week 5
Week 5
The point of the reading in class so far, is to gather ideas to use in a Mini-synthesis paper, which we will start thinking about this week. So, please do not venture out to another topic/issue that requires you to do outside research. Again, stick to what we have read!
Also, about your issue: you do not have to take sides like pro/con, better/worse, or good/bad for papers in this class. Instead you are discussing (and of course you can bring in good and bad etc.) the issue. You can come to a conclusion about it, don't get me wrong, but it does not have to be for or against something.
This week you will begin a synthesis paper! I have been making some photoshop collages and I wonder if explaining synthesis as a visual/collage could help. I am going to give it a try! I made the image above with 5 images. You can see parts of each, but with some blending, overall they create a new image. If I had not synthesized, the result might look something like this:
...and so on (I did not include all images). These are all cool images on their own (I am biased, I know), but my goal was to make something new, or to synthesize.
If the three images above were sources that I was using, my paper would look like a list, or three authors in a row, like those images. That is not synthesis!
Instead, a synthesis writing is more like a back and forth conversation, with an overall point of yours as the goal.
To do this:
~You have to figure out what you want to say overall. Try a free writing draft to explore.
You do not have to know exactly what you are going to say before you sit down to write. Writing a generative or exploration draft can help...so reflect on what you have been thinking about while reading and viewing our sources, then look at your writing to see if you have a good point you can use. I know, that sounds like a lot of work just to come up with an idea, but freewriting like this can be freeing (since you do it without having to create a perfect draft right from the start!).
In your next draft:
~Be sure you have a point in each paragraph that leads to your overall point.
~Within the paragraphs discuss with the others (authors we have read). Do this by bringing them in to talk to you and to each other (another way to think about synthesis….a conversation!).
Synthesis might sound like a scary new thing basically it is putting things together to create something new. To move away from writing for a moment...I thought I would have you think about photosynthesis (note the root word is synthesis). You might have to think back to grade school science class! What are plants doing when they photosynthesize? What does this have to do with writing a synthesis essay?
Since my dad was a bricklayer, I sometimes use a brick building as an example—a pile of bricks is just a pile of bricks. A bricklayer synthesizes them together—with the “mud” (mortar) that I mixed—to create something new!
Barry Alford, fromer professor at MMC, stresses the importance of problematizing and applying sources to our own lives. This is your chance to do so. In other words, if you can start with your own story that you think relates to a theme within the sources and go for it! Just be sure that the whole paper is not about you, but about the theme you choose! Using yourself as an example (or in the introduction to set up) is a good way to create an interest.
Reading for the week:
~ The synthesis response writing assignment (due next week, but you can get started on it)
Reread sources as needed to figure out who to use for this.
~See the video/articles under resources and follow the links I offer. I know there is a lot to read/watch sometimes, but since we do not have a handbook or time in class, that is my solution. They are relatively short!
~Read: “Rituals and Traditions; It Takes a Tribe” by David Berreby. Find the article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/01/education/rituals-and-traditions-it-takes-a-tribe.html
Look at how he synthesizes and uses authors.
This is an example of synthesis writing (it is in a newspaper, not an academic article with citations so it is a little different from our paper). Also, Berreby’s ideas relate to some of the articles we have read. Use it in your synthesis if you want!
As you read, read for What? How? And Why? (as usual). For the How? Part I would like you to highlight the authors that Berreby used. Notice patterns in source use.
Writing for the Week
Forum
1) Respond to what Berreby is saying...share some reactions, with examples of what caused that reaction. Use quotes and paraphrases.
2) For the How/rhetorical analysis part of how the author writes: Post some observations on how Berreby used sources. What you noticed about source use and synthesis in Berreby. Be specific. Please point out where you think you see synthesis (include the authors names and ideas).
3) In the forum discuss what issue you are thinking about using for your mini-synthesis which is due next week.. Share questions and thoughts on how you might go about it too. If you have questions on the assignment please include them.
To brainstorm, create a Google doc with all of your writing on it so far (you can make one by pasting in all of the things you wrote in the forums, which will help you recall who we have read and what you have written. Look that over and reread my feedback to you in forums to see if there is an idea that you might want to explore that relates to some of our articles.
Response to the students
1. "Us" and "Them"
by Shawnee Sprowls - Wednesday, September 30, 2020, 1:44 PM
I think what Berreby is trying to say is that it is a natural instinct as humans to put ourselves into groups or "tribes", and when we classify ourselves into these groups of "us" there will always be that other group of "them". This gives us a feeling of belonging to something bigger than ourselves. I agree with some of these statements. I think it is a natural thing for us to do to feel wanted, belonged, and sometimes important. When Berreby said "Human beings will give a lot, including their lives, for a group they feel part of -- for ''us,'' as in ''our nation'' or ''our religion.'' They will also harm those labeled ''them,'' including taking their lives." it made me realize how extreme wanting to belong can be, because it is true that some people will do WHATEVER it takes.
I am not sure how I feel about Berreby's way of synthesis writing. Though he does a good job using many examples of people and their different points, I feel like he was all over the place with this. He uses so many different people and quotes that I feel like it was hard to keep up with who was who and what their point was. Like when he says "The tricky part, says Professor Sapolsky of Stanford, Cal-Berkeley's bitter rival..." There is no statement on why they are "rivals".
For my mini-synthesis paper, I think the topic I am going to discuss is criticism. I am going to try and explain why we do it and how we do it. Throughout this course we have read about hypocrisy and stereotyping, and I feel like all of these things fall under the category of criticism. on Groups
2- Different Views on Groups
by Kody Blades - Wednesday, September 30, 2020, 10:29 AM
Berreby wrote an article about how colleges have different groups of students whether it is sports or not sports or other groups. He stated that each college has a rival, a school that they compete against the most. He states how some college students even react to one another like for example in Texas a college student greets another student by saying "Howdy" while other students at other schools may just say "Hi" or "Hey". I found it really interesting how he compared schools with people. For example by own High School which is Beaverton had the greatest rivalry with another school that's only 10 minuets away and that was Gladwin. We passed back a dog on wheels named "Butch" and one side was red and said Beaverton while the other side was blue and said Gladwin. Beaverton mainly got it when we won in basketball games but Gladwin got it during the football games. Berreby used a lot of different schools in comparing groups in his article, he also used professor names and there opinions. For the mini paper I am going to chooses the topic of groups and what separates people because when I was in school I remembered the top 3 groups and they were 1-Sports meaning all the sports kids hung out at lunch or on the weekends, 2-Country Kids, when I say this it is not to make anyone made but every rural school had a group of both boys and girls who always wore flannels and boots and drove trucks and parked by each other in the parking lot, I was part of that clan. 3-Other meaning they were not into sports or didn't dress like cowboys lol, and that was okay but even teachers saw the diversity in the school because it was like you choose a group and stay with it and that't what happened.