Synthesis Assignment (Page 2 of 3) in pdf

Synthesis Assignment Page 2

The Importance of Your Own Thesis Statement

The purpose of this synthesis paper is for you to present your own point of view - supported, of course, by relevant

facts, drawn from sources, and presented in a logical manner.

Your thesis statement will determine how you relate your source materials to one another, which sources you use,

which parts of them you use, at which points in your essay you use them, and in what manner you relate them to

one another.

Your thesis statement will be your stance on the issue. Your thesis statement will drive the discussion. It will

determine the evidence you present to help support your claims. Support for your claims will come in the form of

facts and expert opinion (from your articles) and your evaluation of the authors’ evidence and reasoning.

OK, so I need a Thesis Statement. What else?

The body of a synthesis essay: should be organized by your discussion of the characteristics, as you have

listed them in your Thesis Statement.

Be sure that each paragraph:

Begins with a sentence or phrase that informs readers of the topic of the paragraph (your Statement);

Includes information from a source (Evidence);

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; when paraphrasing, you are simply repeating what the source says in your own words.

Synthesis Assignment Page 2