1. EXPLANATORY SYNTHESIS Bawcom
SYNTHESIZING
EXPLANATORY SYNTHESIS
Bawcom

2. WHAT IS A SYNTHESIS?
A synthesis is a written discussion that draws on two or more sources.

3. WHY THE HECK DO I HAVE TO KNOW HOW TO DO ONE?
In academics in order to answer essay questions such as: “ Compare what Author A and Author B have to say about topic X. How are their views alike and how are they different?” In order to do an informed, well-thought out research paper.

4. ACADEMIC CON’T
OR (more subtly) “ Authors A, B, and C all address topic X. Which do find most convincing?” Both assignments would require you to form and defend a thesis by drawing information from two or more readings.

5. MORE REASONS In the workplace in order to:
Synthesize ideas and proposals into one coherent plan
Synthesize multiple ideas, events, and proposals into concise form.

6. WORK PLACE CON’T.
Synthesize information from various sources to present in Web pages and related links.
Compare and contrast solutions for solving problems.

7. HOW DO I START? DECIDE ON A TOPIC (Whew!-that’s been done)
DECIDE THE PURPOSE (Whew again!) (Remember, the ultimate purpose is to decide what your arguable stance will be).
SELECT YOUR SOURCES (Half a whew)

8. HOW DO I KNOW WHAT SOURCE TO USE?
Search for materials. Make a preliminary selection based on the information available. Select more than you think you will need.
Scan though the material, evaluating it according to the following criteria:

9. (Non-exhaustive) CRITERIA
The content:
provides a good overview of background information; describes general concepts;
Are there facts and specific information that would be useful?

10. CRITERIA CON’T
Is the information objective and logical? Or if biased, does it ‘answer the opposition’, or recognize its bias?
4. Do you expect to look for additional sources to complement it ?

11. CRITERIA CON’T. Organization:
Does it have an index, table of contents?
Does it have titles and subtitles?
Is it logically ordered?

12. CRITERIA CONTINUED
Date of publication (current?)
Check both the date of publication and the original copyright (should be no more than 5 years old)
Sources of Information (citations, works cited from the source)

13. CRITERIA CONTINUED Does the author have a background
Credibility (author, publisher)
Does the author have a background
indicating sufficient knowledge in the subject?
a. academic background
b. professional affiliations and activities related to the topic
2. Does the author appear to be objective or are statements of opinion given?

15. RELEVANT? RELIABLE? CREDIBLE? OBJECTIVE? CURRENT? IN A NUTSHELL
IS THE SOURCE :
RELEVANT?
RELIABLE?
CREDIBLE?
OBJECTIVE?
CURRENT?

16. OKAY, I HAVE A SOURCE, NOW WHAT?
WRITE DOWN(SAVE IN A FILE) ALL THE BIBLIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION YOU WILL NEED as you would for the for the WORKS CITED PAGE; this will save you time at the end.

17. NOW WHAT? CON’T.
SEE: ST. MARTIN’S or ON-LINE WRITING HELP FOLDER ON WEBCT.
IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT KIND OF SOURCE YOU HAVE ASK.

18. HOW DO I START?
Scan the material.
Look for similarities in ideas, opinion, statistics, and so on.
Decide if it will be useful (see criteria).
Find and underline or takes notes on the main points.

19. HOW DO I START CON’T. Put those points in your own words.
Decide if any part is worth quoting.
Organize the material putting similar ideas together.

20. THESIS STATEMENT?
You must have a thesis statement.
The thesis statement will be the main idea of what you are going to write about. It is the focus of your paper. (the last sentence of your introductory paragraph). This will become more apparent through your reading when looking for patterns and similarities.

21. HOW DO I START WRITING ?
ORGANIZE YOUR MATERIAL by CONCEPTS (NOT SOURCES)
WRITE SOME KIND OF AN OUTLINE
DRAFT THE TOPIC SENTENCES

22. HOW DO I START? CON’T
WRITE DOWN A FEW POSSIBLE THESES STATEMENTS AND THEN
CHOOSE THE BEST ONE (You may need to revise it)
WRITE YOUR FIRST DRAFT

23. AND FINALLY? DOCUMENT YOUR SOURCES. WRITE THE WORKS CITED.
REVISE, EDIT, REVISE, EDIT ETC,ETC, ETC.
DOCUMENT YOUR SOURCES.
WRITE THE WORKS CITED.

24. I’M STUCK!! GO TO THE WRITING LAB! SEE ME! TALK WITH YOUR CLASSMATES
DO ALL THE ABOVE!!!!!!

25. THE BEGINNING
GOOD LUCK !!!!