Transcript BA 3: Synthesizing sources

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Quickly review participation assignment and
conceptualize synthesis
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Directions for BA 3
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Ask any questions you have about synthesis or BA 3.
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11:25 Review the third participation assignment
(Preparation for BA 4).
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11: 40 - Donell Calendar
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This is another assignment specifically
developed to aid you in preparing for the
literature review. In your literature review,
you will need to synthesize the sources
you’ve found within the groups.
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Since synthesis is more than summary
and more than describing one source after
another, it’s important to understand how
to approach identifying connections and
synthesizing the information for your
reader.
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BA 3 is a synthesis of three texts from your textbook
for this course.
Read the directions on RaiderWriter for the
assignment now (or you will not understand
much of the information presented).
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1)Read each article through once so that you
understand its scope and the author’s argument.
You must read all three essays, and you need to
read actively. Highlight important passages and
keep track of the themes or points each author is
discussing.
(Hint: You may find it helpful to use an
organizational tool such as a Venn diagram.) We
did something similar in the participation
assignment.
You will not be able to synthesize all the
information in these essays. A KEY PART OF THE
ASSIGNMENT IS IDENTIFYING A NARROW
COMMONALITY IN THE DISCUSSION.
There will be several possible common themes or ideas for you to
choose from. Pick the one that you can develop in the most detail.
In the introduction of your brief, remember to introduce the authors’
names and the titles of their essays. The titles of essays should be
“Inside Quotation Marks with Every Major Word Capitalized for
Correct MLA Format.”
Your thesis statement should also appear in the introduction.
What are their similarities and differences? Why are these similarities
and differences important to the theme which you are examining?
Here are some important notes about synthesis your graders will
consider:
Though some disciplines may use the terms summary and synthesis
interchangeably, in this course summary is only a part of synthesis. It is
important for you to understand that you must move beyond just
summarizing the sources to providing connections and pointing
out the relationship of the common themes and ideas in the
sources.
Don’t simply discuss each source in its own
paragraph!!
This is a red flag to the grader that you have
missed the point of the assignment (and will be
an even more egregious error if it appears in your
literature review).
You will need to provide textual evidence for your assertions with good
quotes and paraphrases from the text. Remember that a textual citation
needs the author’s last name and the page number (no comma between
the two). If you use the author’s name in a signal phrase at the
beginning of the sentence, only the page number needs to appear in the
textual citations.
However, instead of emphasizing the democratizing nature of English,
Langford insists “the real issue in the spread of the English language is
globalization” (89).
Your works cited list should have three entries and should be titled “Works
Cited.”
Below is an example of how to cite an excerpt from your textbook. Use this
example to craft correct citations.
Power, Carla. "Not the Queen's English." First Year Writing: Writing in the
Disciplines." 4 ed. New York: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2010. 371-375.
C1—Issue Identification and Focus: Does the student
focus on a common theme or idea that runs through each
article?
C2—Context and Assumptions: Does the student show
an awareness of the context in which the source was
written?
C3—Sources and Evidence :Does the student thoroughly
explore the relationship/connection between the articles?
Does the student use MLA format correctly?
C5—Own Perspective: Is the student’s own voice apparent
or does the student just summarize the viewpoints of the
authors?
C6—Conclusion: Does the conclusion effectively pull the
analysis together?
C7—Communication:Is the essay organized
effectively? How effective is the student’s writing at the
sentence level?
The third participation assignment is available on the class
website. Please print and carefully read the instructions.
This participation assignment is time intensive and will
involve lots of research and printing. Be sure to leave
yourself plenty of time! (Rushing through this will make
the literature review more difficult, but taking your time
and working hard this week will help make the literature
review easier!).
1.)
Read the necessary essays and complete BA 3 by Saturday night.
2)
Reading 4, due in class next week, is necessary for success on the
upcoming assignments.
St. Martin's Handbook: Part 3, Sections 10-12 "Preparing for a Research
Project," "Conducting Research," "Evaluating Sources and Taking Notes"
(pp. 220-275); Part 12, Chapter 59 "Academic Work in Any Discipline"
(pp.822-831); First-Year Writing Ch. 2
3)
Complete the third participation assignment and bring Parts I and II
with you to class next week. Leave yourself plenty of time to research
and print for this one.