This document provides guidance on developing arguments and organizing support for synthesis essays. It recommends using facts, statistics, and expert opinions to support arguments while summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting sources. The document also suggests appealing to both reason and emotions, engaging readers by appealing to self-interest, and using climactic, logical, or conventional organizational structures. Additional tips include presenting and responding to counterarguments, using concession, comparing and contrasting sources by criteria or subject, avoiding common fallacies, and concluding essays with meaningful "so what" questions.

1. Synthesis Part IIDeveloping and Organizing Support for Your Arguments

2. Provide Evidence in the Form of Facts, Statistics and Expert OpinionSummarizeParaphrase QuoteMake 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.

3. Appeal to Both Reason and Emotions

4. Engage the Reader Emotionally by Appealing to Self InterestErotomania 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 OrderMake your strongest point last and the second most memorable point first.

6. Use Logical or Conventional OrderProblem/SolutionTwo sides of a controversyComparison-and-contrastFollowing the conventions of the discipline (lab reports, business plans and so forth)

7. Present and Respond to CounterargumentsIntroduction and claimMain opposing argumentRefutation of opposing argumentMain positive argument

8. Use ConcessionIntroduction and claimImportant opposing argumentConcession of opposing argument validityPositive arguments

9. The Comparison and Contrast Synthesis

10. Compare: look for similarities

11. Contrast: look for differences

12. Discover the significant criteria for analysisq

13. How do you develop a comparison and contrast synthesis?

14. Organizing by Source or SubjectFirst, summarize each of your sources or subjectsNext, discuss the significant similarities and differences between them

15. Organization by Source Will Look Like This: 1. Introduce the paper; lead to thesis2. 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 & B5. End with a conclusion where you summarize your points and raise pertinent questions

16. Organization by CriteriaIntroduce the paper and lead to the thesis2. 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 differences3. 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” endingConclusions should be meaningful to your reader. Comparison and contrast is not an ends to itselfRaise pertinent questions

18. Avoid Common Fallacies

19. The Explanatory Synthesis: Help Readers Understand a Topic

20. Divide a Component into Its Parts and Present Them to a Reader

21. Description that recreates an event, place, emotion or state of affairs

22. Appear to be reasonably objective in manner

23. Emphasizes the sources themselves and not the writer’s opinions

24. Goal is to inform and not to persuade

25. ExerciseBrainstorm 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.