Synthesis is a difficult skill for many students to learn, even though we all synthesize every day. This is another one of those things that we all know how to do subconsciously, but trying to apply it in academic contexts can be difficult for some. In this activity, you will practice the kind of synthesis you do everyday, to illustrate the frequency with which we all synthesize. By recognizing the synthesis you do everyday, you should feel more confident synthesizing sources in Unit 2.
If you need help understanding what synthesis is, please review this short video by FIU's Writing Program: Synthesis.Links to an external site. It explains what a synthesis is and then how to write a synthesis. The video will help you with this activity and this unit more generally.
Step 1: Find Reviews
Find a consumer-oriented website that analyzes something you are interested in--cell phones, laptops, sneakers, cars, places you want to visit, places you want to eat, things you want to do. (For example, you can use Yelp or Tripadvisor or CNet or Metacritic or Rotten Tomatoes or any such website.) Choose 4 reviews to synthesize. Important: the reviews you identify should be analyzing the same item/location.
Post a link or a screenshot of the reviews. (If you choose to post a screenshot, embed the image, please.)
Step 2: Draw Conclusions
Questions
- a) understand and
- b) form opinions. What do you understand better about this item/location from the reviews? What opinions/conclusions are you starting to form?
Here are some questions to help you brainstorm: What are some of the things two or more of these reviews agree on? What are some of the things two or more disagree on? How does information from one review build on the information in another review?
For each conclusion you can draw from these reviews, use specific examples to support your synthesis of these reviews.
This section should be at least 250 words.
Here's an example:
- Based on these reviews, I can see conclude that if I go to Ole Ole, I need to be prepared for my wait time to be long. Cathybashy says in her review that she waited for over an hour to be seated and then when she was seated it took almost 15 minutes for a waiter to come to the table. Hugobugo says in his review that he was seated quickly and his order was taken quickly, but it took over 45 minutes for the food to come. It seems like it would be worth it to go to this restaurant still, based on the positive comments about the food and atmosphere, but wait times are something that come up consistently in the reviews.