1. Synthesis Part II Developing and Organizing Support for Your Arguments
2. Provide Evidence in the Form of Facts, Statistics and Expert Opinion Summarize Paraphrase Quote Make sure to adopt a documentation style that is standard in your field. If you don’t know or have a style that is common, use MLA documentation style for this course.
4. Engage the Reader Emotionally by Appealing to Self Interest Erotomania can be defined as a psychological disorder in which the afflicted relentlessly pursues the notion that the object of his/her affection reciprocates his/her romantic feelings and/or fantasies. Strangely the erotomaniac fails altogether to see the victim's lack of interest.
5. Use Climatic Order Make your strongest point last and the second most memorable point first.
6. Use Logical or Conventional Order Problem/Solution Two sides of a controversy Comparison-and-contrast Following the conventions of the discipline (lab reports, business plans and so forth)
7. Present and Respond to Counterarguments Introduction and claim Main opposing argument Refutation of opposing argument Main positive argument
8. Use Concession Introduction and claim Important opposing argument Concession of opposing argument validity Positive arguments
13. How do you develop a comparison and contrast synthesis?
14. Organizing by Source or Subject First, summarize each of your sources or subjects Next, discuss the significant similarities and differences between them
15. Organization by Source Will Look Like This: 1. Introduce the paper; lead to thesis 2. Summarize the source of Subject A by discussing its significant features. 3. Summarize the source of Subject B by discussing its significant features. 4. Write a paragraph where you discuss the significant points of comparison and contrast between sources or subjects A & B 5. End with a conclusion where you summarize your points and raise pertinent questions
16. Organization by Criteria Introduce the paper and lead to the thesis 2. Criterion 1: Discuss what author one says and discuss what author two says as a comparison and contrast or present what author one says and present author two in light of the first author’s opinion and present differences 3. Criterion 2 and so forth, repeat the above step. 4. End by summarizing key points and raising key pertinent questions
17. Avoid the “So What” or “Why did I bother reading this” ending Conclusions should be meaningful to your reader. Comparison and contrast is not an ends to itself Raise pertinent questions
25. Exercise Brainstorm of list of topics for the synthesis essay. Locate two sources of information for your essay. What type of synthesis will you develop? Explanatory or Argument? Explain your purpose? What is the “so what” factor that will conclude your essay? How will you organize your material? Post your answers in the form of an entry on your blog.