Synthesis paper assignment sheet. The
paper will be 3-4 pp. double spaced.
Use MLA styling. 100 points.
In a synthesis paper you explore connections and
contradictions among a group of texts on
one subject: immigration reform. I
want you to use four (4) texts, three of them from your text book: the blogs written by Dee, Byron
Williams and Victor Davis Hansen (pp. 324-328) and one blog of your own
choosing. Each blog is relatively
short.
This paper is a practice run for the research paper that
will end the semester.
What do these texts have in common and how do they
differ? You might want to make a
list before you get started.
Remember to read carefully.
Define any terms you don’t completely understand.
For Monday, I
want you to write an introduction (1 to 2 pp.) that describes the issues and
how each writer approaches it. The
introduction should end with a thesis.
Bring 4 copies of the introduction to class for a workshop.
100 points. Do not miss class.
Writing a thesis for a Synthesis paper. Your
text book offers a low-level, two sentence example of a thesis and a
high-level, one-sentence thesis.
(It’s always more difficult to write one sentence than two).
1. Whereas Ritzer focuses on the way high-tech society makes us
homogenous and superficial, Turkle focuses on how the Internet unsettles
traditional views of the self.
Although I agree with Ritzer’s argument that McDonaldization is
dehumanizing, I think that role-playing MUDs is actually a healthy way to
oppose McDonaldization and expresses human desire to be creative, to develop
the self, and to make human connections.
2. Ritzer’s attack on technological
society and Turkle’s more optimistic belief that it offers opportunity for
growth and discovery have together forced me to consider the superficiality and
vulnerability of human relationships in our high-tech society.
Notice how the writer has incorporated his own views into
the essay. You should have some
new insights by the end of your paper and be able to share them with your readers.
As in the “Ophelia” paper, your audience is a diverse and
educated group of readers, who won’t necessarily have read any of the blogs you
are writing about, so you need to describe them briefly. Use paraphrases and quotes to support
your view.
Figure 12.1 on p. 321 of our text offers you two frameworks
for a Synthesis essay. Look this
over carefully, before you write anything.
