How to Write a Synthesis Essay Step by Step
The fact that people deal with synthesis pretty often in their everyday life may surprise you, but that’s true. When you retell someone what your friends’ opinion is on some film or music album, you are involved in the process of synthesis. Synthesis writing isn’t just a comparison of two or more summaries about some objects; it has its own specifics and basic writing requirements you have to follow. Somebody compares a synthesis essay with an argumentative one and mistakenly thinks that they are identical, but that’s not true. Of course, some similar traits may be found, but it’s only at first glance.
The most notable difference between them is that in most cases your lecturer provides you with sources for the synthesis essay. Besides, synthesis requires another way of thinking and summarizing the sources. You have to declare your point of view and support it with the facts found in these sources, but pay attention to the fact that many sources would contain information both for and against your argument. For that reason you should be especially and use all available means reasonably.
What is a Perfect Topic for the Synthetic Essay? If you are given some particular topic, you are lucky and can read the following part of this article. If you don’t belong to this group of students, there are no reasons to be grieved, the issue may be solved. The best topic is the one that encourages you to debate and clearly define your position. There is no sense consider general questions as the possible topic, as all of them are based on general knowledge and provide little discussion. You should also avoid very broad topics and topics with only one correct opinion. Nowadays a big number of worthy topics covers social issues, as they are ambiguous and include a big potential for discussion. When the final decision about the topic is made, you need to reread it and determine what side you share, any vagueness is not acceptable.
Step by Step Guide How to Write a Synthesis Essay. If you have decided on the topic, it’s high time to start working directly on the text.
- Read the sources. This point will help not only to find necessary facts, but also build connections between them. Pay attention both to common and distinctive features, and, without doubts, make notes, otherwise, you may get lost in a big amount of information.
- Correctly apply the sources. Careful reading of sources is far from being enough to support the arguments. The two most common mistakes students make – summarize the sources and structure the paragraphs around the sources. Keep in mind that the experienced writer of the synthesis essay always analyzes the sources and structures the paragraphs around his/her arguments.
- Determine what position you share. Forget about being in two minds, you have to pick one clear position and stick with it. Even if some doubts come to your mind, you can’t show them in your text. In order to make your synthesis and arguments sound good you should support them effectively.
- Create a powerful thesis statement. Your position should be expressed in the thesis, and this point proves that they are inextricably linked. Make a lot of efforts, as your thesis should correlate with every part of the essay, and you will return to it during the synthesis.
- Work on a draft. After you have decided what you are writing about, it’s high time to determine think of how you would like to present your argument. In this case the draft will be useful for you, as it will display the general structure. Place your thesis on the top, after that list your sub-arguments, each of them should be supported with some material based on the sources.
- Start writing. When the frame of the paper is ready, you have to fill it with appropriate information and sharpen the style. The biggest part of the work has been already done, now your task is to reflect your thoughts in words on paper. Always remember about your thesis and use various techniques to develop your essay.
- Check the written text. If the last word is written, it’s necessary to leave the paper for a while. The next step is to look at your essay with fresh eyes. Reread and revise everything you created and correct spelling, grammar and stylistic errors. Make sure that the content is logically built and easy to understand.
