write the essay

Synthesis Writing

Synthesis refers to organizing material from several texts according to specific themes or traits, inferring relationships among those texts, and integrating your own ideas, theory, or research with those of the texts. Your primary purpose is to show readers that you are familiar with the field and are thus qualified to offer your own opinions. Your larger purpose is to demonstrate that no one has addressed the problem in the way that you intend to in your paper. Synthesis is related to but not the same as classification, division, or comparison and contrast. Instead of simply attending to categories or finding similarities and differences, synthesizing sources is a matter of pulling them together into some kind of harmony to support your argument.

Organizing a Synthesis Essay:

A synthesis essay should be organized so that others can understand the sources and evaluate your comprehension of them and their presentation of specific data, themes, etc.

I. Introduction (usually one paragraph):     1.    Begins with an attention getter related to the focus of your synthesis.     2.    Introduces the texts to be synthesized:             (i)  Gives the title and author of each source;             (ii)  Summarizes your most relevant sources, one after the other;             (ii)  Sometimes also provides pertinent background information about the authors,                    about the texts to be summarized, or about the general topic from which the                    texts are drawn.

    3.    Contains a one-sentence thesis statement that sums up the focus of your synthesis.

II. Body paragraphs: Should be organized by theme, point, similarity, or aspect of the topic. Your organization will be determined by the assignment or by the patterns you see in the material you are synthesizing. The organization is the most important part of a synthesis, so try out more than one format.     Be sure that each paragraph:     1.     Begins with a sentence or phrase that informs readers of the topic of the paragraph;     2.     Includes information from at least two sources;     3.     Clearly indicates which material comes from which source using lead in phrases and             in-text citations. [Beware of plagiarism:  Accidental plagiarism most often occurs             when students are synthesizing sources and do not indicate where the synthesis              ends and their own comments begin or vice verse.]     4.    Shows the similarities or differences between the different sources in ways that make             the paper as informative as possible;     5.    Represents the texts fairly--even if that seems to weaken the paper! Look upon             yourself as a synthesizing machine; you are simply repeating what the source says,             in fewer words and in your own words. However, the fact that you are using your own             words does not mean that you are in any way changing what the source says.

III. Conclusion: Includes a brief summary of the paper’s main points, but doesn’t simply repeat things that are already in your paper. Instead, show your reader how the points you have made and the support and examples you have used fit together. You might want to propose a course of action, a solution to an issue, or questions for further study. This can redirect your reader’s thought process and help her to apply your ideas to her own life or to see the broader implications.

Body Paragraph Synthesis Steps:

1. Choosing sources/Choosing a new idea – If you see a strong quote which may provide some but not all commentary necessary to make your argument, finding a second or third source might strengthen your case. On the other hand, if you have your own idea but feel textual support for it is weak, try looking at a second or third source that may make the logical jump for you.

2. Explaining the quotes individually – You need to have a clear idea of how each of the quotes makes their argument and what they mean. Try writing out a one-sentence explanation of each of them to make sure their ideas are congruous and will fit together.

3. Crafting your idea – Now you must think about how these quotes work together. What are the similarities? The differences? How do they interact? How do they overlap? Does one comment on the other? Try to write out an explanation of what the two might mean for each other: “Author 2 comments on/agrees with/disagrees with/expands on/complicates/etc. Author 1 when he states/argues/discusses/etc. …”

4. Combining the two/Fitting them in your work – Now that you’ve reasoned out how the quotes might be deployed, it's time to write out your synthesis. Remember, synthesis should be deployed to benefit your argument, so make sure it is working towards your thesis.

5. Reflection – While it may be difficult at first, synthesis is very useful since it will help enable analysis, help to prove points that would otherwise be difficult to prove, and provide a good place to employ counter-argument, since the commentary on one source by another gives you a way to show the malleability or failure of an opposing viewpoint.

Adapted from:

Jamieson, Sandra. “Synthesis Writing.” Drew University On-Line Resources for

Writers. 1999. Web. 24 Oct. 2010. <http://www.users.drew.edu/sjamieso/synthesis.htm>.