Hi Steph! That’s a great story! Basically “The Lottery” is about a town in middle America that partakes in an annual ritual to stone one resident to death in order to ensure a good harvest. There are a lot of themes in this story, including scapegoating, mob mentality, and the danger of blindly following tradition. It’s meant to be shocking that anyone in modern times would do something so barbaric, especially these people who seem so normal and ordinary. I hope that helps! – Amanda

What topic are you writing about? The first steps you’ll want to take are finding sources based on your topic and formulating an opinion about what those sources have to say. You’ll want to look for answers to some of the following questions and ideas: What common threads can you find in your sources? Do some of your sources contradict each other? How is the information different between sources? How does the type of source show bias or reveal something about the author’s intentions?

These are great starting points to help you start synthesizing your research!

Actually, I don’t understand the whole structure of this synthesis essay and how to write.

Which part of the essay are you struggling with specifically?

Hi there! The first thing you need to do is read all of your sources and then formulate a thesis based on the content. Without actually reading your sources, I can’t really suggest a thesis, but maybe you have enough information to argue that consumers should be more informed about the production processes. In this case, your thesis might be “Consumers must become more engaged with the production process because [reason 1], [reason 2] , and [reason 3].” Bear in mind that you shouldn’t be summarizing your sources, you should be using them to support your own arguments based on their combined content. In the body of your paper, you’ll explore each of your reasons in support of your thesis and add citations where appropriate for your sources. One thing I might suggest is that if you have any friends in the class, you get together and discuss the materials after reading them. Sometimes it can be helpful to generate points of view by discussing articles and breaking them down that way in our heads. Good luck, and happy writing! – Amanda

Hi Camryn,

The main difference between an argumentative essay and a synthesis essay is all in the source of the thesis statement.

For an argumentative essay, most students begin with their thesis statement (the point they want to convince their readers of) and then find sources to support their thesis statement and sources that disagree with their thesis statement so that they can be refuted. Basically, it is thesis statement first, sources second.

For a synthesis essay, the process is sort of reversed. Since you are given the sources in advance, it’s now your job to develop a thesis based on those sources and the information contained in them. You can think of a synthesis essay as a way to teach your readers about the articles you have been given as they relate to a specific topic. In synthesis essays, the sources come first and the thesis statement comes afterward after the sources have been read.

I hope that makes sense!