclusion sums up the themes discussed by the writer.
Once you have completed writing the synthesis essay, you should carefully revise the work using comments from your peers, your instructor, and the Questions for Revising a Synthesis Essayon p. 87 in Research Writing.
You can find out more about developing synthesis essays in the Reserved Readings for WRTG 291:
· “Literature review: Synthesizing multiple sources”
· “Improving the writing of literature reviews through a literature integration exercise”
· “Writing integrative literature reviews: Guidelines and examples”
Length:
The essay should be 1700-2300 words and use 8 to 12 sources.
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