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Chapter 4
Explanatory Synthesis
Writing syntheses is covered in two chapters: Chapter 4 introduces the form and focuses on the explanatory
synthesis; Chapter 5 is devoted to the argument synthesis.
This chapter works well as an introduction to writing a research paper. Up to this point, students have worked
with quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing, and critiquing. The next logical step is to have them discuss more than
one source in a paper. This chapter helps prepare students to incorporate sources into the discussion of a paper
topic. Working on thesis statements that suggest an explanation rather than an argument will also help students
understand the difference between explanatory and argument syntheses.
Stress to students that in writing syntheses they are extending what they have already learned and practiced in
writing summaries and critiques. As with critiques, the synthesis requires that students summarize sources and
evaluate them. But the new element here is that a synthesis is based on more than one source, so students must
identify and understand the relationship between or among the sources.
Selecting sources is the first step, but if the authors’ views are too similar, the synthesis may become just a list of
comparable points. If the authors’ views are too different, synthesizing those views might be almost impossible.
The key is to select authors whose ideas are similar enough for discussion but different enough to create some
tension in the paper. Students should ask, “What will my readers realize or learn by my bringing these sources
together that they would not realize or learn by reading them separately?”
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PEER FEEDBACK CHECKLIST: SYNTHESIS
____ Does the synthesis introduce and clearly identify the author and material under analysis?
____ Is the student’s purpose identified?
____ Does the thesis statement name the points that the student intends to address?
____ Does the organization show how the sources relate to one another?
____ Are the key ideas of the sources presented logically, concisely, and accurately in the student’s
own words?
____ Are the authors’ assumptions examined?
____ Is it clear which author is being referred to?
____ Are the language and logic of the authors analyzed and supported by references to the text?
____ Is there a clear relationship between the student’s thesis and each major point in the
synthesis?
____ Does the student’s response to the authors’ ideas connect with the analysis?
____ Are the student’s tone and language objective?
____ Are quotes accurate? Are changes signaled by brackets and ellipses?
____ Are quotations and paraphrases correctly documented?
____ Is sentence structure varied? Are transitional words used effectively?
____ Is word choice effective and free of clichés and jargon?
____ Is the synthesis free of serious mechanical and grammatical errors?
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STUDENT WEB RESOURCES
DREW UNIVERSITY: SYNTHESIS W
RITING
C. Sandra Jamieson discusses synthesis writing and gives examples of synthesizing in everyday life.