Many people get confused between a synthesis essay and a simple essay. They think it as just another kind of regular five-paragraph essay but in reality, it’s not. Synthesis essay has its own rules and conditions and if you don’t follow them then your essay wouldn’t be a synthesis essay. Don’t worry, in this blog, we will discuss writing a perfect synthesis essay.
Table of Contents
What Is A Synthesis Essay?
Before we start how to write synthesis essay, it is necessary to know what is a synthesis essay or synthesis essay definition. What does synthesize mean? It is an advanced type of writing.
The word synthesis means to collect data from different sources and then create unique content. In other words, you need to first synthesize the source and then you make a claim. After claiming, you have to support your claim with the data that you stored in the source.
Below is the synthesis essay writing plan:
- Collecting data/material
- Creating a claim or thesis
- Formatting essay
Synthesis Essay Structure
If you look at sample synthesis essay then you might notice one thing common and that is its structure. There is a special synthesis essay format that you should use otherwise it won’t be interesting. Remember, you need to write in a way that grabs the reader’s attention. Following is the synthesis essay structure:
- Introduction: Every synthesis essay outline will begin with an introduction. You must be wondering how to start: the answer is a catchy introduction. Do remember that your first sentence should be attractive otherwise, your reader will get bored and eventually won’t read the rest.
- Body: Every first line of the paragraphs should support your thesis statement. You need to explain your topic and if possible, you can also add your opinion. Do defend your thesis statement by explaining and giving proofs otherwise people will find your statement weak. In other words, your synthesis essay will not be interesting to read.
- Conclusion: The most important part that many people make a mistake is the conclusion. In this part, you will conclude your entire essay which means that you need to give a small summary of your essay. You should tell your reader the importance of your topic and also the evidence as well as the reasons that you mentioned in your essay. You can learn how to write an effective conclusion by reading synthesis essay examples.
How To Write A Good Synthesis Essay
When we talk about writing a synthesis essay, one should remember at least 2 key steps:
- Step one: Collect data, as much as you can
- Step two: Present it in an organized manner.
Before you start writing, you need to understand the synthesis essay topics. The main objective of writing a synthesis essay is to make connections between two or more different works with one goal of supporting a claim eventually.
The best way of collecting data is from the internet or library. There is no problem in search or collecting materials from different sources. Just go through the material and collect all the important points and you can make a summary.
Now it is time for writing. You need to take out your important points or summary and now free-write brainstorm. Furthermore, you need to map out every point or ideas relating to the topic.
A pro tip for you is to always create a sythesis essay outline. It will allow you to check as well as logically organize the sources. Remember that you need to develop your analysis, perspective, and interpretation. However, you can find different ways to organize the data depending on how you want to argue.
The key point is to organize data so that people can judge your comprehension of the source. Moreover, you need to present some examples, data and your supporting points. While writing, you shouldn’t focus on summarizing but you need to focus on making your point. However, you also need to back it up with other sources as well.
Synthesis Essay Example
To really grasp the concept of a synthesis paper it is always great to checkout a synthesis essay example. The following synthesis example will hopefully clear things up about synthesis essay meaning.
One of the top ways students pay for college is through student loans. Students’ loans are easy to access and banks are willing to lend it to thousands of students in US colleges. Yet, it has become a fact of life within the American higher education system that most borrowers are struggling repaying back the loans. Graduates who accessed the loans are facing hard times repaying them because of various reasons such as hard economic times. No matter how challenging it has become for people to repay the loans, the students loans have a potential to increase college enrollment for many low-income households and they are a great way of funding higher education in the present society. The articles, “A College Education Saddles Some Households with Debt, but Still Pays Off” by Carroll Daniel and Amy Higgins, “Myths and Reality about US Higher Education,” by Richard Ekman, and “College Catastrophe” by Charles Scaliger.
Carrol and Higgins (2014) discusses about the believe of many parents that acquiring higher education is essential to have a comfortable life for their children in future even though the cost of college education has been rising. They write that because of the rising costs of college education, many parents are turned for loans to finance higher education. Similarly, Ekman (2013) writes that college education has not reduced even though they are doing every effort to lower the costs. In addition, Scaliger (2012) agrees that the cost of a college degree for a period of four years excluding room and board, access for textbooks, and other fees for assessing university resources have rose far beyond the reach of any student to afford during the time they are assessed. All the sources agree that tuition fee in colleges has been rising alongside the demand for college education which was initially a reserve for the rich in the US society.
While Carroll and Higgins agree that it is indeed true that cost of attending college has become expensive, they assert that the extra education is beneficial in the labor market, a notion which prompts many parents to enroll their children in college despite the costs. According to the analysis presented by the two researchers, “real wage earnings for young households, for example, have consistently been higher for households with a college degree than for those without”. This is an indication that the educational attainment of an individual can significantly impact the level of income of a household. Similarly, Ekman (2013) argues that, “over a lifetime, a person who has a college degree likely will on average earn $700,000—$1 million more than a high school graduate.” Furthermore, the jobs, which required only a high school diploma for the old economy, do not exist in the present society. The researchers agree that college education is important for earning a fair compensation in the present economy and they consider the fact that colleges are making efforts to reduce tuition costs to affordable rates.
Even though the cost of attending college has been rising, investing in college education is a well worth cost. Ekman argues that college is currently one of the best long-term investments an individual can make for the purpose of increasing their earning potential during employment lifetime. As Carroll and Higgins, and Ekman agree, it is a wise financial decision to take some loan to support college education. Colleges are offering support through private support such as encouraging students to participate in income generating programs during their gap years. As Carroll and Higgins, Ekman, and Scaliger point out, college education has made tremendous to the country and it still continues to impact every sector of the economy. The main issue is to address the rising cost of college education while promoting access for all to access college education to enhance and grow our economy more.
Synthesis Writing Do’s and Don’ts
One thing which is the most important in “how to write a synthesis essay AP lang” is that you don’t need to summarize the source instead you have to analyze them. Moreover, in the essay AP lang synthesis, the paragraphs should revolve around your argument, not around sources. To provide assignment help for your synthesis paper, follow these do’s and don’ts:
Do’s:
- Make a central claim
- Wrap the sources together
- Make sure that the citations are meaningful
- Use of smooth transition
- Explain all-important ideas
Don’ts:
- Making a summary of the sources
- Missing of points (from the sources)
- Vague statement
Guide To Writing AP English Language Synthesis Essay
There are a few things that you need to take care off. However, synthesis essay is almost like argument synthesis essay, the argument essay revolves around claim and support. You make a claim and then you support it. Following are some points you need to take care of.
- Cite Minimum 4 Sources: Although if you have cited 3 sources, that’s enough ideally you should cite at least 4 sources.
- Don’t Plagiarize: One of the most important points is plagiarism. While writing the essay, you might be using the information from the source. If you want to copy the exact source then present it in quotation marks otherwise, you need to paraphrase it to avoid plagiarism.
- Your Essay Needs A Thesis: Your thesis must be strong as well as clear. Moreover, everything that follows must be related to the thesis. In easy words, thesis is the boss and if any point doesn’t work with it then it should be fired.
- Don’t Summarize Source: Another most important point is that you don’t summarize the source. The reason is that the summary of the source is not an argument.
- Originality:Don’t forget that you are synthesizing your view of the problem with some proofs in the source. Make sure that you stay original.
- Keep Your Tone Consistent: There is no fixed rule which tone to use but you need to make sure to keep your tone consistent. Some people prefer writing in a humorous tone while some like to be serious. Don’t jump from one tone to others because it breaks the consistency.
- SOAPS: The alphabets in SOAPS has a meaning. S stands for Speaker, O stands for Occasion, A stands for Audience, P stands for Purpose and S stands for Subject. You need to keep SOAPS in your mind while writing a synthesis essay.
Writing a synthesis essay can give you a tough time. You need to get all things right and then it could be assured you that you will ace it. When you are writing a synthesis essay, you need to keep all the key steps in your head.
Don’t Feel Like Writing A Synthesis Essay?
Still confused about the definition of synthesis essay? Or don’t feel like writing a synthesis paper? Find English assignment help if you think you need it. In the end, you need to grab the reader’s attention otherwise it would be a waste of time and effort. And our expert writers can help you do that. Now you can score top marks in your college, university or class.
