Synthesizing SourcesEWRT 1A Paper #2 – Synthesizing Also: Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing
Written in class on Monday, October 15 Content: By now you should have finished A Long Way Gone and gone through at
least four of the interviews with Ishmael Beah or his American mother. Your task is to synthesize those sources, focusing on the points which seem most interesting and significant to you. Your thesis should have "I" or "me" in it to emphasize that you personally connected to the points Beah made.
- Choose
three or four separate points
which Beah makes in his interviews: the lessons he has learned which he
wants to convey to his American audience.
- For
each point, find examples (one, two, or three per point) in the
book which could serve as illustrations of those points.
- QUOTE
(Hacker 414-20, 597-606) the interview points, and then practice paraphrasing (576-9), summarizing (474-5), and
quoting the examples from the book which you see as supporting Beah’s
point. If you would like to add a personal experience that supports his point, great!
- For
one point, find examples (one, two, or three) in the book which
might contradict or make you question his point. This point could
be the same point as above, but it just happens that the book shows both
sides of that point.
- QUOTE
the interview point, and then practice paraphrasing, summarizing, and/or
quoting the examples from the book which you see as contradicting Beah’s
point. If you would like to add personal experience that contradicts his point, great!
- Turn
this material into an organized essay in which you show how Beah, looking
back at his experiences while being interviewed, distills that experience
into life lessons which he hopes to convey to his audience. On the other hand, what material in the
book makes you question a point from an interview?
Form:Your paper should be about three
(or more) computer-printed pages. It
should conclude with a Works Cited list (which you may bring to class already completed).
When you finish, after you have proofread for
errors in spelling, grammar, and quoting, print it out, then, in pen, in the
margins, mark Q for quotes, P for
paraphrases, and S for summaries. I expect to see at least three Q’s, at
least one P, and at least one S.
Grading: 80 points
possible. 30 points for excellent
synthesis – connecting points from the interviews with examples from the
book. 20 points for excellent and
correct use of quotes, paraphrases, and summary(ies). 15 points for grammar and clarity (spelling
does not count). 15 points for
organization, style and originality.
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