7.1. What is Synthesis?

A synthesis is a discussion that forges connections between the arguments of two or more authors. In other words, synthesis is combining two or more things to produce something new. When you read and write, you will be asked to synthesize by taking ideas from what you read and combining them to form new ideas.

Like a summary, a synthesis requires you to understand the key claims of each author’s argument, including their use of supporting examples and evidence. Also like a summary, a synthesis requires you to present a central idea, a gist, to your readers. However, in contrast to a summary, which explains the context of a source, a synthesis creates a context for your own argument. Simply put, while summarizing consists of restating someone’s ideas in as few words as possible, synthesizing means taking those ideas and creating new ones.

Synthesizing is also different from analyzing. Analyzing consists of breaking something down into its parts and examining it closely. For example, you can break down a pizza into its ingredients. Synthesizing, on the other hand, consists of combining ideas to form new ones. So, in the pizza example, you could break down the ingredients, then you can take those same ingredients and create something new, like a calzone.

The purpose of a synthesis is not merely to list the similarities and differences you find in different sources or to assert your agreement with one source as opposed to others. Instead, it sets up your argument. Once you discover connections among texts, you have to decide what those connections mean to you and your readers. What bearing do they have on your own thinking? How can you make use of them in your own argument?