Different styles of essays are best used when discussing different topics of information. Of all the styles, synthesis essays are the most commonly used, especially in education. Learning how to write a synthesis essay can help you clearly articulate your thoughts while providing relevant sources to support your thesis.
How to Write a Synthesis Essay
If you’re looking to write a synthesis essay, these steps can help you develop your thoughts and support them with relevant evidence:
1. Revisit the assignment
Before writing your essay, it’s important you clearly understand the assignment and what the aim of your writing is to be. When reading the assignment, note the length, topic, and argument if provided. The assignment may provide guidance on what sources to use and the citation style to implement as well. Having a clear understanding of the assignment can ensure you don’t have to rewrite your essay or submit an essay that doesn’t adhere to the guidelines.
2. Conduct research on the topic
Before you can develop your thesis, conduct preliminary research on the topic. This can help you form an opinion on the subject that can dictate the direction you take your essay. Creating a thesis based on your opinion can help you write your essay as it will reflect your values.
3. Draft your thesis
The thesis statement is the conclusion you make after reading various texts. This is often an answer to the question the instructor poses in an assignment.The starting point of writing your essay is developing your thesis. Take your time to fully develop and research your thesis as this will be the basis of your entire essay.
4. Create an outline
Your outline can help shape and guide the structure of your essay. Having an outline ensures you don’t miss any key points and that your essay remains organized while you write it. Add notes to each section of your outline to help you understand where each piece of evidence can be referenced and which points you can discuss. The outline is just a guideline and is subject to change as you go, but following a plan can lead to a more clear and concise essay.
5. Draft the essay
Using your outline, you can draft your introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion. Try including a surprising detail about your subject that can help introduce your thesis. After you write the introduction, you can transition into the body paragraphs. Each paragraph in the essay's body can have its own theme or subtopic. With each, you might summarize each of the texts you read as you explain how they connect. It can be effective if each paragraph builds on the last paragraph, providing more information on why your thesis is valid as the essay continues.
The conclusion of an essay can summarize everything that was mentioned throughout your essay in a new way. Try reiterating some of the most important claims. By doing this, you can reinforce why these details support your thesis and show your instructor you could successfully synthesize information from different texts.
6. Cite your sources
At the end of your essay, you can include a citations page that references all the sources and outside works that you’ve used in your essay. This can include statistics, facts, and quotes that you didn’t create yourself. You can organize the sources based on the order in which they’re referenced in your essay or alphabetically based on your footnotes.
7. Format your essay
The final stage of writing your essay is formatting it. The three common citation styles are American Psychological Association (APA), Modern Language Association (MLA), and Chicago style. The citation style you choose to implement may depend on the type of essay you have written or what your assignment guideline specifies. When finished writing, consider reviewing the assignment again for any details on formatting.
What is a synthesis essay?
A synthesis essay is an essay you may need to write that uses multiple sources. Similar to other essays, a professor may assign certain readings to you or you may find them on your own. To synthesize sources, it means to explore what each is saying and how they contribute to your own thesis. As the thesis is the statement explaining the purpose of your essay, you may learn how to take different parts of articles and incorporate them into your own.
There are several types of synthesis essays you might need to write:
Argumentative: Argumentative essays are essays where you might compare two issues, argue for a certain position, and show cause and effect. Argumentative essays often synthesize readings from various sources for writers to prove their thesis.
Explanatory: Explanatory essays are informational essays that help you research and learn the details in a specific area. Rather than comparison, you might summarize and paraphrase different sources to reveal more information on a topic.
Business plans: Business plans rarely follow the layout of traditional essays, but they can benefit from synthesis essay formatting. Since business plans are enacted to solve a specific problem, this can act as a thesis in synthesis layout. Research can come from internal metrics or results and can act as supporting evidence why such problem needs to be solved.
Literature review: Book reviews are essays where you might read various books and identify common themes or components across them. This can be a speculative essay that analyzes distinct patterns and proposes alternative ideas.
Research papers: Research papers require you to reference several sources, making a synthesis essay effective in arguing your thesis. Synthesis essays allow you to combine several sources in a clear and uniform way, making your essay easy to read and your thesis clearly defined. Research papers often look at one distinct argument and provide large amounts of research to support it.
What elements should you have in a synthesis essay?
Depending on the purpose of your essay, you may be required to include several or all of the following elements:
Thesis statement
Your thesis statement is the argument that will guide the rest of your essay. Each point throughout your essay should support your thesis or reference it. Your thesis is only one sentence and can be clear, concise, and straightforward.
Introduction
Your introduction introduces the reader to the topic you’ll be discussing in your essay. Your introduction can start with an opening line followed by your thesis and a summary of the points you’ll discuss. Refrain from including any references or new information in this section, as you can include it in your body paragraphs.
Body paragraphs
The bulk of your essay will be contained in the body paragraphs. This is where you pull all your research into your essay and argue how they support your thesis. In synthesis essays, this section is typically two to three paragraphs. It can contain all of your arguments in this section before you conclude your argument.
Conclusion
Your conclusion pulls all of your thoughts together and reiterate how they support your thesis statement. Your conclusion is only one paragraph and shouldn’t introduce new information to the reader. Summarize your findings, evidence, and key points, and relate them to your thesis briefly.
Sources
Your sources list provides the reader with a list of all external information you used in your essay. Depending on the style of your essay, you can choose which citation style works best for your essay. Link each source used to where you referenced it in your essay but using footnotes or endnotes.
Tips for writing a synthesis essay
Here are some tips you can use when writing a synthesis essay:
Read your essay
Always read your essay before you submit it. Reading your essay can help catch spelling errors, formatting problems, and unclear topics before you submit it for grading. Ensure you read your essay two to three times before submission to catch any errors.
Use a grammar software
There are several online software programs that check the grammar and spelling of your work. Using these software options can help catch anything you may have missed. These programs can also help with improving the readability of your essay, the writing tense, and voice to ensure it is uniform throughout your essay.
Ask a friend to read your essay
Asking a friend to read your essay can help you catch any mistakes you may have missed. Using a third party can also help you find any topics that are unclear and can ensure your thesis is relevant throughout. Consider asking a friend well before the deadline so you can revisit your essay if you need.
Print your essay
Printing your essay and reading it from the paper is a great way to catch any remaining mistakes. You can use a marker to make any revisions and edit your rough draft. Visualizing your essay can help you catch formatting errors and ensure it looks consistent throughout.