Write a five-paragraph synthesis essay, illustrating your command of the English language, your ability to synthesize numerous texts, and your mastery of appropriate in-text citations. The goal is for you to demonstrate your understanding of several of the works from our reading list and your ability to recognize common themes among them.
Directions:
- View: The synthesis essay
- Choose a common theme running among three or four of the works from our reading list (select a topic that sparks insightful thinking).
- Identify three sub-topics that support the development of that theme (these may become the topics for your body paragraphs).
- Draft a thesis (you may construct an essay map or an umbrella-type thesis).
- Identify the concept/topic for each body paragraph that supports the thematic connection among two of the texts:
o TextA&TextB
o TextA&TextC
o TextB&TextC
- From each text, find appropriate passages, lines, or words that support the connections and then determine if the exact wording (quoting) or a paraphrase will best communicate the comparison or contrast between the texts (you will need at least one citation from each source discussed in the paragraph; thus, you will need a minimum of two in-text citations—either quotation or paraphrase per body paragraph). You do not need to cite all three texts in each body paragraph, but you must cite a minimum of two texts for each paragraph.
- Draft tentative topic sentences and/or a sentence outline.
- Consider the logical arrangement of the material in the paragraph (reasons, examples, names, numbers, & senses) and the essay.
- Develop strongly worded introductory and concluding paragraphs (Introduce all the works and authors in the introduction; conclude the essay with thoughtful commentary).
- Draft a Works Cited page (see LBH).
- Try to incorporate more than one author within a citation (see LBH) to indicate scholarly ability to synthesize.
