Writing Assignment : Synthesis Essay
General Description
In this essay, students will be given three or more pieces of text. They will then annotate the information in the texts and write an analysis of the texts. In the analysis, they will determine major themes that the authors communicated and will synthesize the main themes in an essay. An informative synthesis will inform a reader of the meaning of various authors' texts. An argumentative synthesis will persuade a reader by making a claim from the authors' texts. Students will be given a choice as to which type of essay, informative or argumentative, they will write. The paper will be written in at least two drafts.
Approach and Requirements
In chapter 9 of your textbook, A Brief to Writing from Readings, Stephen Wilhoit writes on page 171, "in a synthesis, you combine information from two or more readings to support a position of your own." In writing a synthesis, you will read the articles assigned to you, organize the material from the articles into themes, and construct the essay around those themes.
For this writing assignment, you will write either an informative or argumentative synthesis essay. Chapter 9 in Wilhoit's book describes the informative synthesis essay, while chapter 10 describes the argumentative synthesis essay. You will employ the alternating form in your synthesis essay.
You will write a synthesis that incorporates material from the following articles:
• "Teaching, Learning, and Millennial Students," by Maureen E. Wilson
• "Preferred Learning Methods of the Millennial Generation," by Arlene J. Nicholas
• "Generational Differences in Using Online Learning Systems," by James L. Stapleton, H. Joseph Wen, Dave Starrett, and Michelle Kilburn
You will cite these sources throughout the paper and list these sources at the end of the paper using APA format.
Your essay should have the following:
• A title page in APA format
• an introduction with a thesis statement.
Wilhoit explains on page 198 the components of the introduction in an informative synthesis essay. He explains on page 226 the components of the introduction of an argumentative synthesis essay.
• at least three body paragraphs
You will want to follow the alternating format of organization for your essay. This format is explained by Wilhoit on pages 199-200 for the informative synthesis essay and on page 228 for the argumentative synthesis essay.
• a concluding paragraph
Strategies in writing the concluding paragraph are explained by Wilhoit on page 201 for the informative synthesis essay and on page 229 for the argumentative synthesis essay.
• A References page listing the three articles in APA format.
In addition, the formatting of the entire paper should be in APA style. A video tutorial on how to format your paper in APA style is available at the following url:
http://www.umuc.edu/writingcenter/writingresources/multimedia.cfm#APAFormat_new
Length: 1000-1200 words
Some strategies to consider when writing this essay:
On pages 208-211, Wilhoit demonstrates several strategies in writing an informative synthesis. On pages 260-263, he demonstrates several strategies in writing an argumentative synthesis. Please peruse the pages that correspond to the approach you will take in your synthesis essay.
Before you submit the essay to your instructor, proofread the summary for grammatical, punctuation, and other errors.