Name:

Date:
Period: Synthesis Practice for TKM Commentary
*​ must be complete by the start of Thursday (05/30)

What is synthesis?
syn·the·sis: the combination of ideas to form a theory or system.
When we use synthesis in an essay, we are preparing to make inferences​ ​or,
educated guesses, based on thoughtful analysis of how ONE text (a primary
text) is better understood with the lens of a SECOND piece of writing, media,
or information (AKA: (a secondary source). In our essay, we are using our
critical thinking to connect lots of different ideas and proving to our teacher
we can comment on two complex texts and how they “interact.”

OUR TASK TODAY:

We are going to look at some secondary sources about the​ STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT
today, and practice how we could comment on how it, as a secondary source, interacts with
and helps us to better understand the THEMES of ​TKM​.

EXAMPLE: When you do this momentarily, you will be using the theme that is assigned, a
concrete detail that is given to you- and then you are filling in the last two organizer boxes!

Theme: Concrete Detail from TKM: Indirect Concrete SYNTHESIS:

Detail from SPE:
The disarming “Bob would not look in
brutality of Tom’s direction on the Once immersed in
dehumanizing bench, ‘It was that boy over the simulated prison
actions. there” (Lee 154). at Stanford, those
who were the guard
realized they could
dehumanize the
other boys, and
started making them
refer to themselves
by their prisoner
number and avert
their eyes when the
guards approached
them.
In both Tom Robinson’s
case in Harper Lee’s
novel, and the fake
prisoners case in the
Stanford Prison
Experiment, men are
humiliated and
dehumanized by having
their name and identity
taken away from them.
The Stanford Prison
Experiment proves that if
given the opportunity,
those in power choose to
exploit what they
consider to be “weak.”

 
Now- you try this, please! I have given you a theme and a concrete detail.
Theme Concrete Detail from Indirect Concrete SYNTHESIS
TKM Detail from SPE
There is a
negative affect “Maycomb was an old
associated with town… people moved
a small slowly then, took their
community or time about
isolated everything... Everyone
community knew everything
which leads to a about everybody…
worse form or lost to the world” (Lee,
higher rate of 23).
dehumanizing
behavior.

Example Synthesis Using the Graphic Above:

Topic Sentence: There is a negative affect associated with a small community or isolated community which leads to a
worse form or higher rate of dehumanizing behavior.

CD #1: As an older, more mature Scout thinks of her claustrophobic, small Southern home, she considers that
“Maycomb was an old town...people moved slowly then, took their time about everything... Everyone knew everything
about everybody...lost to the world” (Lee 23).

CM: Scout is reflectively setting the stage for her home and the novel’s social background, effectively portraying the
town’s old-world isolation, in which the racial and moral conflicts of the world are condensed into a single, prejudiced
community.

CM: She describes the place as “lost to the world” which implies that Maycomb’s social systems are reliant on their
community, and their community alone.

CD #2: Similarly, in Mind Field’s “Revisiting the Stanford Prison Experience,” a team of modern psychologists isolate
four individuals to test how they may develop patterns of retaliation, hatred, and dehumanization based on the fact
that they are secluded; most of the individuals act kindly, but others turn to disinterest for other peoples’ comfort and
safety.

CM (SYNTHESIS COMES IN HERE)

When the people of Maycomb or the citizens involved in the Stanford Prison Experiment are given a smaller, more
isolated community, everyone falls into those patterns of dehumanizing behavior; like using language to belittle
others, and become inconsiderate of others’ emotions.
CM (SYNTHESIS COMES IN HERE)
Moreover, Scout’s reflection on her hometown’s propensity for gossip, “everyone knew everything about everyone,”
which is also obvious in the Stanford Prison Experiment, in which the more that people were given roles to play, the
more they acted to fulfill the role they were given by the community.

Here it is all together:

There is a negative affect associated with a small community or isolated
community which leads to a worse form or higher rate of dehumanizing behavior.As an
older, more mature Scout thinks of her claustrophobic, small Southern home, she
considers that “Maycomb was an old town...people moved slowly then, took their time
about everything... Everyone knew everything about everybody...lost to the world” (Lee
23). Scout is reflectively setting the stage for her home and the novel’s social
background, effectively portraying the town’s old-world isolation, in which the racial and
moral conflicts of the world are condensed into a single, prejudiced community. She
describes the place as “lost to the world” which implies that Maycomb’s social systems
are reliant on their community, and their community alone. Similarly, in Mind Field’s
“Revisiting the Stanford Prison Experience,” a team of modern psychologists isolate four
individuals to test how they may develop patterns of retaliation, hatred, and
dehumanization based on the fact that they are secluded; most of the individuals act
kindly, but others turn to disinterest for other peoples’ comfort and safety. When the
people of Maycomb or the citizens involved in the Stanford Prison Experiment are given
a smaller, more isolated community, everyone falls into those patterns of dehumanizing
behavior; like using language to belittle others, and become inconsiderate of others’
emotions. Moreover, Scout’s reflection on her hometown’s propensity for gossip,
“everyone knew everything about everyone,” which is also obvious in the Stanford
Prison Experiment, in which the more that people were given roles to play, the more they
acted to fulfill the role they were given by the community.