Overview
You Unit 3 project asks you to synthesize your sources as you write. However, you may not have much experience with synthesis. This assignment is meant to help you understand what synthesis is and how to synthesize ideas, by showing you an example of a web source that synthesizes research. Please apply the lessons from this assignment to your unit project.
Step 1: Analyze
Adam Westbrook makes a fascinating argument about what caused World War I in the Cause and Effect: The Unexpected Origins of Terrible ThingsLinks to an external site. video. As you’ll see, he synthesizes many kinds of sources of information to bring together his argument--history books, maps, cartoons, newspapers, photographs, data from public records and more. Watch the video.
- What is Westbrook's overall argument?
- Note: he traces the causes of WWI by going backwards in time, so you won’t catch his overall thesis until towards the end of the video. Summarize what he claims the cause of the war was and the chain reaction he describes. You may want to take notes as you read, because you need to accurately describe his argument.
- Remember, synthesis means you take bits of information from different sources and weave them together to make your own point or your own observation. Here, Westbrook doesn't summarize one text, then summarize another text, then summarize another text. He's making his own argument about the causes of WWI and using all those other texts--synthesizing those other texts--to support his argument. Rewatch the video. This time, pay attention to all the sources he’s using to build his argument.
- How does he synthesize all these sources? How does he go about introducing each one and weaving them together?
- Pick one section of the video and explain what he's trying to argue/show in that portion of the video and what sources he uses to support that argument/point. (Discuss at least two texts he refers to in his argument, including photographs, books, newspaper articles, etc.) How did each text support his argument in this section of the video?
- How did the author maintain control of his argument while using each source?
- In other words, how do you know you are hearing Westbrook's opinion/argument and not the argument of the texts he's referring to? How does he use such different sources (such as a photograph and a newspaper) yet help the viewer follow along?
- How does he synthesize all these sources? How does he go about introducing each one and weaving them together?
- How do you know that Westbrook's argument is informed by research he did? Do you think he could have made the same argument before examining a lot of sources about WWI?
- What does analyzing this example synthesis clarify for you about the way that you should be using sources in YOUR writing? Do you under how you are expected to use sources in your Unit 3 project?