Sample
Synthesis Paragraph
Note in the
following example of a synthesis paragraph that the student writer has
integrated the ideas of the two sources together and indicated how the views of
the sources relate to one another. Your synthesis paragraph will probably need to
be longer than this one, but this is a good structural model all the same.
On the issue of teaching methods for recent immigrants, Santiago believes that total immersion is
useless, since students cannot learn in a language they do not understand. He
claims that students find it overwhelming to learn a new language all at once
and that they, therefore, learn best in bilingual classroom. Hayakawa, however,
believes that immersion into a language to be the fastest way to learn that
language and thereby gain entry into the majority culture. These disagreements,
perhaps, can be explained in term of contrasting philosophical views of
American culture. Santiago operates with the
�salad bowl� metaphor, the belief that America is a rich nation precisely
because of its distinctive ethnic groups. Hayakawa operates with a �melting
pot� metaphor, the belief that in coming to America foreigners should
relinquish what makes them separate (i.e. , their language) in order to blend
into the American mainstream.
Much of the
following is adapted from Reading and Writing Across
the Curriculum