How to write a synthesis paper
What is “synthesis?”
Synthesis is one of the most complex forms of analytic, academic writing. Synthesis requires you to first examine and consider the various views scholars hold about a particular topic and then to write about the significant trends you see amongst them.
How do you do it?
Synthesizing texts together requires that you:
• Assess individual texts (their main points, their contexts, their purposes, their credibility, etc.),
• Think about topically related texts as a conversation,
• Make decisions about the most important parts of the conversation for your purposes (which of the many texts to highlight, etc.),
• Bring select texts together to make your own point (your own argument) about the topic. This assignment will require you to draw on skills we’ve been establishing in ENG 300 including: critical summary habits, reading habits, analysis, source use, and more.
Parts:
- Introduction/Summary/Discussion:
Briefly introduce your topic. This can be divided up into three different sections, or two or one. You can choose your structure.
Select two (minimum) sources on your chosen narrowed topic. You will need to summarize these sources along with any other sources you plan to use in the discussion. If you wish to use an additional source for the conversation part of the task, you do not need to summarize it. You will need to include enough information in your summary paragraphs so that the reader has a good understanding of the source- the sources don’t have to be academic
- Discussion/Analysis- This section can be divided into two- one on discussion one analysis or combined it is up to you and how you wish to structure your essay. Here you:
• Discuss how each author addressed the topic, where there are similarities and differences between the two or more sources.
• Show how did each author approach this topic
• Think about who the audience is for each piece and what the purpose was for each author. - Join the Conversation- Here you need to become a part of the conversation, bring in something new. There are two ways of going about this:
• First, if you have personal experience within the topic you have chosen, this is where you can discuss how your experience fits in with the sources you have already discussed or show how your experience is different then what you have read, but don’t forget to show the relationship between your experience and what your sources are saying.
• Second, if you don’t have personal experience look for another source. This additional source should have some additional data that the other two sources didn’t have, or have a different approach or view of the issue that you looked at.
- Conclusion-For the conclusion you can discuss any of the following questions/suggestions:
• What is there to be gained?
• What has there been gained by doing this research?
• You can have a recommendation
• A call to action
• Focus in on the thought that you want to leave the reader with.
Suggested Questions for Revision:
• Analysis—Did you describe the main arguments of the 2-3 texts you discuss in your essay? Did you explain how the texts are related to one another and to the topic? Does the essay do more than just summarize each text?
• Argument—Did you make an argument about how to best understand and value the conversation about X generated by these texts?
• Genre Conventions—Did you introduce each of the texts you use in your synthesis essay? Did you cite them in appropriate ways given your purpose (choosing between quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing)? Did you use a consistent citation style and adhere to the value system of that style?
• Arrangement—Have you made careful decisions about how to arrange your ideas so that a reader 1) understands this conversation, 2) recognizes your own point about the conversation, and 3) finds you credible?
• Language & Clarity—Did you work with your sentence-level prose to be as succinct and clear as possible for other readers new to this conversation?
• Process Engagement—Did you engage with the steps described above, producing required drafts for our workshops, and submitting your drafts on time and in MLA or APA format?
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