Synthesis Essay
The Dangers of Climate Change, a Sense of Home, and Different Opinions
The Ask.
Through close reading, analysis, and evaluation, determine how assigned texts that are not necessarily on the same exact topic still “go together” toward producing some kind of collective meaning. The texts include Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore, by Elizabeth Rush, House Resolution 109 (Green New Deal), and Seven Birthdays by Ken Liu. I needed to summarize each text, analyze each text, evaluate each text, and synthesize each text in 1000-1250 words.
Skills.
-
![]()
Textual Analysis
Carefully examining each text and identifying underlying messages, narrative strategies, and emotional appeals
-
![]()
Academic Writing
Using formal tone, paragraph organization, transitions, and clarity appropriate for a college-level synthesis essay
-
![]()
Drawing Connections
Finding connections between different texts and recognizing how separate works contribute to a collective meaning
-
![]()
Perspective-Taking
Recognizing the diverse viewpoints within the texts regarding personal choice, belief systems, and social action
-
![]()
Comparative Writing
Clearly comparing and contrasting the texts while maintaining a balanced, insightful analysis
-
![]()
Summarizing/Evaluating
Effectively condensing each text's main points while maintaining clarity and accuracy
The Process.
-
Reading through all of the texts and taking notes throughout was the first step of this process. I wanted to take note of any and all of the different themes and messages within all of the different texts I read. This helped me to fully understand the different messages within each of the texts and look for similarities and differences.
-
Once all texts were read, I went over all of my notes for each piece and looked for connections. I found three main ones I wanted to write about. I did some brainstorming on how these connections can be elaborated on and looked for different specific points from each piece to use as references. Doing this makes my writing more credible and easy to follow and understand.
-
After finding my three connections, I began writing my first draft. I wrote an analysis of each piece and explained my connections. I pulled information from all of my texts to backup these connections. I made sure to hit the requirements for this assignment in the first draft to make my revisions easier and more content focused.
-
Finally, after creating my draft, I went through it and fixed things up. I found different ways to strengthen my talking points and make it sound more professional. I also went in and fixed any grammatical errors and made sure my sentence structures were varied throughout the paper. After rereading the paper multiple times and finding ways to improve it, it was finally complete.
Quotes from my Essay
“People who leave may have had no other choice, but the people who stay stayed because they don’t belong anywhere else.”
“Will our children care about the same injustices we do?”
“She describes the severity of climate change through heartbreaking stories from communities she has visited and describes even the smaller changes such as changes in migration timing and the disappearance of tupelo trees and seagrass meadows.”
“The effects of not having a place to belong or having it taken from you can have damaging effects. Without that structure, people feel lost.”
“Although each text has different structures and contexts, they all contribute to creating a shared understanding.”
“Without Earth, we are nothing. It is our one and only home, so we need to take care of it.”
The Outcome.
What I learned
I learned and developed valuable skills regarding finding connections across diverse texts. This essay also showed me the power of multiple perspectives. Each of the texts were taking from very different perspectives and concepts, but they all still aligned.