Synthesizing Sources

1. Synthesizing Sources

2. Agenda For Today: • Announcements • Library Database Tour • Full class discussion of synthesis and the class prep assignment • Brief Assignment 3 • Grading Criteria • Prep Assignment for Next Class

3. Announcements If you did not turn in your signed Statement of Intent last week, PASS IT UP NOW. -If you did not turn it in last week and also did not turn it in today, the highest participation grade you can receive today (as well as for last week) is 50%. • Also, if you make an appointment with me outside of my office hours and DO NOT SHOW UP, I will take 50% off your participation grade for that week. • Finally, you must choose your topic before you can begin the prep assignment for next class. • Please carefully check the Forbidden Topics List before you start research (to make sure that you have not chosen a topic from the list). • If you begin research and discover that you cannot find scholarly journal articles (that are less than 1o yrs old) then you will probably have to think of a different topic.

4. TTU Library Database Tour: • You must use the database to locate your sources for BA 4 (these are the sources you will be working with for the rest of the semester). • After Mrs. Callender gives the database tour, you will be able to complete BA 4 Prep, due next class.

5. What is synthesis?: “Any piece of writing that integrates material from several sources is a synthesis.” “An explanatory synthesis (whether essay or paragraph length) defines and explains concepts or processes to help readerssee relationshipsand understand ideas.” What are some relationships you saw between the articles you read for the prep assignment?

6. What is the purpose of synthesizing?: “Synthesis allows writers to explore relationships among ideas and to arrange those ideas in a logical and meaningful way.” “The purpose of an explanatory synthesis is to inform, conveying factual information as accurately as possible.”

7. QUESTIONS FOR MAKING CONNECTIONSBETWEEN AND AMONG SOURCES: • What positions do the sources take on the issue? • How do the sources agree? • How do the sources disagree? • What evidence do the sources use to support their assertions? • How do the sources address opposing points of view? • How do the sources organize their main ideas?

8. Words that indicate synthesis: • Words that indicate synthesis show relationships between sources, like these: • agrees • disagrees • goes even further • elaborates on • clarifies What are some words that indicate synthesis in your prep assignments?

9. What synthesis is NOT: • Stacking information from different sources, without establishing their relationship. Example: Chocolate comes to us from South America, where it was once consumed as a bitter, hot beverage, according to Joe Schmoe, author of “Ahh! Chocolate” (12). ImaGoodbar points out that Queen Isabella had an elaborate hot chocolate set that she used on important state occasions (276). Does this happen in your prep assignment?

10. What synthesis is NOT: • False relationships between sources. Example: Perhaps the biggest reason taxpayers should be given a standard chocolate deduction is the importance that it has to our entire economy. Nicole Kidman, author of “If I Ate Anything, It Would Be Chocolate,” writes, “So much in our society is dependent upon our ability to attain chocolate, whether this is through cocoa powder, mocha lattes, or a Cadbury Cream Egg” (42). But in his article “Chocolate Tastes As Good As Halle Berry’s Tonsils,” Adrien Brody disagrees. He states, “Chocolate is important to American life, but I like vanilla, too” (67). Does this happen in your prep assignment?

11. What synthesis is NOT: • Random synthesis words thrown in for good measure. Example: One reason chocolate should be on every elementary school lunch menu is that it makes students feel so good. Rita Dove, president of the Dove Chocolate Corporation, agrees, stating, “Chocolate is the perfect end to a satisfying luncheon” (qtd. in Craigo 18). Does this happen in your prep assignment?

12. Brief Assignment 3: Synthesizing Sources • Purpose: To demonstrate your ability to synthesize source material. • A mistake many students make on this assignment is summarizing the content of each article in its own paragraph. More than one source should be analyzed in each paragraph. • You will want to identify a common theme or idea that you see running through all of the articles and focus on how each article develops or contributes to the theme. • The theme of “technology” is NOT appropriate to write on for this assignment. Technology is the SUBJECT the articles all focus on, not a common theme that runs through all the articles.

13. Brief Assignment 3: • "Virtual Friendship and the New Narcissism” (Christine Rosen) pp. 321-328 • “Virtually Trustworthy” (Judith Donath) pp. 329-331 • “Thx for the IView! I Wud ?2 Work 4 U!! ;" (Sara E. Needleman) pp. 342-345 • 400 – 600 word ESSAY (intro, thesis, body, conclusion) • Your synthesis should: • Identify a common theme or idea that you see running through all of the articles. • Focus on how each article develops or contributes to the theme. • Have a thesis statement based on one common theme or idea that runs through all three articles. • Describe the common theme, explain how each author develops the common theme, and then explain how each article relates to the others. What are their similarities and differences? Why are these similarities and differences important to the theme which you are examining?

14. Brief Assignment 3: • You MUST use proper in-text citations. • We are REQUIRING a works cited on BA3. • Section 16 in the St. Martin’s e-handbook has the information for in-text citation and works cited entries. • Here is the works cited entry format for works from your textbook: Power, Carla. "Not the Queen's English." First Year Writing: Writing in the Disciplines." New York: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2011. 371-375. Print.

15. Grading: • C1—Issue Identification and Focus Does the student focus on a common theme or idea that runs through each article?  • C2—Context and Assumptions Does the student show an awareness of the context in which the source was written? • C3—Sources and Evidence Does the student thoroughly explore the relationship/connection between the articles? Does the student use MLA format correctly?

16. Grading: • C5—Own Perspective Is the student’s own voice apparent or does the student just summarize the viewpoints of the authors? • C6—Conclusion Does the conclusion effectively pull the analysis together?  • C7—Communication Is the essay organized effectively?   How effective is the student’s writing at the sentence level?

17. Reminders: Section 60: As I wrote on the blog, you guys are having your book check today!

18. For Next Class: • Reading 4 – on the syllabus • I have posted two documents to the class blog under “Reading.” They are titled “Synthesis Examples,” and “Verbs and Structure.” Please read these as well. They are only 1 page each. • Prep Assignment for BA4 • Due in class next week • BA 4 is an annotated bibliography. The BA 4 Prep will help you find the articles that you may end up using on your BA 4. Your assignment will be to find 8-10 articles on your chosen topic. • See the handout for BA 4 preparation on under “Prep Assignments” on the class website. • Print and bring the pages from this section from the e-handbook with you: 14c, 6thed – 12c, 7thed