Synthesis is the kind of paper that looks at how a collection of articles approach a subject. In other words, it is reflective and requires you to think and analyze across a number of sources. We will be reading some short essays, watching a Ted talk, and visiting a few websites on the topic of the slavery in America and where we are now in the black lives matter movement. You will be looking for places where the sources agree, disagree, reinforce, subvert, and contradict. This is a paper where the sources are talking to each other and you are presenting your analysis of the places where they agree and contradict each other. Write a well-crafted thesis statement stating how you will analyze how the sources are synthesized. You will be quoting from the sources, so do not forget quotation marks and a works cited page.
The paper will be 1,500-1800 words. Some of the things that might be included in your paper are:
A short description of how you came up with the structure of your synthesis
3-4 examples where the sources agree, disagree, reinforce, subvert, or contradict
Where do the articles show convergence (coming together) or divergence (moving apart)?
You are looking for the themes that run through the various sources.
How are the authors talking to each other through their work?
Do ideas from one source subvert ideas from another one?
