Commentary and Synthesis
Introduced| English |
|---|
| Synthesis/ˈsɪnθəsɪs/ |
| attribution and citation/ətrɪˈbjuːʃn ænd saɪˈteɪʃn/ |
The sentence before the quotation matters too
- Students learn to explain evidence after using it.
- Fewer learn to introduce it before.
- Unit 3 gives commentary two jobs, not one.
A quotation without a lead-in lands on the page like a guest who arrived before the host.
Commentary's two jobs
- Effective use of evidence uses commentary to establish a logical relationship between evidence and claim.
- Writers also introduce source material using commentary, integrating it into the line of reasoning.
- So commentary comes before the evidence as well as after it.
Commentary's two jobs are to...
Commentary comes before the evidence as well as after it.
What synthesis actually requires
- Synthesis 综合 requires consideration, explanation and integration of others' arguments into your own.
- The word integration rules out a paragraph that summarises each source in turn.
- A source is integrated when your claim could not be made without it — and is not simply a restatement of it.
Summary or synthesis?
Sort each paragraph shape by what it achieves.
Summarising each source in its own paragraph counts as synthesis.
Integration is required; one paragraph per source is the classic low-scoring shape.
Match each element to where it sits in a paragraph.
Commentary wraps the evidence on both sides.
Synthesis is not summary in sequence. A paragraph per source, however accurate, produces no claim of your own — and the claim of your own is what the task is asking for.
Acknowledging others' words and ideas is done through attribution and ____.
On the exam this is a requirement of the task, not only an academic convention.
Attribution
- Writers must acknowledge the words, ideas, images, texts and intellectual property of others.
- That is done through attribution and citation 归属与引用.
- On the exam this is a requirement of the task, not only an academic convention.
Select all the signs that a source has been integrated rather than summarised.
One paragraph per source is the shape integration avoids.
Spotting weak synthesis
- One paragraph per source is the classic low-scoring shape.
- "Source A says X. Source C says Y. Both discuss the issue." — no claim, no integration, no reasoning.
- Ask of your own paragraph: whose claim is this? If it belongs to a source, you have summarised.
Weak: "Source B supports the policy. Source D also supports it." Strong: "Sources B and D both defend the policy, but B defends it as an administrator measuring compliance while D defends it as a participant describing what it made possible — so the agreement is thinner than it appears." The claim belongs to the writer.
Commentary has two jobs: introducing source material into the reasoning and establishing the logical relationship afterwards. Synthesis requires integration, not summary in sequence, and all borrowed material needs attribution and citation.