Writing a Multiple-Source (Synthesis) Essay

Part One

PREPARING THE SYNTHESIS:

1.)  The first step in writing a good synthesis is to identify the ideas discussed by each writer.  On a sheet of paper, identify the thesis idea of each writer.  Then make a list of the supporting ideas discussed by that writer.  If any examples, statistics, or other types of support seem particularly important, make a note of them too.

2.)  Once you have listed the ideas that each writer discusses, you need to look for the relationships among those ideas.  Sometimes the relationships are easy to see.  For example, let's say that you have read several articles on gun control and have noticed that most of them referred in one way or another to the Second Amendment to the Constitution.  Part of your synthesis paper, then, would report how the writers used the Second Amendment in their arguments.  Unfortunately, sometimes the relationships between ideas are not easy to see.  If you do not see any clear relationships among the points you have listed, consider these questions:

• Do one writer's ideas support another writer's ideas?  If so, how?
• Do the writers who reach the same conclusion use the same ideas in their writing?  Or do they use different ideas to reach the same conclusion?
• Do the writers who disagree discuss similar points, or do they discuss completely different points?
• Are any of the ideas you have listed actually the same idea in different words?

ORGANIZING THE SYNTHESIS:

How you organize your synthesis will depend upon the sources that you have read.  Let's consider the following example: Suppose you have read several articles about protecting an endangered species in America's northwestern forests.  One of the articles was written by a spokesperson for the logging industry, one by a member of the Sierra Club, one by a homeowner in Seattle, Washington, and one by a biologist at Washington State University.  Perhaps each article reached a different conclusion about protecting the endangered species, yet you were able to find three or four points that some of the articles had in common--even if they disagreed about those points.  You could organize such a paper as follows:

Point-by-Point Organization (IDEAL):

I.  Introduction
II.  One point discussed by two or more of the articles
III.  Another point discussed by two or more of the articles
IV.  Another point discussed by two or more of the articles
V.  An optional paragraph mentioning one or more major points discussed in only one article each
VI.  Conclusion

The "point-by-point" organization above will work if you can identify similar points discussed by different sources. (Remember, the sources do not need to agree about the points.)

However, sometimes you will read several articles that do not discuss any similar points, even though they are about the same topic. In such a case, you can briefly summarize what each source has to say. If each source focuses on one major issue, you can summarize the major issue in each paragraph.

Source-by-Source Organization (VERY POOR):

I.  Introduction
II.  Summary of one source
III.  Summary of another source
IV.  Summary of another source
V.  Summary of another source
VI.  Conclusion

Alternative Source-by-Source Organization (POOR):

I.  Introduction
II.  One major point discussed by only one source
III.  Another major point discussed by only one source
IV.  Another major point discussed by only one source
V.  Another major point discussed by only one source
VI.  Conclusion

Remember, however, that the two "source-by-source" organizations above are "weak" in that you are only working with one source at a time. The major weakness is that you are simply summarizing each source, one at a time, without really "synthesizing" them in any way. (Remember: "synthesis" means "bringing together" or "blending" sources into a "new" text.) If you choose a "source-by-source" organization, you might want to include 1-2 paragraphs before the conclusion in which you attempt to "synthesize" ideas you have found in more than one source, for example:

Revised Source-by-Source Organization (FAIR):

I.  Introduction
II.  Summary of one source
III.  Summary of another source
IV.  Summary of another source
V.  Summary of another source
VI.  Synthesis paragraph -- one commonality among the sources
VII. Synthesis paragraph -- another commonality among the sources
VIII.  Conclusion

Of course, as often as not, you will find some points that overlap from article to article and some that do not. In such cases, you can use an organization that is a blend of the ones shown above.

A Blended Organization (GOOD):

I.  Introduction
II.  One point discussed by two or more articles
III.  Another point discussed by two or more articles
IV.  One major point discussed by only one source
V.  Another major point discussed by only one source
VI.  Conclusion