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