1. 3 Minutes…
How are the synthesis essay and rhetorical analysis essays similar to one another?
How are they different form one another?

2. Synthesis Essay tips (pg. 6)

3. Process for writing… Read and annotate the prompt.
How many sources required???
Decide on a thesis before scanning sources.
Scan sources and ONLY READ THOSE WHICH YOU’RE LIKELY TO USE!
Read sources for main ideas or “killer quotes.”
Outline your essay’s main points and begin writing.

4. Synthesis Essay tips Synthesize not summarize!
Aim for paraphrasing your sources (in one or two sentences) or sticking with partial quotes.

5. Synthesis Essay tips
Partial quotes do not need to be introduced with a comma and do not need to begin with a capital letter.
Susan Sontag asserts that people tend to take photos “to appropriate the thing being photographed” (Source D).

6. Synthesis Essay tips
Full sentence quotes need to be introduced with a comma or a colon and must begin with a capital letter.
Susan Sontag asserts, “To photograph is to appropriate the thing being photographed” (Source D).

7. Synthesis Essay tips IC: “…” (citation).
LIFE Magazine explores the various ways photography can broaden one’s worldview: “They allow us to become citizens of the world and, increasingly, of the universe” (Source B).

8. Synthesis Essay tips
ALWAYS CITE your sources either in the lead-in or in a parenthetical citation
Identify source by author and title, type of source (i.e. political cartoon, chart of Nielsen ratings, etc.), or by designated letter (Source A).
Be consistent in how you cite.

9. Synthesis Essay tips
ALWAYS follow paraphrased and quoted material with an explanation (not a summary) of how that material supports your main idea (in the topic sentence). THIS IS THE SYNTHESIS PART!

10. Rhetorical Analysis (pg. 7)

11. Process for writing…
Read and annotate the background information (SOAPS).
Read and annotate the prompt (more thoroughly than you did on the MC reading test) – Look for tone, patterns in the language, repeated or juxtaposed ideas, appeals to logic, emotion, etc. ANNOTATE!
Scan your annotations and look for what is most important to the purpose and audience.
Outline your essay and begin writing.

12. Rhetorical Analysis Tips…
Stick to an analysis of the text.  Don’t wander off into your own personal experiences or your own opinions.

13. Rhetorical Analysis Tips…
When identifying tone, aim for sophisticated, two-word phrases (poignantly remorseful, serious but faintly condescending, enthusiastic optimism, etc.). - Study your tone words!

14. Rhetorical Analysis Tips…
Use terminology when possible. Use “parallelism” instead of “repetition of sentence styles”; use “diction” instead of “the author’s word choice”; use “juxtaposition” instead of “contrasting opposite images”

15. Rhetorical Analysis Tips…
Avoid defining terms!  For example: “The speaker uses antithesis, which is juxtaposing opposite ideas in parallel form, in order to make the audience consider…”

16. Rhetorical Analysis Tips…
Avoid cliché phrases like “The speaker paints a picture in the reader’s mind.”  Too many students use them, and they never help advance the essay.

17. Rhetorical Analysis Tips…
Don’t write, “The writer appeals to pathos.”  Instead, write, “The writer appeals to the audience’s sense of fear/guilt/patriotism/nostalgia/empathy/etc. when he/she…” or “The writer’s use of _____ frightens/inspires/guilts the audience into thinking…”

18. Rhetorical Analysis Tips…
Don’t write, “The writer uses logos.”  Instead, write, “The writer uses a carefully reasoned cause-and-effect argument to unequivocally show how ____ leads to ____,” or “The writer incorporates numerous examples to support the point that…” or “The writer establishes a logical conclusion that…”

19. Rhetorical Analysis Tips…
Don’t write, “The author uses ethos.”  Instead, write, “The author establishes his/her credibility by…” or “The writer makes himself/herself sympathetic to the audience by…” or “The writer clearly has a good reputation because…”

20. Rhetorical Analysis Tips…
Remember, this essay is the easiest one to write so long as you’ve managed to read and annotate the prompt and text appropriately.  

21. Read “General Writing Guidelines” (page 10) and “Guidelines for Quotes” (page 11)