1. The Synthesis Question

2. The synthesis question will provide students with a number of relatively brief sources on a topic or an issue -- texts of no longer than one page, plus at least one source that is a graphic, a visual, a picture, or a cartoon. The prompt will call upon students to write a composition that develops a position on the issue and that synthesizes and incorporates perspectives from at least three of the provided sources. Students may, of course, draw upon whatever they know about the issue as well, but they must make use of at least three of the provided sources to earn an upper-half score.

3. What moves should a writer make to accomplish this task? Essentially, there are six: read, analyze, generalize, converse, finesse, and argue.

4. Read Closely, Then Analyze First, the writer must read the sources carefully. There will be an extra 15 minutes of time allotted to the free-response section to do so. The student will be permitted to read and write on the cover sheet to the synthesis question, which will contain some introductory material, the prompt itself, and a list of the sources. The students will also be permitted to read and annotate the sources themselves. The student will not be permitted to open his or her test booklet and actually begin writing the composition until after the 15 minutes has elapsed.

5. Second, the writer must analyze the argument each source is making: What claim is the source making about the issue? What data or evidence does the source offer in support of that claim? What are the assumptions or beliefs (explicit or unspoken) that warrant using this evidence or data to support the claim? Note that students will need to perform such analyses of nontextual sources: graphs, charts, pictures, cartoons, and so on.

6. After Analysis: Finding and Establishing a Position Third, the writer needs to generalize about his or her own potential stands on the issue. The writer should ask, "What are two or three (or more) possible positions on this issue that I could take? Which of those positions do I really want to take? Why?" It's vital at this point for the writer to keep an open mind. A stronger, more mature, more persuasive essay will result if the writer resists the temptation to oversimplify the issue, to hone in immediately on an obvious thesis. All of the synthesis essay prompts will be based on issues that invite careful, critical thinking. The best student responses will be those in which the thesis and development suggest clearly that the writer has given some thought to the nuances, the complexities of the assigned topic.

7. Fourth -- and this is the most challenging move -- the writer needs to imagine presenting each of his or her best positions on the issue to each of the authors of the provided sources. Role-playing the author or creator of each source, the student needs to create an imaginary conversation between himself or herself and the author/creator of the source. Would the author/creator agree with the writer's position? Why? Disagree? Why? Want to qualify it in some way? Why and how?

8. Fifth, on the basis of this imagined conversation, the student needs to finesse, to refine, the point that he or she would like to make about the issue so that it can serve as a central proposition, a thesis -- as complicated and robust as the topic demands -- for his or her composition. This proposition or thesis should probably appear relatively quickly in the composition, after a sentence or two that contextualizes the topic or issue for the reader.

9. Sixth, the student needs to argue his or her position. The writer must develop the case for the position by incorporating within his or her own thinking the conversations he or she has had with the authors/creators of the primary sources. The student should feel free to say things like, "Source A takes a position similar to mine," or "Source C would oppose my position, but here's why I still maintain its validity," or "Source E offers a slightly different perspective, one that I would alter a bit."

10. A Skill for College In short, on the synthesis question the successful writer is going to be able to show readers how he or she has thought through the topic at hand by considering the sources critically and creating a composition that draws conversations with the sources into his or her own thinking. It will be a task that the college-bound student should willingly take up.

11. What is synthesis? Writing based on multiple sources requires the ability to synthesize, or combine elements of, several sources to make a point.

12. Strategies/Approaches An easy way to begin practicing this skill is to write a simple synthesis, which is essentially two (or more) summaries related by a simple connection. This means, of course, that you need to remember what is necessary for a successful summary: You must be able to identify your source’s thesis or main point or impression. You must also be able to identify the key ideas the writer uses to support that main point. A good summary restates the source’s ideas in your words.

13. What is a good summary? A good summary restates the source’s ideas in your words. It must be absolutely accurate and must not change any of the source’s ideas or add any of yours. It must also include all ideas and facts the reader will need to understand the source’s point.

14. A short summary may only include the source’s thesis and key ideas; a longer summary, on the other hand, may also include such details (evidence, examples) as you feel may help your reader understand the source. A good summary will also be brief, considerably shorter than the original text. (How long it should be depends on the summary’s purpose and audience.) A good summary also must stand on its own as a successful piece of writing. It must make sense in and of itself.

15. Writing a good thesis… 1.You recognize the main points and key ideas of the sources you use. 2.You’ll also need to decide, based on the purpose and intended audience of your synthesis, what details you should include. 3.Then you need to formulate a thesis for your synthesis.

16. Things to remember… You use sources to make a point of your own. Your thesis is the idea that unifies and focuses your essay, the point you want to make about the subject.

17. all research papers are also synthesis papers in that they combine the information you have found in ways that help readers to see that information and the topic in question in a new way. A research paper with a weak thesis (such as: "media images of women help to shape women's sense of how they should look") will organize its findings to show how this is so without having to spend much time discussing other arguments (in this case, other things that also help to shape women's sense of how they should look). A paper with a strong thesis (such as "the media is the single most important factor in shaping women's sense of how they should look") will spend more time discussing arguments that it rejects (in this case, each paragraph will show how the media is more influential than other factors in that particular aspect of women's sense of how they should look").

18. A strong thesis… Advertising is a single strand in the debate of morality versus economy. Morality vs. money is, and has for a long time, been a controversial issue, ranging from child labor to medication. Although advertising can be morally beneficial and detrimental, it is extremely stimulating to the economy and greatly increases economic welfare.

19. Strong thesis examples Ads have the power to and potential to inform and influence, they educate and persuade. They are a necessary evil in society and are going to continue to be one until people cease to be. Although there are some potentially negative effects, preventing its spread would jeopardize our civil liberties and prosperity.

20. More effective examples… Advertising is mixed blessing, a bait-and- switch tactic-some of it is valuable and educational, while others poison society by creating artificial demand without people even being aware of it. Through scientific study of how to manipulate consumer minds, ads are creating an obsessed, consumer society based on products that are neither healthy nor essential.

21. Not so effective openings… Advertising is a medium of expression that has been around for ages… Anyone who listens to the radio, watches television, or uses the internet…Billboards, tv, radio, magazines…to any human being who views television, turns on the radio, etc. Like all media before it and all media to come, Advertising is important. But advertising does have many positive effects, some of which we will explore…

22. Effective Synthesis

23. Advertisers are good at what they do, they have to be. They’re masters of recognizing opportunities and making the most of them. Cigarette companies are an excellent example of how advertising influences the thought process. Cigarettes are terrible for you, they’ve been called death sticks, cancer sticks and countless other terrible names. Yet the ad industry has continued to increase the size of the consumer market for cigarettes the world over despite the revelation of startling information concerning the health risks (Shaw). If cigarettes were to be sold on taste or appearance alone, they wouldn’t do much. The reason they sell so well is that advertisers are capable of creating a “need” for their products, in this case, cigarettes (Day). In order to establish this “need” advertisers had to influence their customers perceptions of smoking. The continued perpetuation that cigarettes are socially acceptable and that a majority of people do in fact smoke is an idea impressed upon people by cigarette companies (Shaw).

24. Not so effective synthesis

25. Source D argues that advertising is telling us what we need. This is the definition of propaganda-the planting of images in the consumer’s mind to benefit the advertiser. This source then goes on to say that this is not always a bad thing. Day writes that advertising can provide us with information we could not otherwise acquire. Here is where the free trade and prosperity aspect of advertising comes into play.

26. In Source A, it is obvious that the artist is trying to convey a message through his work. The author first grabs your attention by displaying a logo, which makes you stop and look at it acknowledging that it is familiar to you…

27. Effective Transitions

28. Today, the word fraternity is synonymous with the word party, giving the Greek System and their representatives a bad rep. Drinking and drugs aside, one’s commitment to the Greek life is one that lasts a lifetime. It’s been five years since your last mixer and that pink Delta Sigma Theta sweatshirt still reminds you of those epic Friday nights. It’s been five years since your last social and those incoming Delta Sigma Theta Donation Request letters still remind you of the hole the Greek system has burned through your wallet. Going to college is costly. Going Greek is costly too. A study conducted by the….

29. Not so effective transitions

30. My first example is… Next, … Also,… Another reason is that… In conclusion… I believe…