So, SUMMARY, e.g., is a response to this inquiry:

2. The previous slide graphically depicts the way thinking progresses as we attempt to solve problems. It’s the Inquiry Cycle. We first wonder or are puzzled about something, and then we put our wondering in the form of a question, or Q. Sometimes this happens so fast we aren’t even aware we are asking the questions. (e.g. My car won’t start up. Oh no! What next? Why won’t it?” Then, we guess or hypothesize –H—about a possible answer or solution to the Q. (“Maybe the battery’s dead.”)

3. But we know our possible H might be wrong, so we have to test—T—the H with the facts—TwF. (“Hmm. No, the lights are all on bright, and the engine turns over.”) If the facts don’t support the H, then we have to create another H, making the process recursive. (“Oh good grief, maybe I’m out of gas!”) We employ the T again, and if it’s consistent with the H, we end up with a theory—Th. The Th then often creates more Qs (“Who used this car last??”) and the process continues… Now, let’s see how the recursive QHTwFTh process, aka The Inquiry Cycle,applies to academic writing.

4. Academic writing takes many forms--summary, synthesis, critique, analysis. Often, a paper is a mixture of all of these, or one form is emphasized… in this case, we need to synthesize the stances taken by the authors of our texts on school reform, as well as discuss what we’ve found through exploratory research on the web.

5. All the forms of writing really are just ways that writers use to report their progress on questions they’ve posed, aka INQUIRIES

6. So, SUMMARY, e.g., is a response to this inquiry: “What is the author saying, and how can I put it into my words?”

7. You are asked think about synthesizing the writers’ assertions/theories, so let’s examine synthesizing more in depth…

8. SYNTHESIS asks this basic question: “What relationship does text X have with text Y?” But, SYNTHESIS requires further thinking…

9. Among the sorts of hypotheses we generate when tackling the synthesizing question, these are the most common:

10. X is likeY in some ways, unlikeY in other ways (this is the simplest & most obvious approach) • X in some ways, reveals instancesof Y • X may be a cause, or an effectof Y

11. To demonstrate these forms of thinking, the following exercise may help…(you don’t really have to do them, but it’s kind of fun…this may be a great activity for your students, too!)

12. …From Jumbled Array to Synthesis • Goal: Formulate “synthesizing hypotheses” from the list of jumbled words. • Take two of the terms (any two you see a possible relationship between), then synthesize their concepts into a single sentence. You’ll need to come up with 3 sentences using 3 different pairs of words; each sentence will display a different one of the three main types of synthesizing hypotheses.

13. See examples below the array. • dizziness asphalt blindfold • right-handedness ignorance fetus • wet paint gymnastics recycling • investment semester exams pacifier • Inaugural Address birthday photographic negative • light years metric system verbs • the right to strike strawberry jam Christopher Columbus • Siberia acupuncture elephant burial ground • Michael Jordan electric blender volcano • balance of trade index First Lady • story home stretch checkmate • plutonium envy ambition • brilliance table quotation

14. EXAMPLES: • Synthesizing by comparison/contrast (X is like Y in some ways, unlike Y in other ways) • Semester exams and birthdays both make the days on which they fall feel special—but birthdays tend to be more pleasant than semester exams. • Synthesizing by exemplification (X is an instance of Y) • Among the words and phrases in the President’s Inaugural Address that annoyed everyone was the over-used phrase “First Lady.” • Synthesizing by cause and effect (X is a cause/effect of Y) • If we have no need to fear being blinded by the brilliance of stars, that is because of their distance from us, which is normally measured in light years.