SEE ATTACHED
Hello, Class,
As you know, Writing Assignment #3 requires you to write a synthesis essay based on a topic related to the technological transformation theme that you’ve selected. In this essay, you will aim to identify relationships among the various articles that you assembled for your annotated bibliography. As you put together your synthesis essay, you will want to consider carefully how to effectively use your evidence. Experts at the University of North Carolina offer students the following advice:
“Does evidence speak for itself? No, it does not. After you introduce evidence into your writing, you must saywhy and how this evidence supports your argument. In other words, you have to explain the significance of the evidence and its function in your paper. What turns a fact or piece of information into evidence is theconnection it has with a larger claim or argument: evidence is always evidence for something, and you have to make that link clear.”
The following link provides more discussion on using evidence. Please take a few minutes to watch this short video by Andy Cavanugh, Director of Academic Writing at UMUC.
Assignment:
1. Pick one of the sources that you’ve chosen for your annotated bibliography (WA2).
2. Then, summarize the source in one paragraph and explain
how
it fits the technological transformation theme that you’ve chosen. Discuss
what
turns this information into evidence.
3. You are encouraged to share any thoughts or observations that you may have in response to the summaries provided by your classmates.
Hello, Class,
This week we will begin to understand and practice using the synthesis grid, which is a great tool that helps to identify relationships among sources. Please click on the link below and read the commentary on pages 1 -5(stop reading where the section on “Revising a Synthesis Paper” begins). After you have read the commentary, you will want to look at the sources that you located for WA2 and then think about them in terms of the technological transformation theme that you’ve selected. You are also free to use any new sources that you may have started to locate for inclusion in WA3. Listed below are the instructions for completing this week’s synthesis grid activity.
www.iupui.edu/~uwc/pdf/Literature%20Review%20and%20Synthesis
Instructions
1. Your response for this activity will include a research question related to the technological transformation theme that you have been researching over the last few weeks. Keep in mind that the three themes cannot be used as your research question because they are too broad. You will have to narrow the focus of your chosen theme. Please state your research question by expressing a complete sentence.
2. You will also provide
four (4)
possible answers to your research question. Please provide a complete sentence(s) when stating your answers.
3. Then, you will provide a synthesis grid that includes brief statements, explaining what
four (4)
of your sources have to say about your research question.
4. As always, please provide feedback to at least two (2) classmates, offering any observations or suggestions.
Here’s how your response should look:
Research Question: ________________________
Possible answers: _________________________
|
Possible Answer 1 (provide a brief description or category name) |
Possible Answer 2 (provide a brief description or category name) |
Possible Answer 3 (provide a brief description or category name) |
Possible Answer 4 (provide a brief description or category name) |
|
Source A (provide article title & author’s name) |
|||
|
Source B (provide article title & author’s name) |
|||
|
Source C (provide article title & author’s name) |
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|
Source D (provide article title & author’s name) |
If you encounter formatting issues when trying to copy and paste your synthesis grid into your response note, you may submit a file attachment (either Word or PDF). Thank you.
Theresa
A synthesis essay analyzes differing opinions on a topic. Writer’s Help describes synthesis as:
“[Creating a] conversation about your research topic. You show readers that your argument is based on your active analysis and integration of ideas, not just a list of quotations and paraphrases. Your synthesis will show how your sources relate to one another; one source may support, extend, or counter the ideas of another. Readers should be able to see how each source functions in your argument.” (Hacker, Bernhardt, & Sommers)
Please find more guidance on writing a synthesis essay here:
http://writershelp.bedfordstmartins.com/ebooks/helphandbook.php?page=11_4_6&fromLinkToPage=yes
As you might imagine, it is not easy to manage a variety of opinions on a topic. Therefore, once you feel you have a good understanding of writing a synthesis essay, you should spend some time freewriting on the topic for your own essay. Taking time now to do some freewriting will help you to identify your thought process and what challenges you may encounter in synthesizing the articles that you’ve located.
Feel free to respond here with any questions or comments about the process of writing a synthesis essay.
