Synthesizing Ideas and Sources

672

For more on stating a thesis, see Stating and Using a Thesis in Ch. 20.

Regardless of how you launch sources, you need to figure out how to integrate and synthesize them effectively. When you synthesize sources, you are combining the voices of multiple sources into a coherent voice of your own. Although this voice relies on outside sources, it should present an original point of view.

To make sure that your voice isn’t drowned out by those of your sources, keep your research question and working thesis—which may still be evolving—in front of you as you integrate information. In addition, use the chart Take Action: Integrating and Synthesizing Sources to review and improve your use of research sources.

For more on synthesizing, see Learning by Writing in Ch. 12.

Integrating source notes into your own writing generally requires positioning materials in a sequence, fitting them in place, and then reworking and interpreting them to convert them into effective evidence that advances your case. Synthesizing sources and evidence weaves them into a unified whole.

Build your synthesis on critical reading and thinking: pulling together what you read and think, relating ideas and information, and drawing conclusions that go beyond those of your separate sources. If you have a sure sense of your paper’s direction, you may find this synthesis fairly easy. On the other hand, if your research question or working thesis has changed or you have unearthed persuasive information at odds with your original direction, consider these questions:

Learning by Doing Synthesizing Your Sources

Learning by Doingimage Synthesizing Your Sources

Working with a classmate or small group, exchange sections of your drafts where you want or need to pull ideas together. Explain what you’re trying to say or do in that section. Then ask for ideas about how to synthesize more clearly and forcefully in your draft.

673

Take Action Integrating and Synthesizing Sources

Ask each question listed in the left-hand column to determine whether your draft might need work on that issue. If so, follow the ASK—LOCATE SPECIFICS—TAKE ACTION sequence to revise.

1 ASK 2 LOCATE SPECIFICS 3 TAKE ACTION
Do I need to reexamine the group of sources that I plan to synthesize?

  • List the sources you’re synthesizing.

  • Write out principles you have used (or could use) to select and group them—chronology to show change over time, theme to show aspects of a topic, comparison to show similarities, or another system.

  • Eliminate any fudging about your sources: pin down your guesses; summarize or paraphrase quotes; specify rather than generalize.

  • Determine how each source develops your principles.

  • Redefine your principles or your ideas about what each source shows, as needed.

  • Revise your group: drop or add sources; move some if they don’t fit well. If a source fits into several places, pick the best spot or fill a gap.
Do I need to relate my sources more deeply and clearly to each other?

  • For each source, review your notes so you can sum up its focus.

  • Highlight connective statements or transitions already used in your draft to link the sources.

  • Mark any jumps from source to source without transitions.

  • Read your draft out loud to yourself, marking any weak or incomplete synthesis of sources.

  • Ask a peer to mark any unclear passages.

  • If a connection is missing, review the focus for the source; add a statement to connect it to the source before or after it.

  • Brainstorm or jot notes to refine, restate, or expand connections.

  • Use your notes to deepen connections as you refine your synthesis.
Do I need to deepen my synthesis so it goes beyond my sources to my own ideas?

  • Schedule several blocks of time so that you can concentrate on your intellectual task.

  • Mark a check ✓ by any part of your synthesis that reads like a grocery list (bread, eggs, milk or Smith, Jones, Chu).

  • Star each spot where you repeat the source’s point without relating it to your point or adding your interpretation.

  • Generate ideas to build a cache of notes about how you want to relate your sources to your ideas and what they collectively suggest. Be creative; let your original ideas emerge.

  • For each check or star, use your own voice and ideas to fill gaps, deepen connections, or state relationships.