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<\/a>\r\n\r\n \r\nExercises<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n
\r\n\r\nACTIVITY: Balancing Sources and Synthesis<\/strong>\r\n\r\nHere\u2019s a technique to quickly assess whether there is enough of your original thought in your essay or paper, as opposed to information from your sources:\r\n
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- Highlight what you have included as quotes, paraphrases, and summaries from your sources. Next, highlight in another color what you have written yourself. Then take a look at the pages and decide whether there is enough you in them.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nInstructions:<\/strong>\r\n\r\nFor the three highlighted pages below, assume that the yellow-highlighted <\/strong>lines were written by the writer<\/strong> and the grey-highlighted <\/strong>lines are quotes, paraphrases, and summaries<\/strong> she pulled from her sources.\r\n\r\nWhich of the three pages most demonstrates the writer\u2019s own ideas? Think about which colour should be represented more in the paragraph: your own words, or paraphrases, summaries, and quotes?\r\n\r\nClick through the images to make a guess before checking the bottom of the page for the answer.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n[h5p id=\"22\"]\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
Answer to Activity:<\/strong><\/h5>\r\n
<\/div>\r\nThe answer to the \u201cBalancing Sources and Synthesis\u201d Activity above is:<\/span><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\nImage 2.\u00a0<\/strong>The yellow-highlighted sections in Image 2 show more contributions from the author than from quotes, paraphrases, and summaries of other sources.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n \r\nAdaptations<\/h1>\r\nMaterial in this section has been adapted from Synthesis of Your Own Ideas<\/a> in Choosing & Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research<\/a> by Teaching & Learning, Ohio State University Libraries, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License<\/a>, except where otherwise noted.","rendered":"
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To contribute to scholarly conversations, you need to use synthesis<\/a> to create new meaning or show a deeper understanding of what you learned.<\/p>\nTo do so, it helps to look for connections and patterns. One way to synthesize when writing an argument essay, paper, or other project is to look for themes among your sources. Try categorizing ideas by topic rather than by source\u2014making associations across sources.<\/p>\n