Rough Draft: Writing Project #2: Reading Multiple Authors and Making connections.

NSTRUCTIONS: Writing Project #2: Reading Multiple Authors and Making connections (Synthesis Essay) – Joining the Conversation

Purpose:

Now we have our topic; we have our research question; we proposed our research; and we have written annotated bibliographies to organize our thoughts. What do we do with all of this?

The two major modes of writing in college are 1 analysis and 2 argument. This paper will ask you to analyze your research by using a technique of analysis called synthesis.

Analysis is about meaning making. Often writers will look at individual sources and break down what each means and why that is important to their thesis.

In a synthesis, writers build on the analysis techniques by bringing these ideas back together. Think about how patterns between the writings/authors exist. Why could those patterns be important or significant? Connecting your research and showing meanings and implications of ideas shared between them is synthesizing the works.

Synthesis is the ability to create a new whole, your own perspective, by studying alternative views on an issue.  In other words, the “new whole” is connecting your sources ideas together to create a new point of view on an issue, something you will obtain through the combination of analyzing the ideas of others and relating them to one another.

Skills: The purpose of English 111 is to help you develop and practice writing and thinking skills essential to your success in college and in your professional life beyond school. Drawing on Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning Domains, we will focus on developing writerly “moves” that characterize strong written communication. This assignment will ask you to practice the following writing skills: Analyzing, Evaluating, and Synthesizing.

Knowledge: This assignment will focus on developing knowledge in the following course learning objectives:

(2) Develop and apply strategies for critical reading, critical thinking, and information literacy.

(4) Analyze and synthesize researched information to develop and support original claims.

(7) Employ correct techniques of style, formatting, and documentation when incorporating quotes, paraphrases, and summaries from sources into compositions.

Task:

This paper will build on writing projects you have done previously in the course and will utilize the same topic and research you compiled for the Critical Annotated Bibliography.  You may (and likely will) refocus and revise your guiding research question for this project, but your overall topic should stay the same.  Textual support for this essay will come from The Little Seagull Handbook Chapters W-16 “Reading Strategies,” R-3 “Synthesizing Ideas” and R-4 “Integrating Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism”

Process: 

1) You will choose four (4) sources from 1-2 from non-academic sources (opposing viewpoints and the internet) and 2-3 from academic sources (Academic Search Premier/Complete, EBSCO).

Remember analysis is about breaking down individual parts to show the meaning and value.

Synthesis is about connecting those parts to show how the individual meetings connect, create a pattern, and make a new meaning when considered together. 

Format:

Length: About 4 pages double spaced 

Use standard fonts and sizes (Times New Roman 12, Calibri 11)

• The final draft of the essay should observe formal formatting and documentation (APA) guidelines 
• You will need to include quotes from at least four (4) of the sources (non-academic and academic).
• Criteria for Success:

Writing Project #2 is worth a total of 150 points (the rough draft is 50 and I will adjust the points to such). A successful finished product will meet the criteria below.

Synthesis Essay Rubric