Synthesizing Multiple Sources

Synthesizing Multiple Sources

Once you have found and read your sources and discovered their similarities and differences, you then reassemble (put together) these parts into a more coherent whole.
We call this process “synthesis.”
To synthesize is to combine two or more distinct items into a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
To synthesize sources in a research project/essay is to combine the ideas of multiple sources, as well as your own ideas and insight, into a paper that develops a single thesis.
The following guidelines will help you to synthesize sources successfully.
(Adapted from: http:// www.snow.edu/~jeffc/write/rhetoric/synthesis.html)
1. Narrow down your focus. Ask yourself what is the main point that you are going to make in your essay. Do not try to synthesize everything that your sources have written/said. Instead, choose a single, narrowly-focused idea that each of your sources develops in some way. Bring together only the information that refers to that idea. Omit extraneous (not directly connected to your focus) information.
2. Choose a source’s ideas that relate to or can help develop your focus. It is up to you as the writer to determine the extent to which each source’s ideas that match your focus. Indeed, the most successful writers are those who can both perceive and explain a relationship between sources that might otherwise seem unrelated.
3. A key to any synthesis is your ability to use transitional words and phrases to help your readers see the relationship between ideas. Words like “furthermore,” “moreover,” and “likewise” all indicate the similarity between one set of ideas and another. The phrase “for example” can show that one set of ideas illustrates another. Please refer to our handouts for transitions.
4. The following illustrates the organization of a typical synthesis:

Source 1
Summarize your first source’s attitude or point of view
Source 2
Summarize your second source’s attitude or point of view
Source 3
Summarize your third source’s attitude or point of view
Source 4
Summarize your fourth source’s attitude or point of view








Synthesis is also a term that describes a connection between sources. Here are some examples of these connections:
(Taken from: http://personal.bgsu.edu/~florenb/portfolio/synthesis.pdf)

Two (or more) sources that agree:
…Simpson concludes that listening to rock music can alter the way an adolescent fits into normal society (p.402). Jerry Roberts, child psychologist and author of “Vanilla Ice IS the Devil,” agrees, stating “Rock music is the boon of youth. Our future has long, shaggy hair, black eyeliner, and leather boots. Is this what we’ve been working for?” (p. 333)

Two (or more) sources that disagree:
…While Consumer Reports claims that food can be healthy (p. 223), others believe their definition of “healthy” is somewhat skewed. J.M.Clark, a nutritionist and undercover fry cook at Hardee’s, in his article entitled “Hey Man, No Go” from Greasy Spoon magazine, disagrees. He states, “Fast food is good only for the economy of the small business. ‘Healthy’ not only implies a lack of harm, but also some nutritional value. Fast food is not nutritious” (pp.111-112).

One (or more) sources that expands the ideas of or provides an example for another:
…Wartman states that the film Gladiator is cheap entertainment thinly veiled as art (p.14-21). Wartman is correct, but he does not go far enough. Geronimo Siskbert, move critic for The BG News, elaborates in her review, “Sadiator.” She claims that not only does the film do the things Wartman says, but much more, nothing, “Ridley Scott’s movie cheats its audience by using sub-par actors, then wastes the talents of Russell Crowe by restricting his dialogue and turning the movie into hard R-rated WWF” (p.11D).

###Each source is properly cited, with the author introduced and source qualified for the initial citation. Also keep in mind that these examples are simple, and that you can include more sources or text in between your citations, as long as the connection is made with clear transitions (i.e., agrees, disagrees, insists, etc.) which show why and how you are connecting them in the first place.###