Name: Grading Rubric: Synthesis Essay

Successful Satisfactory Inadequate Little SuccessIntro & Thesis

Effectively establishes the context of the topic; effectively takes a position that defends, challenges, or qualifies the claim in the prompt.

Adequately establishes the context of the topic; Adequately takes a position that defends, challenges, or qualifies the claim in the prompt.

Inadequately establishes the context of the topic; Inadequately takes a position that defends, challenges, or qualifies the claim in the prompt.

Little success in establishing the context of the topic; Little success in taking a position that defends, challenges, or qualifies the claim in the prompt.

Support, Citations, & Argument

Effectively supports position by effectively synthesizing and citing at least three of the sources. Writer’s argument is convincing, and cited sources effectively support position.

Adequately supports position by effectively synthesizing and citing at least three of the sources. Writer’s argument is generally convincing, and cited sources generally support position, but less developed than “successful.”

Attempt to present an argument and support position by synthesizing and citing two sources, but may misunderstand, misrepresent, or oversimplify either writer’s own argument or the cited sources included. Link between cited sources and argument is weak.

May merely allude to knowledge gained from reading the sources rather than citing the sources themselves. May misread sources, fail to present an argument, or merely respond to the question tangentially or by summarizing sources.

Writing Mechanics

Writing demonstrates an ability to control a wide range of elements of effective writing; few to no errors in formal English spelling and grammar; Proper citation integration & punctuation

Writing demonstrates general ability to write clearly enough to convey ideas adequately; some errors in formal English spelling and grammar; some mistakes in citation integration & punctuation

Writing demonstrates inadequate control of writing; errors are consistent and may be distracting to reader; may show inattention to citation integration or punctuation

Writing shows consistent weaknesses through lack of development or organization, grammatical problems; errors are consistently distracting to the reader; shows little to no attention to citation or integration punctuation

First Draft & Outline Included: ____/ 1 point

Attention to MLA Formatting:

Heading order/Left-aligned: ___/ ½ point

Title: ____/ ½ point

Date: ____/ ½ point

Last Name/Page # in Upper Right: ___/ ½ point

Times New Roman Font: ___/ ½ point

Double-Spaced: ____/ ½ point

Total: _________ / 28 Writing Points

Name: Class:WRITING

Synthesis PaperOutline

Outline & Draft of Paper Due: Day 1, Week of February 4 ________________________

Final Draft Due: Day 2, Week of February 4 __________________________

Remember: The synthesis question asks you to synthesize information from a variety of sources to inform your own discussion of a topic. Your evidence ONLY may come from the sources.

Write an essay in which you defend, challenge, or qualify the following statement:

The 20th and 21st century American woman faces many of the political, social, and physical restraints that limited her 19th century counterpart.

Paragraph 1: Introduction

Grabber:

Set Up the Debate & then Transition to Thesis:One side believes:

The other side believes:

The side I’m not on is illogical, though, because:

General Thesis:

Specific Thesis/Blueprint (listing reasons, not sources):

Paragraph 2: Support from Source _______Topic Sentence: An Argument (not a statement of fact) introducing how your first reason supports your thesis.

Evidence: A brief explanation of your first source; a quote, statistic, or detail from this source that supports your thesis

Commentary: A thorough explanation of how this source supports your thesis. Should connect the dots for your readerThis evidence supports my thesis because…

Paragraph 3: Support from Source _______Topic Sentence: An Argument (not a statement of fact) introducing how your second reason supports your thesis.

Evidence: A brief explanation of your second source; a quote, statistic, or detail from this source that supports your thesis

Commentary: A thorough explanation of how this source supports your thesis. Should connect the dots for your readerThis evidence supports my thesis because…

Paragraph 4: Support from Source _______Topic Sentence: An Argument (not a statement of fact) introducing how your third reason supports your thesis.

Evidence: A brief explanation of your third source; a quote, statistic, or detail from this source that supports your thesis

Commentary: A thorough explanation of how this source supports your thesis. Should connect the dots for your readerThis evidence supports my thesis because…

Paragraph 5: ConclusionRestate Thesis & Blueprint: What is your position? What did your three sources

show readers that should have convinced them of your argument?

Explain how this topic affects our lives and society today—you might think about how your argument shows the social construction of gender is reinforced or undermined, or how you expect this argument might be relevant or irrelevant in upcoming years.