BA 3: Synthesizing Sources

1. BA 3: Synthesizing Sources

2. BA3 • This is another assignment specifically developed to aid you in preparing for the literature review. • In your literature review, you will need to synthesize the sources you’ve found. It’s important to understand how to approach identifying connections and synthesizing the information for your reader. • Synthesis is more than summary and more than describing one source after another.

3. BA3 • Before beginning the assignment, read the “Helpful Information on Synthesis” handout found on the class blog. • We are asking you to go beyond summarizing the sources or simply comparing and contrasting their content. • We want you to find a common theme in these articles and thoroughly explore the relationships/agreements/disagreements between the texts.

4. BA 3 • BA 3 is a synthesis of three texts from your textbook for this course (p. 350-375). • 1)Read each article through once so that you understand its scope and the author’s argument. • You must read all three essays, and you need to read actively. Highlight important passages and keep track of the themes or points each author is discussing.

5. BA3 • 2) Go back through each article again and note common themes and ideas. • What are the things these authors agree and disagree about?(Something more detailed and less obvious than “language” or “English.”) • We did something similar in the participation assignment.

6. BA3 • 3) Create a working thesis statement based on one common theme or idea that runs through all three articles (a statement that will tie all three articles together in some way).  • There will be several possible common themes or ideas for you to choose from.  Pick the one that you can develop in the most detail. • In the introduction of your brief, remember to introduce the authors’ names and the titles of their essays. The titles of essays should be “Inside Quotation Marks with Every Major Word Capitalized for Correct MLA Format.” • Your thesis statement should also appear in the introduction.

7. BA3 • 4) Then, write a 500 word essay which summarizes and synthesizes these articles. In other words, describe the common theme(s), explain how each author develops the common theme(s), and then explain how each article relates to the others. • What are their similarities and differences? Why are these similarities and differences important to the theme which you are examining? • You must go beyond just summarizing the sources: provide connections and point out the relationship of the common themes and ideas in the sources.

8. BA3 • Synthesizing is not discussing each source individually in its own paragraph! More than one source should be discussed in each paragraph. • Don’t simply discuss each source in its own paragraph! • Summarizing each source in its own paragraph tells the grader that you have missed the point of the assignment.

9. Example Outline • Introduction • 1.Contains a one-sentence statement that sums up the focus of your synthesis. • 2. Also introduces the texts to be synthesized: • (i) Gives the title of each source (following MLA style); • (ii) Provides the name of each author; • (ii) Sometimes provides pertinent background information about the authors, the texts, or about the general topic

10. Example Outline • Body Paragraph(s) • This should be organized by theme. It should also: • 1. Begin with a sentence or phrase that informs readers of the topic of the paragraph; • 2. Include information from more than one source; • 3. Clearly indicate which material comes from which source using lead in phrases and in-text citations • 4. Show the similarities or differences between the different sources in ways that make the paper as informative as possible

11. Example Outline • Conclusion. • When you have finished your paper, write a (brief) conclusion reminding readers of the most significant themes you have found and the ways they connect to the overall topic.

12. MLA Style • You will need to provide textual evidence for your assertions with good quotes and paraphrases from the text. • “Remember that a textual citation needs the author’s last name and the page number” (Angell 11). • However, Angell states that “if you use the author’s name in a signal phrase at the beginning of the sentence, only the page number needs to appear in the textual citations” (11).

13. MLA Style • Your works cited list should have three entries and should be titled “Works Cited.” • Below is an example of how to cite an excerpt from your textbook. Use this example to create correct citations. • Power, Carla. "Not the Queen's English." First Year Writing: Writing in the Disciplines." 4 ed. New York: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2010. 371-375.

14. Exercises • MLA Citation • Ineffective and EffectiveSynthesis • Black Swan practice assignment

15. Participation Homework • Bring 10 sources and paragraph to class. • This means physically bring all 10 sources: bring books, print out and bring articles, etc. • More detailed instructions on the class blog under “Sources Participation Homework.”

16. Bonus Participation • Research scavenger hunt. • Can take the place of one future participation assignment (not including rough drafts). • On the class blog under Participation Homework.

17. What’s Due? • Friday: BA3 • Next Class: Bring 10 sources and paragraph to class.