Proper methods for attributing author statements and creating synthesized arguments.

1. Quotes and Paraphrases
 When we synthesize, we combine author’s words to
create a dialogue/conversation between the two.
 To do that, we must know how to Quote and
Paraphrase.
 Quotes: - Using an author's exact words in your own
writing
 Best Used when:
1. You want to capture the writer's tone
2. The writer said something memorable

2. From “Generation Wuss”
Bret Easton Ellis says, “people won’t like
you, that person may not love you back,
kids are really cruel, work sucks, it’s hard
to be good at something, life is made up of
failure and disappointment, you’re not
talented, people suffer, people grow old,
people die” (“Generation Wuss”).

3. Paraphrase
Translating an author's language into your own
words via your own voice, and style.
 Best Used:
1. When you only want the idea of what the
author said, not the whole quote.
2. When the quote is too long, and not all of it
is needed to make a point

4. Example:
 The millennial generation needs a reality check in
terms of how they won’t always be liked and rewarded
because life can be challenging, and sometimes we
don’t always get what we want. (Ellis “Generation
Wuss”).

5. Evidence Sandwiches
 Your entire synthesis can’t be just quotes and paraphrases
 You need to first introduce evidence by first providing
context (setting the scene)
 This includes saying WHY this author is credible to make the
claims in your evidence
 And an introduction to the topic the author discusses.
 Example:
 Bret Easton Ellis, an American best-selling author and screenwriter
wrote about how millennials seem to be unprepared for the real world
because of their overprotective upbringing.

6. Interpretation
 You need to follow evidence by saying why it matters
 We do this by applying evidence to the first, the
argument in your thesis.
 Audience = Millennials
 Argument = They should not let their overprotective
upbringing affect how well they operate in the
workplace

7. Example
 “…people won’t like you, that person may not love you
back, kids are really cruel, work sucks, it’s hard to be
good at something, life is made up of failure and
disappointment, you’re not talented, people suffer,
people grow old, people die” (Ellis “Generation Wuss”).
Like Ellis says, hardships are part of life, and while
millennial parents protected their children from failure,
the work place will not be like that. If millennials walk
into their job with that mentality, they could be
unprepared for the eventual failure that comes with
trying new. They might then be too discouraged to
continue, and could possibly get fired for not putting in
more effort.

8. What is synthesis? Knowing how to use evidence helps us learn to
synthesize it.
 Synthesis is using the relationships between sources
to support your argument

9. Why Synthesize?
 Gains different perspectives on a single topic making a
well-rounded argument
 Support your point with prominent authors- if more
than one author agrees with you, you have a stronger
ethos
 Recognize your opposition’s point
 Project a knowledgeable ethos of the topic through
showing how sources relate to each other

10. Points of Synthesis
 Start my using your Argument T/R/E and Rhetorical
Analysis questions to gather ideas between your sources
 Look for:
 differences: How do the two authors disagree on this topic?
 similarities: How do the two authors agree on this topic?
 challenging opinions: How does one author challenge the
opinion of another author?
 Questioning: How does one author question the argument of
another author?

11. Author Tags
 To keep track of who said what, use author tags
 They attribute the evidence to the author that said it
1. “Elis says…”
2. “In contrast with Elis, Davey explains…”
3. “Both Elis and Davey agree…”
4. “Davey challenges Elis by stating…”
 Make sure to differentiate between author tags, and
always use author’s LAST name.

12. Synthesis Examples
Elis states that, “people won’t like you, that person may
not love you back, kids are really cruel, work sucks, it’s hard
to be good at something, life is made up of failure and
disappointment, you’re not talented, people suffer, people
grow old, people die” (“Generation Wuss”).
 Davey says, “It is exactly Millennials’ willingness to gaze
unflinchingly at the often brutal socio-economic realities
we’ve grown up with that empowers us to find new ways of
collaborating, creating wealth, and doing good” (“Changing
Everything”).

13. Relationship and Synthesis
 Elis says that millenials are unable to handle harsh
realities that come with being an adult
 Davey says that it is this exact dissatisfaction that
drives millennials to come up with more creative
solutions to the world’s problems
 Possible synthesis: Disagreement, question, challenge

14. Synthesis example
 Disagreement:
 Elis says “people won’t like you, that person may not love you
back, kids are really cruel, work sucks, it’s hard to be good at
something, life is made up of failure and disappointment, you’re not
talented, people suffer, people grow old, people die” but Davey
disagrees with this saying that millenials are actually
more self-aware and capable because we can “...gaze
unflinchingly at the often brutal socio-economic realities we’ve
grown up with that empowers us to find new ways of collaborating,
creating wealth, and doing good” (“Generation Wuss”; “Changing
Everything”).

15. Challenge:
 Ellis challenges Davey’s claim that millennials’ are actually
“gazing unflinchingly at brutal socio-economic realities” by
instead claiming that millenials often don’t understand
that “life is made up of failure and disappointment, you’re
not talented, people suffer, people grow old, people die”
(“Changing Everything”; “Generation Wuss”).

16. Question:
While Davey says that millenials’ dissatisfaction
with the world can lead them to “find new ways of
collaborating, creating wealth, and doing good,”
Ellis questions the validity of this claim stating
that this dissatisfaction is contradictory to the real
world where “work sucks, it’s hard to be good at
something, life is made up of failure and
disappointment” (“Changing Everything”;
“Generation Wuss”).

17. Writing a CA
 Your CA has three parts
1. Making a concession to the opponents argument
2. Asserting a position on their claim
3. Stating a refutation to their claim
Opponent’s Argument : Jada is at fault for her rape
because it was in her control to choose whether or
not to drink at a party