How to Write a Synthesis Essay: Expert Tips on Writing a Good Synthesis Essay With Examples

Are you struggling to write a synthesis essay? Want to know how exactly you should draw the synthesis essay outline? What does a thesis statement have to do with a synthesis paper? If you are a college student and all these thoughts cloud your mind, you have landed on the right article.

Writing a synthesis essay needs good planning and effective execution. You might have learned how to write an ordinary essay at your school level, but mastering a synthesis essay is an overwhelming experience. Here you will also have an idea on a few synthesis essay examples.

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Defining the term Synthesis

The term synthesis means to combine. If we define Synthesis in the context of essay writing, it would mean a written record produced after implementing good ideas from multiple sources. To report a synthesis essay, you need to go through diversified sources, detect their connections and finally create an impressive synthesis paper.

What is a synthesis essay?

Although Synthesis is a term used in Chemistry classes, a synthesis essay is an entirely different concept. If you are a student from a high school or a college-goer, you likely have to write a synthesis essay at one time or the other.

Similar to how to write a Narrative essay, a synthesis essay is an essay written after brainstorming through numerous sources and formulating a general idea. It may sound quite like a research paper, but it is slightly different from the other one. The synthesis paper has restrictions imposed on topics while you can choose any topic for writing a research paper. Also, a synthesis paper, unlike a research paper, has a fixed time frame.

Unlike other essays, you need to perform extensive research to hunt for some authentic sources in synthesis essays. Find out the sources carefully to select a good topic to elaborate your ideas and impress the readers.

Mastering synthesis essay writing skills would help you in the long run. You can implement the ideas and skills in the professional world too. Now let us elaborate on the tips for writing a synthesis essay. 

Now let us elaborate on the essay help tips for writing a synthesis essay.

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What are the types of synthesis essays?

The major categories of a synthesis essay are as follows:

1.An explanatory synthesis essay

This type of essay focuses more on the theme rather than arguments. Thus, in this particular essay, the reader finds a good explanation of the essay topic.

2.An argumentative synthesis essay

In an argumentative synthesis paper, several arguments would enlighten the readers, evidence to prove each claim, and a strong point to reach a particular ending. 

How to choose a topic while writing a synthesis essay?

Working on a topic for a synthesis essay is quite exciting. All you need is to make sure that the prompt is catchy and suitable to put up controversies. Grow a basic understanding of the concept.

Choose a topic that brings together several related issues and gives you a scope of combination, and allows disparities. Click here to find out the best synthesis essay topics. You can try two approaches to find a good topic for a synthesis essay.

• Look through several ideas over the internet that are arguable.
• Finalize a topic and then look for relevant sources and evidence to support the claim. 

Speaking of reading sources, if you want to view this copy offline, download the PDF here.    

How to write a synthesis essay-outline and format

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Well, organizing an essay helps you in thinking in a more planned way. It would further assist you in choosing the strong arguments for your essay. With a proper selection of claims and with evidence, you can answer all the relevant questions quickly.

When you complete the searches of all the facts and theories, arrange the facts in chronological order. It will also assist you in defending your essay. The thesis that you write should be debatable and add a few notes that you can stretch to explain.

After creating a proper thesis, make separate segments for your answer so that the points could be separated and you could establish facts. So each section of the paper has

A topic sentence

The argument

Evidence

Relevant Theories 

Explanations

Transitional conclusions

Thus overall, the structure of a well-planned synthesis writing is as follows.

• Introduction 
• Thesis inserted in the introduction
• 1st Segment: 1st argument + evidence + explanation + transitional conclusions
• 2nd Segment: 2nd argument + evidence + explanation + transitional conclusions
• 3rd Segment: 3rd argument + evidence + explanation + transitional conclusions
• Final Conclusion
• References (according to synthesis assignment format)

There are two significant formats in the design of a Synthesis essay topic :

• MLA
• APA
• Chicago style

To be specific, the students use APA when the essay topics deal with Education, Psychology, and Science; the students use MLA format for Humanities; the students chalk out Chicago style in case of examples related to Business, History, and Fine Arts.

Now let us talk about the key points to consider in the format

MLA format

• Students must use Times New Roman 12 pt font double-spaced
• Allow one-inch margins.
• The top right corner should hold the last name and page number on every page.
• State the titles at the center
• Write your name, your professor’s name, course number, and the date (dd/mm/yy) on the heading.
• Attach a “Works Cited” page on the last page

APA Format

• Students must use Times New Roman 12 pt font double-spaced 
• Allow one-inch margins.
• Add a page header on the top of every page
• Write page number on the top right corner
• The overall structure is supposed to be divided into Title Page, Abstract, Central Body, and References from the related source.

Chicago style

• Essay writing in this style should also be formatted in Times New Roman 12 pt.
• In between the lines, keep double-spacing
• Allow one-inch margins.
• ½ inch indents to be used while beginning the introduction.
• Write names of people or organizations.
• Finally, write the bibliography on the last page.

Also, know the rules of making Harvard outline on our next page.

Synthesis essay examples

Synthesis essay examples can be many. Here is a list of synthesis essay examples that you can think of elaborating.

• Gender Inequality
• Banning of plastic
• Progressive taxation policy
• Legalization of Drug
• Gun control
• Banning of animal testing
• Homeschooling and traditional schooling

How to write a synthesis essay effectively?

Structure of a synthesis essay

The structure of a synthesis essay varies according to the writing process. However, there are some common steps of a synthesis essay outline:

Write the introduction 

The introduction becomes the face of an essay. Hence it is essential to start with gripping introductory words so that you can hook up the readers right from the beginning. Elaborate on the topic stating your main aim of writing the paper. Also, give a little background information about what you are going to state in the body paragraphs.

Clarify the point with the thesis statement

A synthesis essay must be written with a thesis. A thesis is the central argument of the entire synthesis essay. Therefore, if you are writing an argumentative synthesis essay, you need to establish your claim and present the introduction with the thesis statement.

Arrange your body paragraphs.

Ideally, there should be three significant body paragraphs in a synthesis essay.

In the body paragraph, you have to elaborate on the subject suggested in the introduction, explain it, and state your opinion. When you are writing the section, ensure that you are highlighting the different subject matter.

Every section has to start with a topic statement that directs to the statement.

Explaining each source one by one is not a good idea.  

All the important facts that you have gathered so far with the help of your research must be separated to form various themes. So technically, one paragraph should have one theme.

Students assigned tasks on how to write an informative essay can easily find the answer here.

Establish the required relationship of your sources

It is an interesting step where you need to state the relationship between different sources’ different contexts. You can write both similarities and dissimilarities to develop a credible relationship.

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Conclusion

The conclusion is where you plan to finally stop your essay with some thoughtful words and expressions that relate to your already mentioned points. It is important to note that you are not supposed to introduce a brand new topic in conclusion. 

Write down all the major themes that you have explained in the body paragraphs. Your conclusion is the platform where you can once again connect to the topic for the final time. Share your thoughts and interpretations effectively and throw a suggestion that opens a new array of ideas for the readers to discover new themes for further research.

Cite your sources

It is an important segment in all essay writing. When you cite your sources, you offer a bibliography at the end. It is a way you acknowledge all the sources that you have used in the article.

Title your essay

It will be more significant if you write the title after completing the entire article. The title of the material should be relevant to what has been expressed. If you write the title initially, it is most likely that you may need to change your point of view somewhere, which would lead you to bring a change in the title. 

How to synthesize information from different resources?

When you sit to synthesize information from various resources, you should carefully avoid summarizing the written factors. Instead, you need to focus on the various themes that can formulate ideas by combining all the available information. When you synthesize, you need to show the readers where the sources meet and where they are diversified in their viewpoints.

How to conduct the Synthesis of different pieces of information? The essential steps to follow

Step 1- Arrange your sources.

The organization is vital to understand the relationships between the sources. When you plan and arrange your notes, you get a clear picture of how to go about it. Check out the different types of ways you can place the sources.

Drawing a Summary Table

Make rows and columns to specify the different parts of the sources. Write the relevant headings and include the points according to your convenience. When you summarize the aspect in a table, you can quickly overview all the necessary details and evaluate the issues more effectively. Here is a table that provides you an idea of the format:

Synthesis grid

A synthesis grid is more useful when you have a complex structure to evaluate. Specify each subject and theme under different headings. This analysis will allow having a better grip on the various themes and concepts.

Also, when you write the points and arguments separately, you can plan to structure your essay paragraphs properly. With a synthesis grid, you can detect which points meet with a synthesis grid and which points do not intersect.

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Step 2- Synthesis essay outline

Now when you have an idea of the connecting sources and differentiation, it will be easier for you to chalk out the outline.

Be it long essays or short ones, follow a pattern to organize your discussions in a good structure. Segregate them into different periods and discuss the common topics.

You can follow two different approaches:

• Methodological
• Theoretical

Include the milestones and important events accordingly. Both approaches will assist you in developing the theory.

The overall idea is to focus on a specific theme and discuss its development.

Step 3- Discuss paragraphs with topic sentences.

A topic sentence is written at the start of every paragraph. It hints towards the central theme of the focussed paragraph. So, in a way, the topic statement can be termed as a summary of the passage. The question should be written so that it allows the readers to know that they are reading something interesting.

Each subdivision should highlight an idea from various sources in a synthesis essay. Be sure that you do not summarize any point. Instead, you need to allow the combination of different information available. Quoting any phrase directly from any source may be considered plagiarism. Instead, you can create your own lines to direct the audience to read your views.

Step 4- Review the entire work.

When you have so much on a project, submitting unfurnished work is not a great idea. Hence proofread your work to check for any error so that the readers have a fantastic reading experience.

Ensure the following questions before you submit your work:

• Is the introduction clear and focused?
• Have I covered multiple sources in one paragraph?
• Did I discuss every relevant point?
• Did I enlist all the possible similarities and differences and covered each head?
• Did I mention all the similarities and differences required from the related sources?
• Is the paragraph focused and planned to provide one idea at a time?
• Is the transformation from one paragraph to another sensible?
• Did I find the entire article relevant to the topic?

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Few additional tips to write a synthesis essay

• Establish your main claim while you start. It will eventually help you to write a good thesis statement and impress your readers.
• Choose unbiased sources and focus on the material. Never attempt to quote references without reading, understanding, or evaluating the point, which may mislead the readers.
• When you work with different sources, remember, you need to be more organized. Check out the more relevant sources so that you can establish your points with effective logic.
• Take one source at a time and develop a balance between the point in the source and your thesis statement.
• File every minute detail like source, name of the author, page number, etc., especially to keep a record that your article is error-free. Also, write your self-created synthesis essay and make sure that it is plagiarism-free

If you want to look for the best tips on how to write an essay outline, stay tuned with the next blog.

So now, with the help of our explanations, you can create a fantastic synthesis essay with the right format and out. Go ahead with the above-mentioned tips to improve your writing skills and impress your professors.

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