Tuesday, November 26, 2013 Synthesis #2 Planning Write Synthesis #2 Paragraph Greek Root Flash Cards

Quick Write: Free Write For your quick write today, do a free write about whatever you want in your composition notebook. Also, please take out your thesis development page from yesterday so that I can check your thesis statement.

Objective, Agenda, and Homework Objective: Students will synthesize information from 3 texts (a video and 2 articles) into a well-constructed paragraph about homelessness and poverty. Agenda: ▫Quick Write and Thesis Check (5 minutes) ▫Synthesis Planning Chart (15 minutes) ▫Good Synthesis Examples (5 minutes) ▫Write Synthesis #2 Paragraph (25 minutes) ▫Make Greek Root Flash Cards (if time allows) Homework: ▫Please read your choice book over the long weekend. ▫Study all your Greek roots since the final is almost here.

Synthesis Planning: Find 2-3 Quotes & Explain—15 minutes Complete the chart I gave you. ▫Find 2-3 quotes from one of the articles and write them down with the page numbers.  Explain each quote. ▫Find 2-3 quotes from a second article and write them down with the page numbers.  Explain each quote ▫Find 2-3 facts from your 30 Days: Minimum Wage video worksheet. Write them down.  Explain each fact.

Writing Your Synthesis Paragraph Once you have found the common theme or idea from the 3 texts, you will develop your thesis. ▫The thesis is the “heartbeat statement” of your synthesis and should guide it. You will then “prove” or “explain” the thesis in a response. ▫To prove your point, you will use 2+ pieces of evidence from each text and explain each piece of evidence. You are essentially looking for the big picture idea and discussing how each of the texts we read/viewed supports that statement. This is your synthesis.

Tips DoDon’t Include page numbers for in- text citations Use generic 3 rd person pronouns (he, she, it, they, people, person, anyone, everyone, and more) Use direct evidence in the form of quotations and specific facts Explain the connection between your evidence and thesis Use: I, me, my, you, your, we, us, our Start sentences with: And, Or, For, So, Just, But, Not Summarize the article or video (instead of using specific quotations and facts) Leave evidence hanging with no explanation of its meaning or connection to the thesis

Example #1 Thesis: ▫In Soul Moon Soup, “Fighting for my freedom,” and “Inocente,” the narrators show the audience how to find hope even in the most desperate situation. Quotation/Evidence: ▫Another example from the documentary is Inocente’s painting called “The Lost Planet.” She claims that this planet is “where lost dreams go.” Explanation: ▫The painting is a metaphor for Inocente’s hope—that hope can never be lost forever and that it will always find a place to exist.

Example #2 Thesis: ▫In Soul Moon Soup, “Inocente,” and “The Fight I Wage,” all the narrators tell about the deep emotional struggles of being homeless, and how the shunning of the general public makes their situation worse. Quotation/Evidence: ▫“But the people with the jobs ask where she lives. The people with the apartments ask where she works. It cost more to live than any job will ever pay to my mama” (33). Explanation: ▫The shunning has led mama to the dreadful conclusion that the homeless life is the only life and she may never recover. Phoebe, a little girl, is also affected by this, and it turns her thoughts unfortunately sour.

Example #3 Thesis: ▫In Soul Moon Soup, “Inocente,” and “As I stand alone,” all 3 sources describe their experience as being lonely because they’re homeless. Quotation/Evidence: ▫The author writes, “I stand alone, you avoid me like the plague.” Explanation: ▫The expression represents how people discriminate and avoid homeless people. Quotation/Evidence: ▫The author also writes, “As I stand alone; your prejudice is everlasting.” Explanation: ▫The key words are “alone” and “prejudice.” Those show how the person feels because of their homelessness.