Analysis and Syntheisi Essay

Essay Four: Analysis and Synthesis Essay

Due: April 9, 2015

For this assignment, you will write an essay that compiles sources and presents their view point on the topic of the Impact of Technology on Society.

For the essay, you will provide a thesis that isolates the joint topic that all the sources share and points out the main focal points of the collected research. You will then provide a brief exposition of each source, paying attention to the main point of each source and how that source interacts with your other research about the chosen topic. Your ultimate task in this essay is to provide the reader with a collection of sources about your particular topic and present the collected viewpoints of your research.

Your essay will be submitted in the following manner:

· Double Spaced, 12pt font, Times New Romans, 1” margins

· MLA formatting

· Four to Six pages in length

SEE THE NEXT PAGE FOR A GUIDE THROUGH THE ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS ESSAY

Paper 4: Analysis and Synthesis guide

1)    Use 4-6 sources. (TRY NOT TO HAVE AUTHORS WITH ALL THE EXACT SAME OPINIONS.) This can be achieved by finding:

1. a.     Authors who disagree about how to define your topic

2. b.     Authors who think differently about your topic because they’re writing from different time periods

3. c.     Authors who think differently about your topic because they’re different kinds of people (think race/gender/scholar vs. layman, conservative vs. liberal, etc.)

4. d.     Authors who agree on some things, but not on others

5. e.     Authors who argue the same point but use very different evidence

6. f.      Authors who directly attack or contradict each other

7. g.     Authors who agree on the problem but offer different solutions

2)    Develop a thesis that:

1. a.     DESCRIBES THE RELATIONSHIP between your sources

2. b.     DESCRIBES WHY/HOW the relationship exists

3. c.     EXPLAIN WHY it matters to your topic

Each body paragraph needs to work with your thesis. Each body paragraph needs a topic sentence that explains what the paragraph will talk about. A QUOTE IS NOT A TOPIC SENTENCE because someone else’s quote can’t explain YOUR body paragraph. A topic sentence must come from your own brain.

DO NOT simply summarize what the various authors say about your topic without connecting them by using one of the above approaches, but analyze the ways in which your sources speak to each other about the same topic. The essay needs to analyze, compare, contrast, or draw conclusions in each paragraph, all the way through.

5)    End your essay with a concluding paragraph that explains why it was important for you to compare/contrast these authors’ ideas aka why you even bothered writing the paper.

1. a.     How has your work illuminated your idea of the topic/problem?

2. b.     How has your work changed how you’ll write about your problem in your upcoming paper 5?

3. c.     You’ll also want to address the area that you believe researchers have either failed to address fully or perhaps neglected to address at all and offer a plausible reason, if possible as to why such an area has not been researched. 

IMPORTANT!!!

-       Avoid your opinion. Your essay must analyze sources and how they’re talking to one another—save your opinion for your Conclusion and Paper 5: Classical Research Argument paper.

-       Know when to ANALYZE, and when to SUMMARIZE. In other words, one of your essay’s main points is to analyze the dialogue your sources engage in, and not just list facts from your sources.  

Your paper must be a minimum of 4-6 pages long with quotes and in-text citations, and include a works cited page. Everything should be formatted in MLA, and written in your most concise, grammatically correct, and collegiate academic voice.