Let’s write a synthesis paper!!! Or, how I learned to love writing essays!!!

FIRST THINGS FIRST!  We need to read the prompt (duh), and figure out where we will stand on it.  When considering our position, we need to explore as many positions we can think of.  It is not only okay, but encouraged, to see things from many angles. Your position is a position, not your necessarily your opinion.

FORMAL WRITING  Academic and other types of formal writing take more than just fancy language! Writing in a formal style shows a reader that you can examine perspectives using facts, not bias!  Formal writing is in present tense  No Contractions!  No More First Person

FORMAL WRITING  Numbers: spell out when twenty or less (nine, 23, twelve, seven, 42, etc).  Abbreviations & acronyms: must be clearly introduced first.  Keep to the format: MLA or APA are the most common.  Transitions: paragraphs connect to each other through transitional statements.  Do not make assumptions

Ready… set… choose!  Choose a position and focus the rest of this essay on that position.  Collect your evidence!  Determine your position based on the evidence you have collected

Now let’s talk about citations  MLA format  Quotation sentences  See handout for more information

And even worse, I never asked her about what frightened me the most: Why had she given up hope? For after our struggle at the piano, she never mentioned my playing again. The lessons stopped. The lid to the piano was closed shutting out the dust, my misery, and her dreams. So she surprised me. A few years ago she offered to give me the piano, for my thirtieth birthday. I had not played in all those years. I saw the offer as a sign of forgiveness, a tremendous burden removed. “Are you sure?” I asked shyly. “I mean, won’t you and Dad miss it?” “No, this your piano,” she said firmly. “Always your piano. You only one can play.” Let’s take this example from “Two Kinds.” If I am arguing that Tan uses imagery to emphasize conflicts, which evidence would I choose?

And even worse, I never asked her about what frightened me the most: Why had she given up hope? For after our struggle at the piano, she never mentioned my playing again. The lessons stopped The lid to the piano was closed shutting out the dust, my misery, and her dreams. So she surprised me. A few years ago she offered to give me the piano, for my thirtieth birthday. I had not played in all those years. I saw the offer as a sign of forgiveness, a tremendous burden removed. “Are you sure?” I asked shyly. “I mean, won’t you and Dad miss it?” “No, this your piano,” she said firmly. “Always your piano. You only one can play.” Select the BEST PART of the segment that supports your position. Selection should not be more than words.

Now we’re going to work our quote into a sentence. Put simply, other people’s words do not hold their own in our writing. You can introduce quotes, follow up quotes, or surround quotes with our commentary… This is one way to introduce it… Amy Tan uses imagery to emphasize the conflicts, like when she writes, “The lessons stopped. The lid to the piano was closed shutting out the dust, my misery, and her dreams” (24).

Now we’re going to work our quote into a sentence. Put simply, other people’s words do not hold their own in our writing. You can introduce quotes, follow up quotes, or surround quotes with our commentary… You can start with a quote and follow it up… “The lessons stopped. The lid to the piano was closed shutting out the dust, my misery, and her dreams,” is a beautiful example of how Amy Tan uses imagery to emphasize the resolution (24)

Now we’re going to work our quote into a sentence. Put simply, other people’s words do not hold their own in our writing. You can introduce quotes, follow up quotes, or surround quotes with our commentary… Surrounding quotes works very nicely as well… When Amy Tan writes, “The lessons stopped. The lid to the piano was closed shutting out the dust, my misery, and her dreams,” she is using vivid imagery to emphasize the conflic (24).

When you are using the author’s name in the sentence, you do not need to put the name in the parentheses. When Amy Tan writes, “The lessons stopped. The lid to the piano was closed shutting out the dust, my misery, and her dreams,” she is using vivid imagery to emphasize the conflict (24). If you do not put the name in the sentence, you need to put it in parentheses. “The lessons stopped. The lid to the piano was closed shutting out the dust, my misery, and her dreams,” is a beautiful example of how imagery is used to emphasize the resolution (Tan 24).