Writing Assignment #4

The Multiple-Source Synthesis Essay:

Literature Review

Summary of assignment

• Task: The multiple-source essay asks you to synthesize the arguments of at least 10 sources
• Length:2000-3000 words
• Format:APA
• Sources:a total of 10 sources, all of which you will find through library searches.Please use the same topic that you used for writing assignment #3.It is recommended that you focus on or expand on the essay that you wrote for writing assignment #3.You will continue with the topic you have selected and will conduct additional searches in the library databases, hopefully focus the topic more, and determine the 10 or more sources to use in this essay.

Strategies in Developing the Topic for this Essay

Up to this point in the semester, you have completed an annotated bibliography. You have also incorporated and synthesized four sources into writing assignment #2 and six sources into writing assignment #3.The work you have completed for these assignments provides a solid foundation for writing assignment #4.In this assignment you will synthesize the ideas of at least 10 sources in a synthesis essay, or literature review.

For your annotated bibliography, you selected a topic based on your interests and, possibly, your major. You constructed a list of five references and summarized and critically analyzed them in 150-200 words each.You then completed the four-source essay and the six-source essay.

Through this process, you may have seen patterns in the scholarly literature in the topic on which you conducted research. For example, consider the following examples:

• You may have researched studies in criminal justice and found that there are varying opinions on how to respond to criminal behavior among youth.
• You may have researched studies in psychology and found that counseling strategies for victims of domestic abuse tend to fall into four categories.
• You may have researched articles on gerontology and found studies that answered three basic questions on how older adults respond to training for physical performance.
• You may have researched articles on environmental management and found studies on climate change.You noticed that various demographic factors influence whether individuals believe in climate change and, if so, whether they believe it is caused by human activity.

In the synthesis essay, you will focus your research efforts in a particular area, perhaps as a response to what you found while writing the annotated bibliography and in constructing the four-source and six-source essays.You will then conduct more research and synthesize your findings in this literature review.

Please note that the annotated bibliography, the four-source essay, and the six-source essay represent a journey in your research.

You might decide to disregard several of the articles you analyzed in the critical annotated bibliography or in the following two essays because they don’t speak to the specific area on which you have decided to write your multiple-source literature review.You might select one article that you analyzed in the critical annotated bibliography, look up the articles cited in that article, and “snowball” your research in that way.

In other words, this process is a recursive one. You might find reasons to hone in on and narrow your topic even further after you have written the annotated bibliography.

For these reasons, you are strongly encouraged to write on the same general topic on which you wrote writing assignment #3.You might focus the topic more for writing assignment #4.Or you might expand on the topic for writing assignment #4.

How to organize the multiple-source essay:

When you have focused on your topic, determine how you will divide the literature. In other words, consider the following examples we described above:

You may have researched studies in criminal justice and found that there are varying opinions on how to respond to criminal behavior among youth.

You might divide the paper as follows:

Introduction

Body

• Category 1: “A” view on responding to criminal behavior.
• Category 2: “B” view on responding to criminal behavior.
• Category 3: “C” view on responding to criminal behavior.
• Category 4: “D” view on responding to criminal behavior.

Conclusion

You may have researched studies in psychology and found that counseling strategies for victims of domestic abuse tend to fall into four categories.

You might divide the paper as follows:

Introduction

Body

• Category 1: “A” counseling strategy for victims of child abuse
• Category 2: “B” counseling strategy for victims of child abuse
• Category 3: “C” counseling strategy for victims of child abuse
• Category 4: “D” counseling strategy for victims of child abuse

Conclusion

You may have researched articles on gerontology and found studies that answered three basic questions on how older adults respond to training for physical performance.

You might divide the paper as follows:

Introduction

Body

• Question 1
• Question 2
• Question 3
• Political affiliation and its impact on belief in climate change
• Socio-economic status and its impact on belief in climate change
• Religious and other influences on belief in climate change

Conclusion

You may have researched articles on environmental management and found studies on climate change.You noticed that various demographic factors influence whether individuals believe in climate change and, if so, whether they believe it is caused by human activity.

You might divide the paper as follows:

Introduction

Body

Conclusion

In order for you to see this concept with a real-life example, you can access a sample synthesis or literature review from a psychology student by clicking here. The student writes her paper on the following topic: Emotional Eating: The Perpetual Cycle of Mood-Food Influence. She divides her literature into the following categories:

• Influence of Mood on Eating Behavior
• Gender Differences
• Influence of Eating Behavior on Later Moods
• Chronic Stress Response Network

Notice how she synthesizes and integrates the research into the different categories.

Point of view

For this essay, you will use third-person point of view.

Please do not use first person point of view (e.g., “I,” “me,” “we”) in writing this essay.

In addition, please do not use second-person point of view (“you” or “your”) in writing this essay. For example, instead of “Smith argues that, as a director, you have a duty to coordinate cybersecurity efforts…” you would write, “Smith argues that directors have a duty to coordinate cybersecurity efforts…”

APA Style

The paper should be formatted in APA style. The video How to format your paper according to APA style might be helpful to watch.In summary, you should observe the following:

• Use one-inch margins.
• Double space.
• Use size 12 Times New Roman font.
• Include a running head.
• Include page numbers.
• Include a title page.
• Include a “References” page on which you list the articles in APA style
• Do not include an abstract.This paper is not long enough to warrant an abstract.

Submitting the assignment:

You will submit a first draft of the essay to the assignment folder.The first draft will not be graded.The instructor will provide comments to it.

After receiving comments from the instructor, you will submit a revised draft.The final draft will be graded.

Helpful Resources

• Graff, G. and Birkenstein, C., They Say / I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing with Readings. This chapter in in the e-reserves of our class. It mentions various techniques to apply in stating what an author said and your response to the author. It is recommended that you read through that chapter so that you might apply these techniques to this essay.