Synthesis Assignment
Included Earned/Possible Outline due: _________________
_____ Outline (___/20) Draft due: _________________
_____ Draft (___/30) (draft must be four full pages)
_____ W.C. (___/20)
_____ Essay (____/100) Essay due: _________________ Julie’s office hour: ______________
This essay will center on an original thesis—something that you figure out. It should be an insight, a discovery. It won’t be obvious or familiar. It should have some sophistication and nuance. The best and only way to craft such a thesis is to spend a lot of time reading and rereading the essays you choose to work with, reflecting on them, talking about them with others, and thinking about what they have to say about (your) life. Read slowly and carefully, paying close attention to little things that may open interesting doors. Go toward something in the readings that has some pull or resonance for you—something perplexing, bothersome, alien. This kind of friction provides opportunity to figure things out, to ask questions, to pose theories. Choosing something recognizable or familiar or safe often yields uninteresting, cliché claims.
To support your thesis, you will discuss specific details and passages in two of the assigned readings. You must pull your support from two of these texts: Beard, White, Sanders, Slouka, Burroughs, Hurd, Morano. Identifying and selecting relevant supporting details is analysis, and integrating those details into your essay to support your thesis is synthesis. Your essay—with your original thesis and the details you’ve chosen from the two essays—is a new, unique whole. The integration of your thesis, your supporting details, and your use of language to explain how it all coheres represent the workings of your unique and original mind.
The essay will be at least four full pages and no more than five.
12-pt, Times New Roman font; perfect MLA format.
The essay must respond to all aspects of instruction. Review your notes and the rubric
_____ Outline (___/20) Draft due: _________________
_____ Draft (___/30) (draft must be four full pages)
_____ W.C. (___/20)
_____ Essay (____/100) Essay due: _________________ Julie’s office hour: ______________
This essay will center on an original thesis—something that you figure out. It should be an insight, a discovery. It won’t be obvious or familiar. It should have some sophistication and nuance. The best and only way to craft such a thesis is to spend a lot of time reading and rereading the essays you choose to work with, reflecting on them, talking about them with others, and thinking about what they have to say about (your) life. Read slowly and carefully, paying close attention to little things that may open interesting doors. Go toward something in the readings that has some pull or resonance for you—something perplexing, bothersome, alien. This kind of friction provides opportunity to figure things out, to ask questions, to pose theories. Choosing something recognizable or familiar or safe often yields uninteresting, cliché claims.
To support your thesis, you will discuss specific details and passages in two of the assigned readings. You must pull your support from two of these texts: Beard, White, Sanders, Slouka, Burroughs, Hurd, Morano. Identifying and selecting relevant supporting details is analysis, and integrating those details into your essay to support your thesis is synthesis. Your essay—with your original thesis and the details you’ve chosen from the two essays—is a new, unique whole. The integration of your thesis, your supporting details, and your use of language to explain how it all coheres represent the workings of your unique and original mind.
The essay will be at least four full pages and no more than five.
12-pt, Times New Roman font; perfect MLA format.
The essay must respond to all aspects of instruction. Review your notes and the rubric
Cited: list, and cite them as necessary in the essay. To earn the points for the outline, the outline must include the thesis; identify four to six supporting passages from each reading; provide bulleted lists of details (with page numbers as needed) for each supporting passage. The outline must be the product of considerable work and have several pages’ worth of details. To earn the points for the draft, it must be typed in MLA format, it must be at least four pages long, and you must participate in the workshop. When submitting the paper, staple each document separately. Put documents in this order, from top down: final version of essay; draft(s); outline; this assignment sheet. Clip the stack with a binder clip.