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Now it’s time to use your synthesis matrix to begin writing a short, organized composition, between 300 and 500 words. Remember, it will include a short intro, our four reasons, and a brief conclusion.
Citation
Remember to give credit to your sources by including APA-style citations. You’ll need in-text citations where you used information, and you’ll need to list all your sources in a References section below your essay. If you want some refreshers on how to do these citations, visit Purdue OWL’s APA Formatting and Style Guide.
Reporting Language
With a short essay like this, you won’t need to do too much by way of reporting language. However, in more in-depth synthesis tasks like literature reviews, reporting verbs will help you not only credit your authors, but also show the relationship between sources. You can download the handout below, which contains a list of useful reporting verbs, along with examples of how you can show similarity, contrast, and accumulation (progression) with your sources.
[embeddoc url=”https://beckymenendez.edublogs.org/files/2016/11/ReportingLanguage-vhz973.docx” download=”all” viewer=”google”]
You Try
If you’d like to try your essay from scratch, go ahead and start writing/typing. You can also complete a partially finished essay by opening the Word Document below.
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When you’re finished, proceed to Step Four.
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References:
Gillett, A. (2015). Reporting: Synthesis. Retrieved from http://writingcenter.fiu.edu/resources/synthesis-matrix-2.pdf
Purdue Online Writing Lab (2016). APA formatting and style guide. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/1/
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