WRTG 391
Writing Assignment #3
Synthesis Essay
(sometimes called a Literature Review)

 

Writing Assignment #3 will be a synthesis essay, a format that is sometimes referred to as a literature review. 

Please click here for a video that briefly describes and outlines this writing assignment.

Organization:

Your synthesis essay should be organized in the following manner:

• Introduction: Write one or two paragraphs in which you introduce the reader to your topic.
• Body — the categories into which you are dividing the literature: Divide your sources into a few categories.  A suggestion is that you divide them into three to five categories.
• Conclusion: Summarize what the literature says on your topic.

 

Approach:

This semester, you have critiqued an author’s analysis in the critique essay and have critically evaluated several articles in the annotated bibliography.  In this assignment you will synthesize the ideas of several authors in a synthesis essay, or literature review.

For your annotated bibliography, you selected a topic based on your interests and, possibly, your major.  You constructed a list of 12 references and summarized and critically analyzed them in 150-200 words each.

Through this process, you may have seen patterns in the scholarly literature in the topic on which you conducted research.  For example, consider the following examples:

• You may have researched studies in criminal justice and found that there are varying opinions on how to respond to criminal behavior among youth.
• You may have researched studies in psychology and found that counseling strategies for victims of domestic abuse tend to fall into four categories.
• You may have researched graphic communications and discovered that the integration of graphics in business report writing has evolved from the 1970s to the present because of advancements in technology.
• You may have researched articles on gerontology and found studies that answered three basic questions on how older adults respond to training for physical performance.

 

In the synthesis essay, you will focus your research efforts in a particular area, perhaps as a response to what you found while writing the annotated bibliography.  You will then conduct more research and synthesize your findings in this synthesis essay.

Please note that the annotated bibliography was the beginning, not the end, of your research.  You might decide to disregard several of the articles you analyzed in the critical annotated bibliography because they don’t speak to the specific area on which you have decided to write your synthesis essay.  You might select one article that you analyzed in the critical annotated bibliography, look up the articles cited in that article, and “snowball” your research in that way.

In other words, this process is a recursive one.  You might find reasons to hone in on and narrow your topic even further after you have written the annotated bibliography.

 

How to organize the synthesis essay:

When you have focused on your topic, determine how you will divide the literature.  In other words, consider the following examples we described above:

You may have researched studies in criminal justice and found that there are varying opinions on how to respond to criminal behavior among youth. 

You might divide the paper as follows: with subtitles for each category

Introduction

Body

• Category 1: “A” view on responding to criminal behavior.
• Category 2: “B” view on responding to criminal behavior.
• Category 3: “C” view on responding to criminal behavior.
• Category 4: “D” view on responding to criminal behavior.

Conclusion

 

You may have researched studies in psychology and found that counseling strategies for victims of domestic abuse tend to fall into four categories.

You might divide the paper as follows:

Introduction

Body

• Category 1: “A” counseling strategy for victims of child abuse
• Category 2: “B” counseling strategy for victims of child abuse
• Category 3: “C” counseling strategy for victims of child abuse
• Category 4: “D” counseling strategy for victims of child abuse

Conclusion

 

You may have researched graphic communications and discovered that the integration of graphics in business report writing has evolved from the 1970s to the. 

You might divide the paper as follows:

Introduction

Body

• Category 1: graphics in business report writing in the 1970s
• Category 2: graphics in business report writing in the 1980s
• Category 3: graphics in business report writing in the 1990s
• Category 4: graphics in business report writing from 2000 to the present

Conclusion

You may have researched articles on gerontology and found studies that answered three basic questions on how older adults respond to training for physical performance.

You might divide the paper as follows:

Introduction