ENG 112 Online: Varieties of Writing

Essay 2 Lecture 3: The 3 Kinds of Synthesis

December 20th, 2007

In the rest of the papers you will write for 112, you will be required to implement a process called “synthesis.” Synthesis is merely a term that describes a connection between sources. Once you find these connections, you will use them to draw conclusions that will help you form and defend your theses with the words of multiple experts, thereby further legitimizing yourself. Some examples of these connections:

Two (or more) sources that agree: Former CIA field officer Robert Baer, when speaking about how the CIA should be restructured, says, “To rebuild the agency you, need to take an insider like Stephen Kapps and put him in charge of management decisions. He’s going to know, very simply, who the frauds are, who the good people are” (76). John Brennan, former chief of staff to CIA Director George Tenet, agrees with Baer, stating that “Hayden and Kapps need to take a look at all the senior people in the agency and decide who should stay and who should go” (58). Clearly, these quotes support the idea that a reorganization of personnel is required within the CIA.

Two (or more) sources that disagree: Bill Bennett, host of the radio show Bill Bennet’s Morning in America muses that “[t]he media reward themselves for leaking classified information—which may be a violation of the law—give Pulitzers for that. We’re in a war and I don’t think a lot of the media think we’re in a war” (98). James Bamford, author of A Pretext for War, disagrees with Bennet’s skeptical view of the American media, stating “I far more trust the press than I do the Administration with judgment of what should be secret and what shouldn’t be. How many scandals has the Administration uncovered on its own?” (87). Without the media, how would average citizens stay informed and hold their government responsible for actions carried out in their names?

One (or more) source that expands upon the ideas of or provides an example from another: Vali Nasr writes, “What lies at the heart of the sectarian violence in Iraq is not so much religious dispute as it is a very secular competition for power and prominence…” (26). Is the term “secular competition” not a virtual synonym for civil war? Reporter James Fearon agrees with Nasr, but takes the idea a step further, saying that “[b]y any reasonable definition, there has been a civil war in progress in Iraq at least since the Coalition Provisional Authority formally handed over authority to the Iraqis in 2004” (75).

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

-adapted from a synthesis exercise by Mike Czyzniejewski and Dan Rzicznek