Reflecting on the Writing Process for the Synthesis Essay
Process Writing: The annotated bibliography was supposed to help prepare you for the synthesis essay. Describe how completing it helped or didn’t help you write a better essay. Was it easier to come up with paragraphs and topics since the research was done before hand? Did you find yourself going back to the articles or did you stick to the annotated bibliography–why or why not? Do you feel comfortable with the advanced writing technique of synthesis?
Reading: This essay assignment tested your reading skills since you had to understand the arguments of the authors before synthesizing them into paragraphs. Do you feel like you had a good understanding of the sources’ arguments? What readings/sources did you find challenging and how did you overcome those challenges?
Strengths: Using the language of the rubric (see end of the document), state and describe three different strengths of this essay that you’re proud of. For example, don’t mention grammar because it wasn’t in the rubric.
Weaknesses: Again, using the language of the rubric, state and describe one or two items that you think you could do better on if you had more time/energy to work on the paper.
Revision: What was the revision process like for you? Did you get good feedback from your peers/instructor/and/or tutor? What major aspects of your paper were you advised to change? What did you find difficult or easy about the revision process?
Evaluation of yourself: How do you think you did as a peer editor? Did you feel like peer editing was easier the third time around? Did you have a good grasp of the assignment to give good feedback? Did you know what you were looking for? Did you work with a partner to give feedback?
Evaluation of partners: How would you rate your partners’ feedback for this third essay? What could your partners’ have done better? What did they do well?
Future considerations: In ENGL 102, which many of you will take next semester, you’ll be creating an annotated bibliography and writing a research paper that will require you to synthesize your sources. Unlike this assignment which gave you articles and topics, you’ll be expected to come up with your own research questions and find your own sources using the library’s databases in addition to writing the paper. To what extent has writing this essay helped to prepare you for the next level of English? What problems/challenges do you anticipate for your future research writing assignments, and how will you tackle them?
Other (optional): You can state any other comments you want to give regarding your third essay here.
Use this rubric to answer the questions above on strengths/weaknesses:
Rubric: Not using at least 5 sources will result in a failing grade. You may use one source more than once, but use different quotes. Have no more than two quotes in each body paragraph and every body paragraph should have quotes from TWO DIFFERENT authors/performers.
The introduction should hook the reader, introduce the debate on the issue/topic without going into too much detail, show why the topic matters (exigence),and ultimately show your stance on the issue. (review and include the ongoing debate template from They Say/I Say and see how you can expand on it). (25 points)
The body paragraphs should all focus on topics that relate to your research question. You must have at least 4 body paragraphs with clear topic sentences, a they say and an I say. For example, if you choose the topic on social justice, all of your body paragraphs need to start with a specific way in which comedy promotes social justice. After your topic sentence, you should synthesize two quotes/paraphrases from different authors (They say–Show what they say about the topic in your topic sentence). Afterwards, build your I say by explaining the sources together, pointing out nuances/differences, and add your own opinion and examples to support your own view. Do you agree with the two sources? Why or why not? What examples can you point to (think about the stand up you’ve watched for Essay #2 or other comedy you’ve watched)? Also, address counterarguments to show the limitations of certain ideas. (55 points)
In your conclusion, summarize your main points, provide exigence and explain where the conversation about this topic needs to go next. (10 points)
MLA and constraints: Be sure that your essay follows MLA 8 formatting and the following constraints: 12 pt black font, Times New Roman, double spaced, 1 inch margins all around (default setting on Google Docs and Microsoft Word), heading with your name, my name, the class and section, and the date, a header, your title, and a separate Work Cited page. Avoid using you/your or any 2nd person pronouns unless it’s in the hook or something you quote. (10 points)
