How to Write a Synthesis Essay

510 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Compare and contrast

What is a synthesis essay? A synthesis essay draws on two or more sources and combines their ideas into a coherent whole. What do I need to write one? Writing a successful synthesis essay will require you to do four things: read accurately and objectively, see relations among different viewpoints, define a thesis based on these relations, support the thesis effectively. You will not discuss all the points in every essay; but you should use every essay assigned, and you should use points from each that are appropriate for the thesis of your own essay. How do I write it? A synthesis essay may be developed in several ways, including the following: Thesis supported by examples. Develop a thesis based on common points among the works, and Support the thesis with appropriate examples from each work. This strategy works well with essays that approach a subject from highly diverse viewpoints. Comparison and contrast. Discuss the similarities and differences in the writers' viewpoints and draw whatever conclusions are possible from your comparison. Argument. If you have a clearly defined opinion about the subject, support that opinion by incorporating the valid viewpoints of the writers of the essays you have selected, and show the weaknesses of those ideas which you feel are not valid. What steps should I take in writing this essay? Consider using the following procedure for writing your essay: 1. Read carefully. First, skimming through the readings and look for similar issues in each essay. Reflect on those issues, and jot down your ideas. Reread and decide on one topic that will unify your essay. Note each essay's thesis and main points. Finally, take notes. 2. Next, determine your thesis. A thesis is a direct statement of a main issue or idea that you have developed from studying the essays. If you are writing a comparison/contrast essay, your thesis may explain the main points of agreement and disagreement among the writers you are dealing with. If you are writing a thesis-with-examples essay, your thesis may state the main idea you have developed from your readings, which will be supported with examples from the readings in the body of your essay. If you are writing an argument, your thesis will state your opinion about the subject and will indicate that you will be supporting your views through an analysis of the essays. 3. Then, organize your essay with your thesis in mind. The type of organization you use depends on your thesis, but in general you should be able to use either block-by-block or point-by-point organization with any of the essay types.

Show More
Related

  • Reflective Essay Writing

    735 Words  | 2 Pages

    With theses, I never knew how to properly tie together my entire idea of the essay into a sentence or two. In my first essay titled

    Read More

  • Sarah's Key Literary Analysis

    1800 Words  | 4 Pages

    One thing that clearly helped as it would in most cases was to read the book. Not only does it provide you with quotations that helt support your thesis, but also gives you an understanding what criticisms would be appropriate to use.

    Read More

  • The Difference Between Physician Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia

    877 Words  | 2 Pages

    Claim or thesis is what you are seeking to prove and what the argument is about.

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451 Thesis Statement

    1589 Words  | 4 Pages

    You should be able to read the main idea for a paragraph, say “helps prove that” and then read your thesis statement and have it make sense. Before writing your paper out, you need to know what those three major arguments you will make will be. Below, write the main ideas for your three body paragraphs.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis: Student Debt

    593 Words  | 2 Pages

    This semester in English 105 I had to write three papers. The three papers were rhetorical analysis, argumentative documented argument. Each paper had a different concept. The first paper we did was an argument analysis of “What We hunger For” from the book, “Bad feminist”. The second paper was a rhetorical analysis of an article, “Student Debt”.

    Read More

  • My Development as a Writer

    583 Words  | 2 Pages

    When writing a five paragraph essay, there are five steps one must fallow in order to attain perfection, these steps include understanding the question, brainstorming, writing a rough copy, revising, and creating a final draft. The first and most important step is understanding the topic. The topic of the essay is what the essay will be about and if this is misunderstood, the whole essay will be off course. The second step, brainstorming, will help organize thoughts and ideas so they flow amiably. There are many different ways to brainstorm, some of the most helpful are making a web of ideas, making a list of ideas, or creating a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the conviction. All these ideas will be related to the topic at hand. For example, if the essays topic is about how the earth is affected by global warming, then the brainstorming ideas might include the ozone lair being reduced or how global climate has raised. The third step when writing a five paragraph essay is creating the rough draft. The first draft must have all the features the final will, but does not have to be...

    Read More

  • Assignment On Rhetorical Devices

    1182 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first article you choose had to be from the previous essay, and the second from any similar text. After that the two articles were then compared and contrasted through their rhetorical devices. The goals for this essay consists of, the develop metacognition of academic writing, reflect on disciplinary differences across academic writing and the rationale for them, and reflect on their own writing and its place within disciplinary conversations, and 2) develop information literacy strategies and skills that transfer across the curriculum, and select and use hardware, software, databases, and other technologies for researching, drafting, and sharing writing. I believe I was able to meet the goals set for this essay. For example, I explained why two different fields of study, criminal justice and psychology had different structure yet had the same

    Read More

  • Causal Analysis Thesis Statement

    528 Words  | 2 Pages

    Your thesis statement is usually one or two sentences in which you detail the point of your essay. Research and develop of your essay/thesis before you begin writing because this statement will help guide the outline of your paper. When writing a causal analysis essay your thesis statement will need to include the causes and effects you are writing about. All essay begins with an introduction and a paragraph or two that allows you to set up the storyline. For example, you are writing about the effects of the “Watts Riots” you may want to begin by stating the reason what cause the riots. This should open the reader interest, the introduction should contain

    Read More

  • Abortion: Do We Need It

    1915 Words  | 4 Pages

    2. What is the difference between a.. Use transitions to connect these ideas to your thesis. Write an outline of the project. Think through the arguments, both for and against your position.

    Read More

  • Reflection Paper

    1322 Words  | 3 Pages

    The very first paper that I had to do was to choose two poems that we went over in class and compare and contrast both poems,

    Read More

  • Wherea The Academic Essay By Kathy Duffin

    352 Words  | 1 Pages

    Writing essays consists of an aim of the proven thesis and the body paragraph which holds evidence that strengthens it. A thesis should be precise and argueable; a visible thesis may cause disinterest and lack of deliberation within the audience. To deliver supporting ideas, it should not be copied and paste on what you have read; rather, think of what and why the author reflects on the passage differently the way you do. Obtaining habits such as reading between the lines, analyzing the text will improve your writing skills and directly have a straight forward comprehension of existence of the argument to your audience. According to the article, Overview of the Academic Essay, Duffin states “You might decide to move from the smallest piece of evidence to the most impressive… Start with the most convincing, then mention other supporting details…hold back a surprising piece of evidence until the very end”. Plotting your evidence in order from a minimal to maximal is one way to persuade the audience and initiate the excitement of the audience to read the last body paragraph. There are two approaches in argumentative structure; deductive and inductive. Deductive is frequently used where a thesis is stated and is supported by gathering information.

    Read More

  • The Lord Of The Flies: Paragraph Analysis

    761 Words  | 2 Pages

    NOTE: This isn’t even close to how I would like the essay to be laid out. I’m just writing paragraphs and eventually I will get them in an order I like them and revise.

    Read More

  • Final Reflection: Grasping the Writing Process

    899 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ragraphs that support the argument. The easiest part of this component was actually inserting it in my essay after I understood the purpose for it, because at the beginning I was confused on the whole thesis concept. The thesis was the most challenging because I kept asking myself "Can I really argue this for five to six pages?" and also "Is this even considered a thesis statement?" I noticed that I can speak and write more effectively when I'm thinking critically and intellectually. My sentence structure has always been strong and I feel it has grown because of the practice we have had in class with finding thesis statements in our readings. My overall issue with this component of the writing process is using a justifiable argument and remembering to support my argument with claims and trying not to put unnecessary points in my paper while maintaining my ethos.

    Read More

  • Personal Insights into Essay Writing Techniques

    1204 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many ways of how one can start writing any given essay thru plainly organizing his or hers thoughts. Great examples are using free write, bullet points, Venn diagram and so on. The method I use which is really helpful is quite different. Let’s say that I was to write a persuasive essay, before writing anything I would look through my folders until I have found a graded persuasive essay. Once In my hand I would then begin writing the essay following the previous persuasive essay’s structure and rules of the essay. Now, both being

    Read More

  • Destiny, Fate, Free Will and Free Choice in Oedipus the King - Power of Prophecy

    991 Words  | 2 Pages

    3. Your paper should be organized so that each point, or each character is discussed in a separate paragraph and you stick to that character until you have fully discussed him or her.

    Read More

More about How to Write a Synthesis Essay

Open Document