multiple source essay topic: should everyone go to college? stay on the yes side

The Multiple-Source Argument Essay

English 101 (at least 6 pages)

Until now, most of your writing assignments have been based on information derived from a single source. Now, as you begin to work with many different sources, you will need to understand and organize a wider range of materials. You will want to present the ideas of your sources in all their variety while at the same time maintaining your own perspective. This is also an argument paper, and you should take a different position from your Paper 2.

For this writing assignment, you are expected to synthesize two or three more sources pertaining to your research paper topic in addition to the two sources you have used in Paper 1 and Paper 2 (a total of 4-5 sources). When you write from sources, your object is not to establish a single “right” conclusion but rather to present a thesis statement of your own that is based on your examination of a variety of views. Because of this diversity, organizing multiple sources is more difficult than working with a series of examples, with the contents of a newspaper, or with even a highly complex single essay. The writing process for multiple sources begins with the analysis of ideas. Analysis is first breaking down a mass of information into individual pieces and then examining the pieces. Synthesis is bringing the pieces from the various sources into a whole.

You need to go to Blackboard and then Working with Sources and read Synthesizing Sources: Charting Common Ideas. Try to synthesize the sources into a whole: What common ideas do you see? How are they different? What generalizations can you make about the authors’ attitudes toward particular ideas/arguments? In other words, as you underline and annotate your sources, you look for similarities and distinctions in meaning, as well as the basic principles underlying what you read. Here are the steps for organizing multiple sources:

Step I: Choose two or three new sources from They Say I Say

1. Selecting information/sources

2. Drawing conclusion from your information

3. Analyzing multiple sources: Analyzing shades of meaning.

4. Synthesizing multiple sources

a. Making a chart of common ideas.

b. Distinguishing between reasons.

c. Deciding on a sequence of topics

Step II: Read the sources a few times: Use the chart handout and annotate your sources. Look for two-sided ideas and other main ideas and summarize them.

Consider the following questions as you read and annotate:

1. What common ideas or arguments do you see?

2. How are the ideas or arguments similar or different?

3. How can you describe each author’s ideas without taking up too much space for each one?

4. How can you fit all your sources smoothly into your essay without allowing one to dominate?

5. How can you transform a group of disparate sources into an essay that is yours?

Step III: Look for unique and catchy expressions and use them as quotations.

Step IV: Make an Outline: Point by Point

Step V: Write/Draft the essay.

Your introduction should include an opening, brief relevant background, and your thesis. Note that as you write longer papers, each of your topic sentences in the body of the essay might generate one or two or even three separate paragraphs. When you introduce each new source, summarize the source objectively. For supporting details for this multisource paper, you will use facts, opinions, and examples taken from the source materials. You are also expected to come up with an outline and a Works Cited page.

Step VI: Revise the essay according to the Checklist.