PP7: Synthesizing Sources

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PP7 Synthesizing Sources

• Alisa Cooper
• Professor of English
• ENG 102

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Introduction

• In this lecture you will learn about synthesizing
  sources for your research paper.
• Be sure to read Chapter 6 in your textbook before
  proceeding.

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Topics of Discussion

• Synthesizing
• Writing a Brief Summary Report
• Writing an Objective Report on Sources
• Acknowledging Sources

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Synthesizing

• Your research on a topic will lead you to consult
  several sources, and you will need to present the
  information you find in a way that combines, or
  synthesizes, those sources.

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Synthesizing

• For example, if you wanted to learn more about
  the early history of your hometown, you probably
  would consult books and articles.
• If you reported your findings, you would
  synthesize the information acquired from these
  sources.

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Strategies for Synthesizing

• There are several strategies for synthesizing
  multiple sources.
• The easiest is a Summary Report which consists of
  two steps
• Writing separate summaries or paraphrases of the
  individual sources and then
• Linking them with transitional passages.
• This is not the type you will use in your final
  paper

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Writing a Summary Report

• A simple strategy for your report is to summarize
  these sources individually and then to present
  the three summaries, linked with connecting
  comments.
• You want your report to have unity.
• For your report to be unified, you will need to
  discover a theme that relates to all three
  sources.
• See example on page 172-174.

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Writing an Objective Report on Sources

• Writing an objective report on sources is the
  second strategy for synthesizing.
• A report on sources refers specifically to these
  sources by name.
• It says, in effect, Source A says theis Source
  B says this Source C says this
• A report on sources can be subjective (presenting
  your own analysis and opinions of them).

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Writing a Subjective Report

• A report on sources can be subjective (presenting
  your own analysis and opinions of them).
• This is the type of synthesis you want to use in
  your paper - subjective.
• See the example on page 185-186.(objective)

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Acknowledging Sources

• Whenever you compose a summary report or an other
  type of writing that relies on sources, you
  create something new for others to read.
• Although what you produce may seem less than
  earth-shaking in significance, you are
  nevertheless adding , in however small a way, to
  the sum of the worlds knowledge.
• You are making a contribution to the domain of
  scholarship.

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The Obligation of Scholarship

• One of the principal benefits of being a scholar
  is that you are entitled to read and to use the
  scholarship of others.
• Presenting your research and ideas for others to
  use is in fact one of the obligations of
  scholarship.
• Another of your obligations as a scholar is to
  acknowledge your sources.

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Acknowledging Sources

• In the Summary Report, the writer uses
  parenthetical notes and a list of works cited to
  identify sources of information.
• In the Objective Report on sources, the writer
  makes it clear that the ideas and opinions being
  presented have been expressed by others.
• You would do the same with a subjective report on
  sources.

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Importance of Acknowledging Sources

• Credit must be given where it is due. Creators of
  ideas deserve to be recognized for them.
• Readers need to know where they can locate your
  sources so they can consult the original
  versions. This allows them not only to check the
  accuracy of your citations, but also to find
  additional material beyond what you have
  presented.

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Two Ways to Acknowledge Sources

• Besides naming them within the text itself,
  writers acknowledge sources in two principal
  ways
• One is to use notes, such as parenthetical notes
  or footnotes, to credit sources of specific ideas
  and statements.
• The second way is to append a list of works
  cited, which acknowledges all the sources from
  which words have been quoted or from which
  information or ideas have been derived.