College Composition / Unit 23 CMP 0569 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Synthesizing Two Sources
The idea
Synthesizing two sources means showing how they relate and what their relationship means for your claim.
In practice
Synthesize in order. First, summarize each source's main point on the question, briefly and fairly. Second, identify the relationship: do they agree, disagree, or address different parts of the question? Third, explain why: different data, methods, times or assumptions. Fourth, state what the relationship means for your argument: together they strengthen a claim, or their disagreement reveals a limit. Fifth, write it so the paragraph's topic sentence makes a point about both sources, not about one. For example: two studies of school start times agree that later starts improve attendance, but differ on grades, which suggests the benefit is clearer for attendance than for achievement.
Where people slip
Signal phrases and transitions carry synthesis. Words such as similarly, however and both studies show relationships; without them, two summaries sit next to each other unconnected.
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