Synthesis Paper Guidelines

Synthesis means putting ideas from many sources together in one essay or presentation. After reading several articles and books, your task is to organize some of the information around a theme or a question, make generalizations, and then present information (statistics, quotes, examples) in a logical way to support your argument.

Remind yourself that a synthesis is not a summary, a comparison, or a review. Rather, a synthesis is the result of an integration of what you heard/read and your ability to use this learning to develop and support a key thesis or argument.

Instructions

1. Select a topic from the major topics covered in the assigned weeks;

2. Develop an argument, proposition, hypothesis, or theory. If you pose a question, present a tentative answer. Begin your paper with this argument, clearly outlining the ideas you will develop;

3. Identify at least five texts/articles, which you read in this class, and address the theme and/or question on which you chose to focus. Find an additional two to three scholarly resources (not course resources) to support your argument;

4. Read each of your sources carefully and summarize main ideas;

5. Analyze your sources to identify the similarities and differences, or group similar ideas together; generalizing from these similar ideas;

6. Assemble the various generalizations in a logical and coherent way;

7. Focus on the ideas, not the authors of those ideas (your essay should not sound like a list of unrelated ideas by unrelated people);

8. It is highly recommended that you use direct quotes when referring to texts, but make sure you situate your quotes and integrate them into the paper in terms of content and writing;

9. If your argument/question lends itself to this, you can present ideas and refute arguments that challenge them;

10. Whenever possible, make an effort to populate your paper with real-world examples, which support your overall argument;

11. In conclusion, you should summarize your main argument and outline questions that remain open or issues that ought to be further explored.

In a 4- to 6-page paper, synthesize the major concepts of the assigned weeks.

Your synthesis paper must demonstrate both breadth and depth of knowledge and critical thinking appropriate to graduate-level scholarship. It must follow APA Publication Manual guidelines and be free of typographical, spelling, and grammatical errors. The paper should be 4-6 pages in length (double spaced), not including the title page and references.

Be sure to support your paper with specific references to all resources used in its preparation.

The paper will be evaluated according to indicators listed in the Assignment Rubric located in the Course Information area of the course navigation menu. Information on scholarly writing may be found in the APA Publication Manual and at the Walden Writing Center website. Also refer to Walden University's "Code of Conduct and Academic Integrity" in the Guidelines and Policies area of the course navigation menu.