How to INTRODUCE SYNTHESIS (Argue Ideas, Not Things)

Summary

Tim Freitas from the Garden of English introduces a series on mastering synthesis writing, starting with the essential strategy of arguing about ideas rather than things. He highlights the importance of focusing on unifying ideas in research papers, using examples like the library and post office prompts to illustrate how themes like community and technology can enrich synthesis essays. The video guides educators and students on analyzing prompts for abstract ideas and incorporating these into coherent arguments, underlining the significance of engaging with sources through the lens of these concepts. Freitas aims to enhance students' ability to craft well-developed essays centered on abstract themes, rather than merely discussing topics.

Takeaways

• 📚 Focus on ideas, not things: Argue about ideas rather than objects or topics to create more unified and impactful papers.
• 📍 Use concrete examples to support abstract ideas: Utilize specific examples (like the library or post office) to discuss broader themes such as community and technology.
• 📝 Synthesis prompts should drive exploration of ideas: When approaching synthesis and research papers, concentrate on conveying the ideas behind the topic.
• 💾 Teaching strategy for synthesis: Encourage students to identify and circle idea-related words or phrases in prompts to focus their essays on these abstract concepts.
• 📱 Integrating sources effectively: Teach students to connect their sources to the abstract ideas they're exploring, marking each source as either supporting or contradicting these ideas.
• 💻 Evaluate sources with idea-focused lens: Students should read sources looking for connections to the key ideas identified in the prompt, aiding in building a strong argument.
• 💡 Highlight the importance of perspective versus position: Different sources may support the same position (e.g., benefits of locavorism) but from unique perspectives (e.g., economic vs. health benefits).
• 🔥 Use universal ideas to guide synthesis: Provide students with a list of universal ideas to help them link prompt language to broader themes, enhancing their critical thinking and analytical skills.
• 👥 Emphasize abstract thinking in literature and argumentation: Encourage students to think beyond concrete details to the underlying ideas, improving their interpretation and discussion of texts and topics.
• 👍 Support and resources: Mention of supporting the Garden of English through merchandise, donations, or simply sharing and subscribing to the content.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the series introduced by Tim Freitas at the Garden of English?

The series focuses on introducing synthesis, starting with synthesis prompts, and then discussing thesis statements, body paragraphs, and conclusions, similar to the approach taken with rhetorical analysis.

What advice does Krystal Liberty give regarding the approach to synthesis and creating research papers?

Krystal Liberty advises to argue about ideas rather than things, emphasizing the importance of focusing on the concepts being conveyed rather than the specific topics being discussed.

Why does Tim Freitas encourage focusing on ideas for synthesis essays?

Focusing on ideas helps create stronger papers with a unifying concept throughout, rather than merely discussing the topic, leading to a more coherent and impactful argument.

How does Tim Freitas suggest students should begin working with synthesis prompts?

He suggests that students should start by thinking about the ideas they want to convey, using tangible topics as a means to argue those ideas, and encourages circling idea-related words or those related to abstract concepts in the prompt.

What example does Tim Freitas provide to explain the importance of focusing on ideas in synthesis essays?

He mentions library and post office prompts, where the best papers focused on broader ideas like community and technology's speed, using these settings to discuss those larger themes.

What method does Tim Freitas use to help students focus on ideas and actively engage with their sources?

He has students circle words related to ideas or abstract concepts in the prompt and link tangible elements to intangible ideas, then note these on a separate list for reference when reading sources.

What does marking sources with pluses or minuses next to listed ideas help students achieve?

This method helps students identify which sources support or contradict certain ideas, facilitating a comparison of perspectives and aiding in the formulation of a nuanced argument.

How does the approach of focusing on ideas over topics benefit students' understanding of literature and argumentation?

It encourages students to think abstractly about themes and concepts, improving their ability to analyze and argue about broader issues, which is beneficial for understanding literature and crafting arguments.

What is the purpose of providing students with a list of universal ideas?

The list helps students identify relevant themes and ideas within prompts and sources, fostering familiarity with abstract concepts and enhancing their analytical skills.

What future topics does Tim Freitas plan to cover in the series after introducing synthesis?

He plans to discuss generating thesis statements for synthesis, continuing the educational series to further assist students in mastering synthesis essay writing.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Synthesis

Tim Freitas introduces a series on how to approach synthesis in research papers, emphasizing the importance of arguing about ideas rather than things. He highlights the value of focusing on a unifying idea throughout a paper, using examples from synthesis prompts about libraries and post offices to illustrate how successful papers concentrate on broader ideas such as community and technology, rather than the specific topics themselves. The goal is to encourage students and teachers to think about the overarching ideas they want to convey in their synthesis and research work.

05:00

🔍 Analyzing Synthesis Prompts

Freitas explains how to analyze synthesis prompts by focusing on abstract ideas rather than concrete topics. He uses the 2011 local food movement prompt as an example, showing how to identify key ideas like personal health, sustainability, and community within the prompt. He suggests that students circle words related to these ideas in the prompt and use these abstractions as the foundation for their papers. This approach aims to help students synthesize sources more effectively by concentrating on ideas that can be supported or challenged by the sources, rather than merely compiling information on the topic.

10:03

📖 Source Engagement and Argument Development

Freitas demonstrates how to engage with sources by mapping them to the identified abstract ideas from the prompt, using positive and negative symbols to indicate whether a source supports or challenges an idea. This method helps students see how different sources can be in conversation with each other about the same idea from different perspectives or positions. By focusing on how sources relate to the abstract ideas rather than the topic itself, students can develop a more nuanced and robust argument in their synthesis essay, making connections between sources based on the ideas they convey.

15:04

🛠️ Practical Tips for Synthesis and Idea Focus

In the final part of the series, Freitas offers practical tips for helping students find and focus on abstract ideas in their synthesis work. He suggests using a list of universal ideas to help students connect prompt language to broader concepts, improving their ability to argue about ideas rather than things. This approach not only enhances synthesis essays but also deepens students' engagement with literature by encouraging them to think about themes and ideas, like humanity and empathy in 'Frankenstein', beyond the surface-level plot.

Keywords

💡Synthesis

Synthesis in the context of the video refers to the process of combining ideas from various sources to form a coherent argument or perspective, particularly in academic writing or research papers. The speaker emphasizes teaching students to focus on synthesizing ideas rather than just accumulating information. This approach is exemplified through the analysis of synthesis prompts, where students are encouraged to identify and integrate key ideas across different sources.

💡Thesis Statements

Thesis statements are a central part of any academic essay, as mentioned in the video. They provide a clear, concise summary of the main point or claim of the essay. The speaker plans to discuss how to generate effective thesis statements in the context of synthesis writing, indicating their importance in structuring and guiding the argument of a research paper.

💡Body Paragraphing

Body paragraphing refers to the structure and organization of the main sections of an essay. In the video, the speaker mentions that this will be a topic of discussion, indicating its role in effectively presenting and supporting the thesis through evidence and analysis, especially in the context of synthesis essays.

💡Rhetorical Analysis

Rhetorical analysis is a method of understanding and breaking down text or speeches to understand their persuasive elements. The video references this as a previously covered topic, suggesting a parallel in teaching methods between rhetorical analysis and synthesis, both requiring critical thinking and analytical skills.

💡Argument about Ideas

The phrase 'argue about ideas and not things' is highlighted in the video, emphasizing the importance of focusing on abstract concepts and intellectual debates rather than concrete objects or superficial topics. This principle guides the approach to teaching synthesis, urging students to delve deeper into the underlying ideas and themes of their sources.

💡Locavore Movement

The locavore movement, mentioned as a synthesis prompt in the video, refers to the practice of eating food that is locally grown or produced. The speaker uses this topic to demonstrate how to focus on broader ideas (like community, sustainability) rather than just the specific subject (local eating), illustrating how synthesis essays should explore deeper implications of a topic.

💡Abstract vs. Concrete

In the video, the speaker emphasizes the difference between abstract and concrete concepts, encouraging students to focus on abstract ideas (like personal health, sustainability) rather than concrete details. This approach helps in crafting more insightful and idea-driven synthesis essays, as it steers the discussion towards broader, more significant themes.

💡Source Analysis

Source analysis in the video refers to the skill of critically reading and interpreting various sources to extract relevant ideas and viewpoints. The speaker demonstrates this by analyzing sources related to the locavore movement, showing how to identify and connect ideas about sustainability, the economy, and personal health to the main topic.

💡Universal Ideas

Universal ideas, as mentioned in the video, are broad and abstract concepts that can be applied to various topics. The speaker provides a list of such ideas to help students identify and focus on these universal themes in their synthesis essays, enhancing their ability to engage with literature and complex topics on a deeper level.

💡Perspective vs. Position

The video distinguishes between 'perspective' and 'position.' Perspective refers to the unique angle or standpoint from which a source approaches a topic, while position refers to the source's stance or opinion on that topic. Understanding this distinction helps students in synthesizing arguments by acknowledging that different sources may share a position but offer varied perspectives.

Highlights

Introduction to synthesis by quoting Krystal Liberty: 'Argue about ideas and not things'.

Encouragement for teachers and students to focus on the ideas they want to convey rather than just the topics.

Highlighting the importance of a unifying idea throughout a research paper.

Using examples like the library and post office prompts to illustrate arguing about community and technology using specific subjects.

Introduction to the 2011 locavore prompt as a means to teach focusing on ideas in synthesis prompts.

Technique of circling idea words in prompt backgrounds to guide synthesis essay planning.

Demonstration of how to identify and note abstract ideas related to the locavore movement.

Instruction on how students can organize their synthesis by listing ideas such as personal health, economy, sustainability, and community.

Explanation of how identifying idea words helps in evaluating sources and forming a coherent argument.

Illustration of how to tie sources to specific ideas for a stronger synthesis argument.

Use of source annotations to differentiate between supporting and opposing views on ideas.

Differentiating between perspectives and positions in sources to enhance synthesis.

Emphasis on abstract thinking in synthesis to focus on ideas over topics.

Providing a list of universal ideas to help students connect prompts to broader concepts.

Conclusion with a call to support the Garden of English and tease for future content on thesis statements for synthesis.

Transcripts

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[Applause]

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hey folks this is Tim Freitas with the

garden of English we're gonna start our

series on how to introduce synthesis and

we'll work on looking at just synthesis

prompts at first and then we'll talk

about thesis statements body

paragraphing and conclusions kind of

similar to what we did with rhetorical

analysis I want to start with synthesis

by quoting a very good friend of mine

named Krystal liberty and she always

says argue about ideas and not things

and so the first thing that I encourage

teachers to do and students to do when

they begin learning about synthesis and

how to create research papers is to

actually think about the ideas of what

they're trying to convey as opposed to

about the things that they want to talk

about and the reason why is because the

strongest papers that you'll see are

papers that really focus on having a

unifying idea throughout the paper and

they don't just talk about the topic of

the paper so just an example that I

could give about that would be I was

reading the library prompt a few years

ago and the best papers that I read

consistently argued about community but

they use the library to talk about the

importance of community and togetherness

and so the papers that really stood out

were the ones that could focus on the

idea and then use the library to argue

about that idea so another one would be

the post office prompt from 2000 well I

don't on the early 2010 range maybe that

was 2012 and that's a lot about you know

the speed of technology and you know

social expectations but you can use the

post office in order to to talk about

those ideas so nonetheless if we want to

teach kids to argue about ideas and not

things but they have to use things to

argue their ideas we do want to actually

teach them to focus on ideas when they

access their synthesis prompts so what

I'm going to do is I'm going to actually

pull up the 2011 since this is prompted

which is the local

or prompt it does not actually why

should say there is rumor that you will

not receive factors prompt anymore for

synthesis and I can either confirm nor

deny I don't actually know but the

stable wording the new prop stable

wording doesn't fit very well with

factors prompts so I'm willing to bet

that we might not see them again but I

never want to say never but that doesn't

matter because we're not actually

focusing on this prompt for the prompt

itself which says that they need to

write a paper that identifies the key

issues associated with the local bar

movement and examine their implications

for the community we want to focus on

not the writing task itself we want to

focus on the background in the prompt

because what we're trying to do is we're

trying to show kids how do we focus on

ideas even when we plan our synthesis

essay so that we can write a strong

argument about ideas and if we do this

it'll actually also help us and to help

us to teach our students how to actively

engage with their sources especially in

a short amount of time so here's what I

do with my students I have my students

read the introductory area and circle

all of the words that either are ideas

or relate to ideas so what that means is

an idea is just something that's

intangible its abstract and if they can

find something that's concrete that

relates to something intangible they're

gonna write that down too so they'll

circle all the idea words or if there's

something that's a little bit more

tangible that relates to an idea they

might actually circle it and then write

the idea on top of it so I'll show you

what that looks like right here with

this prompt with my handy-dandy pen here

so I'll read it here and then I'll tell

you what my students would Circle and

we'll talk about why and we'll see how

this can actually help with evaluating

sources as well so it says locavores are

people who have decided to eat locally

grown or produced products as much as

possible with an eye to nutrition as

well as sustainability resource use that

preserves the environment the locavore

movement has become widespread over the

past decade so

if we just look at this first part I'll

say alright folks what do we have for

ideas that we can pull from this

language and one of the ideas that

you'll see here is this word nutrition

now nutrition itself isn't necessarily

an idea we can have nutrition facts and

whatnot but nutrition certainly relates

to personal health so my students will

make a little note I'm sorry with that

about personal health right up here

personal health ok and they have an idea

so they're not going to write a paper

about locavore ism they're gonna write a

paper about personal health and they're

gonna use local for reason to do it ok

or potentially so we then have an idea

of sustainability that's as abstract as

it gets so it's sustainability we also

have the language here that says

preserves the environment so the idea

there would be environmentalism

environmentalism ok if they just want to

circle the word environment that's fine

too and also we have this language that

says the locavore movement has been

widespread over the past decade and now

we also have an idea here of social

trends social trends okay good and so

I'll have the kids imitate for these

moments here and then sometimes they'll

even say locally-grown or they'll say

produced products and when we see the

word product that actually implies the

economy and therefore because it's a

local economy if they're locally grown

it becomes a local economy and there's

an a that's an a yeah there we go okay

now as we continue reading they're gonna

cert they're gonna try to find more idea

words that show up so it says imagine a

community considering organizing a

locavore movement so they're gonna

circle this word community that's for

sure

it says carefully read the following

seven sources including the introductory

information for each source then

synthesize from at least three of the

sources and incorporate it into a

coherent well-developed

essay that identifies the key issues

associated with a locavore movement and

examines their implications for the

community so we'll see that word commune

show up another time right here okay and

so now we have quite a list of

abstractions that we can give to our

students here for ideas that they can

formulate their paper on so what I'll

have my students do is they'll have them

go to the white space that's right here

and they'll actually write these words

down so we'll have personal health okay

so a personal health personal health

alright

the economy will have sustainability and

we will have community all right and

this right here is supposed to say

sustainability okay so the kids will

actually write those elements down right

here now that's nice because we want to

show our kids hey we're gonna write a

paper about personal health or the

economy or sustainability or the

community or the interrelation of many

of those things so now they at least

know what ideas they want to focus on in

their paper but what makes us also

really nice is that they know that they

have to synthesize sources in their

paper to convey their argument and now

what we can do is we can actually go on

to our source pages and when we do if we

go to our source pages when I have my

students read from here on oh they are

now reading with the ideas from the last

page in mind personal health economy

sustainability and community so when

they read their sources they're now

trying to say okay do I see language in

my sources that relates to these ideas

because if they read any of this

language in here and it relates to an

idea on the front they can then tie that

source to the idea so here's how this

would look let's just look at the top

two part

[Music]

actually we'll look at the first

paragraph here and then we'll look at

the fifth paragraph so the first one

says eating local means more for the

local economy according to a study by

New Economics foundation in London a

dollar spent locally generates twice as

much income for the local economy when

businesses are not owned locally

muddling money leaves the community at

every transaction so my students are

going to notice right away that the word

economy shows up right here so we're

gonna circle that okay but what they're

also going to do is when they see this

they say this says that local or ism is

favorable for the local economy

so they'll actually go back to the front

page here and where it says the economy

they will write source a let's get my

cursor up they'll put an A next to

economy and then they'll put a little

plus sign and the reason why is because

they know that source a suggests that

the economy in the local economy is

greatly increased and well serviced

because of locavore ISM so if they have

to now create an argument for locavore

ism they're gonna say okay one of the

benefits of it is that it helps the

local economy and they know that source

a will indeed help them deal with that

okay

another part of source a that we can tie

to if I can get over there there we go

all right well zoom in a little bit

let's look at this one if we go to the

bold-faced part where it says eating

local is better for air quality in

pollution than eating organic okay so

they're gonna see this right here and

they're gonna say hey this relates to

sustainability and it says hey this is a

positive thing the local tourism is a

positive thing for sustainability

they will then once again go back to

page one if I can get back there there

we go and they'll go back and they'll go

to sustainability and they will then

mark source a here and they'll put a

little plus there because it shows that

source a does indeed

suggests that it's better for

sustainability as well now the way that

this actually correlates well with how

kids read their sources is because as

they go through inserts for the ideas

they're gonna list their sources next to

the ideas and they're put little pluses

or minuses and then they'll be able to

see oh my word if source a supports that

it's good for sustainability but source

C suggests that it's not as good for

sustainability when they see a plus and

C minus they now know that they have two

sources in conversation but they're

focusing on the ideas of the sources not

just locavore ism and so because of that

they can then interpret their reading

better because they'll know that this is

not necessarily a paper about locavore

ism it's a paper about how

sustainability is affected because of it

so that's one of the things that's one

of the ways to look at this now if we go

to our visual source here right when

students look at this they're going to

want to notice that it says greenhouse

gas emissions so source D is indeed

quite a sustainable sorry it's a source

that deals with sustainability now this

is a chart that can be interpreted in

multiple ways so I want to show my kids

how to interpret that but that's not the

point of today the point of today is

that the kids will recognize hey this is

about sustainability so because of that

I'm gonna go back to my first page and

I'm a little note here that says hey

source D is also about sustainability

okay and then how they interpret that

source whether it's more positive or

negative depending on how they interpret

it they would then mark right here is it

can I use it positively or negative

my argument hey it's better for

sustainability or maybe it's not making

that much of a difference in

sustainability okay and then sometimes

they're gonna notice that some sources

don't have anything to do with the

economy and they might have to do with

personal health and because of that

they'll then gonna see the many

different perspectives okay

the many different perspectives that

these sources have now why this is

is because I might have source let's see

if it over there source a which is a

remarkably positive position about

locavore ISM and I might have source I

didn't go through all the sources right

now but I might have source B that also

is positive in relation to local tourism

but they might hold the same position

but they're whole different perspectives

okay and the reason why is because one

is a web blog and the other one is an

excerpt from nutritionists who created

the 100 mile diet so the difference

between difference between perspective

and position is that the position that

maintains the same they both you woke

aphorism in a favorable light but the

perspective is different because one is

quoting like health officials and the

other one is here's just common

experience in life and that's part of

the new CED is trying to teach kids the

difference between possession

perspective and position and by just

marking which sources can actually

converse with one another and if a and B

are both positive and they put B here

they can see well weight so one says

locavore ism is positive in relation to

personal health the other one says

locavore ism is positive in relation to

the local economy and now we can see

that the position is local tourism is

positive but the perspective is

different because the ones using the

economy ones using personal health or a

mix of both okay so the point here is

this though when you teach kids how to

provide sense how to begin synthesis you

want them to focus on ideas and you want

them to focus on reading the sources

through those ideas so now they can

formulate an argument around the ideas

as opposed to the topic itself so we

focus on the abstract instead of the

concrete and then we're going to teach

them how to use the concrete to convey

their abstract their abstract arguments

so that's that if you need if you need

to if you think that you might need to

help kids actually I'll give you one

more

source here with the idea of finding

abstractions if they have a hard time

finding them in here I do have a list

and I'll try to remember to put this in

the link down below but I do have a list

of universal ideas this is by no means

comprehensive but I often give my

students this list right here and I say

hey read the background and try to see

if any of these words can be tied to the

language that's in there so that kids

start to get really familiar with this

and this actually helps with literature

as well because now I could ask a kid of

them you know what is that well ask a

kid like what is Frankenstein about they

won't just tell me it's about a monster

and a scientist who creates a monster

they'll actually say it's about humanity

and it's about empathy because they now

know that we're talking about ideas more

than anything else and that's where we

want to get kids to so anyway that's

just a little introduction to synthesis

there ways to help kids focus on the

ideas to create their arguments as

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we'll come back probably in about a week

or maybe a week and a half depending on

how much digital work I have for my

online classroom and we'll talk about

generating thesis statements for

synthesis

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