“A Small Place” Synthesis Paper - 60 points

Ms. Schnelle - Honors English 10

Important Dates:

Research: due 10/22

Evidence: due 10/23 (thesis workshop in class)
Rough Draft: due 11/1 (writing workshop and conferences in class)
Final Draft: due 11/6 by 11:59 PM

What is a synthesis paper?

A synthesis is a written discussion that draws on one or more sources - essays, articles, fiction, and also
non-written sources, such as lectures, interviews, observations. In an academic synthesis, you must go
beyond the critique of individual sources to determine the relationship among them.

For example: Is the information in source B an extended illustration of the generalizations in source A?
Would it be useful to compare and contrast source C with source B? Having read and considered sources
A, B, and C, can you infer something else - D (your own idea)?

The skills you've already been practicing in this course will be vital in writing this paper. Before you're in
a position to draw relationships between two or more sources, you must understand what those sources
say; in other words, you must be able to summarize these sources. It will be helpful for your readers if
you provide at least partial summaries of sources in your synthesis essays. This should appear when
integrating quotes. At the same time, you must go beyond summary to make an argument - based, of
course, on your critical reading of your sources - as you have practiced in your reading responses and in
class discussions.

Because a synthesis is based on two or more sources, you will need to be selective when choosing
information from each. It would be neither possible nor desirable, to discuss in a ten-page paper on the
battle of Wounded Knee every point that the authors of two books make about their subject. What you as
a writer must do is select the ideas and information from each source that best allow you to achieve your
purpose.

Since the very essence of synthesis is the combining of information and ideas, you must have some basis
on which to combine them. Some relationships among the material in your sources must make them
worth synthesizing. It follows that the better able you are to discover such relationships, the better able
you will be to use your sources in writing syntheses. Your argument (based on the topic you choose) will
determine how you relate your source materials to one another and which sources you choose to
incorporate in your paper.

Source List (*=mandatory):

“A Small Place” by Jamaica Kincaid* Barbados Article
Ms. Roberts and Ms. Mulcahy Interview WestJet Travel Video
Ms. Padron’s Website (and all linked articles) Your Own Researched Source*
Paper Topics:
Directions: Choose one of the prompts below. Respond to the quote in essay form. The questions below
each quote are suggestions for pathways you might take when writing, but it is not mandatory that you
answer them.

1. “The past isn’t dead, it isn’t even past.” - William Faulkner

How is history still present in the Caribbean?
What is seen vs. unseen?

2. “The memories of men are too frail a thread to hang history from.” - John Still, The Jungle Tide
Does a unified account of history exist? What impacts this account?
How does perspective or bias impact experience?

3. “Poverty in dignity is better than wealth based on shame.” - Buddha

Can tourism really be understood to be a beneficial or benign market for the Caribbean?
How does corruption impact the economy?

4. Your own prompt (Approved by Ms. Schnelle)

Paper Nuts and Bolts:

- 12 pt Times New Roman

- MLA Header
- Title
- Double Spaced
- 1” Margins
- Book title in quotes (“A Small Place”)

“How long should this paper be?”: As long as it needs to be. You need to be able to construct an argument
containing three separate sources.

Required Components:

- Introduction, conclusion, and several body paragraphs.

- Inclusion of AT LEAST three sources (“A Small Place,” your research piece, and one more).
- A works cited page that includes all sources used.