You must incorporate all three of your academic sources used in the precis assignments, citing appropriately. You may also add information from additional sources that relate specifically to your chosen topic, if necessary, also citing appropriately. I would expect to see your topic introduced and discussed in your first and/or second paragraph.
Use most or all of the following to analyze your idea:
1. Summarize the idea.
2. Explain/analyze your expert’s ideas and research.
3. Explain how and to what extent the other articles/authors agree or disagree with each other.
4. Consider how your experts from your precis agree and disagree with another author.
a. Are the authors all in agreement?
b. How do the findings of the researchers/experts fit together?
c. What is not understood about the idea or what research still needs to be conducted?
d. Does one author extend the research of another author?
5. Besides the three rhetorical precis you wrote previously, what other ideas or research could you find that would help your reader understand either your idea or the research regarding it?
6. Examine the validity of your researcher’s claims in light of the other research.
Below I attached the two assignments that must be included and I will also include the articles I want you to use please !!! make sure the instructions are being followed all the way through please!! an additonal scholar journal is required that will tie the paper together.
Your body paragraphs have topic sentences that introduce the general topic you will cover in that paragraph. This sentence should make it clear how this paragraph supports your thesis. If something isn’t included in the topic sentence, don’t include it in the paragraph. Your topic sentence should NOT contain research, be where you introduce one of your articles, or contain a citation. A topic sentence is limited to introducing the overall topic of the paragraph and possibly transitioning from the previous paragraph. Subheadings are not necessary in a synthesis.
Websites that may be useful:
1.1: Topic Sentences
Topic Sentences and Signposting |
4. Every body paragraph utilizes research, quotes research, paraphrases research, and cites research. Only your introduction and conclusion are excluded from this rule. ALL other paragraphs need to be content (research) driven and contain information gleaned from your precis’ articles or elsewhere. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that I should see a minimum of three citations in each of your body paragraphs. While this isn’t a hard, fast rule, it is generally what I would expect to see. Also, I would never expect to see your rhetorical precis in your synthesis analysis. That is copying and pasting, not analyzing.
5. You clearly explain your topic, current pedagogy about it, and how the articles you found support or refute it. It should be clear if your authors agree or disagree, and how the arguments utilize logos, ethos, and pathos to persuade the audience. Whether or not an argument is sufficiently effective may also be included.
6. Your paper has a logical flow of ideas with intentional organization. I should be able to follow your thinking from Point A to Point B to Point C with relative ease, understanding the purpose for each point and how your synthesis fits together like a jigsaw puzzle.
7. You do not overuse the “I” or “you” words (personal pronouns). It is occasionally acceptable to say, “I think _____” or “I agree with ______’s argument,” but most students throw this in too frequently. One place personal pronouns may be appropriate is in the conclusion. “You” may be used in a body paragraph, but not in the context of referring to the reader or me. When in doubt, find a way to leave it out.
8. You introduce the authors of the other articles you are using for support (these should include, but are not limited to, your precis authors). As a minimum you should include first and last names, a brief credential, and the title of the article (with a year in parenthesis). After the initial introduction, you can simply refer to the author and article by the last name of the author and the year in parenthesis.
9. You have used authors’ names correctly. Only the first time you introduce an author do you use her or his full name. From then on, you refer to them by last name only. If you are quoting Tom Brady, you should say “Brady claims…” NOT “Tom claims…” Also, spelling is important. When I see an author’s name spelled differently on the reference page than you spelled it throughout your paper, I get confused. Don’t mess up on the easy stuff.
10. Your paper is at least four pages long. You need to have this kind of length because it gives you ample room to discuss your authors’ ideas. If you do not have at least four pages, your grade will be adversely affected.
11. You use APA format for both in-text and reference citations. Surprisingly, many students do not take the time to discover what this looks like before submitting their papers, and their scores suffer as a result. There is also a correct format for your title page, running header, and page number that should be followed.
