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The readings and assignments so far this semester have asked you to think about ways text take on meaning in different rhetorical situations, whether your own engagement with texts that have impacted you, or texts that circulate in academic spheres not necessarily designed for you that nonetheless impact your everyday experiences as a college student. You’ve gained the tools necessary to start situating yourself in various discourse communities, and now it’s time to use those skills to synthesize.
This assignment asks you to synthesize information from two provided sources “Intertextuality and the Discourse Community” by James E. Porter, and “The Idea of Community in the Study of Writing” by Joseph Harris. To synthesize means to combine a number of things into a coherent whole. So, for the Synthesis Essay, you will read the above two sources, looking for connections between the main ideas.
In this essay, you will be asked to use “Intertextuality and Discourse Communities” and “The Idea of Community in the Study of Writing” in order to support your answer to the question, “How can the idea of discourse communities impact developing writers?”
Synthesizing the articles will involve the following steps:
Read and reread the articles: We’ll talk about the articles in class, so it is mandatory that you read them in order to both write the essay and participate in class. It’s fine not to understand everything you read (I don’t expect you to!), just give it your best shot.
Annotate the texts: I strongly encourage you to write on the articles and keep notes as you read. Underline important part of the articles, circle words you want to look up, write your own thoughts or summaries in the margins. These notes will be helpful as you draft.
Look up words you don’t understand: Be an active reader! When you run into a term you don’t know, find its definition and build your vocabulary.
Ask questions: We’ll be working through these articles together as a class, and it will be important for you to ask questions about things you don’t understand.
Practice paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting: To avoid plagiarism, it will be necessary for you to understand the articles well enough that you can articulate main ideas in your own words. When you’re using language that comes directly from the articles, put quotation marks around the words that aren’t your own. Whether summarizing, paraphrasing, or quoting, provide an in-text citation.
Talk about the articles with me and your peers: These are tough readings; we’re again entering a rhetorical situation where undergraduate students aren’t the intended audience. Because of this, we should be generous with one another as we share our understanding, confusion, and individual perspectives.
Your essay should contain the following components:
An introduction: As usual, your introduction should “hook” your reader and provide important context for your argument
A thesis statement: Your thesis statement will answer the question, “How can the idea of discourse communities impact developing writers?”
Body paragraphs: Your body paragraphs should follow the structure we learned for the textual analysis, including a topic sentence that is a specific claim containing the main idea of the paragraph, evidence from the provided sources, and analysis that explains how and why your evidence supports your claim.
A conclusion: Your conclusion should rephrase your essay’s argument and also articulate to your audience the reason(s) your argument matters.
MLA citation: Please be sure you’re properly citing your sources and formatting your paper according to MLA guidelines (double-spaced, size 12 Times New Roman font). Remember, you should have both in-text citations and a Works Cited page.
Effective organization: Your essay’s structure should help readers see the relationship between the ideas in your essay through appropriate transitions and a sequencing of ideas that readers can comprehend
A demonstration of your understanding of the source’s arguments: Your writing should accurately convey what the authors are saying, showing where authors may agree or disagree, as well as exploring the implications of your observations.
Page requirement: The essay must be 5-7 pages long (Please remember to write at least to the bottom of the fifth page to receive credit for the assignment)