Synthesizing Ideas

Jack Elrich

Synthesizing Ideas into your paper is like a DJ doing a mash-up.

In Walter Przybylowski’s research paper “Holding Up the Hollywood Stagecoach: The European Take on the Western”, he uses a block quotation from a book that really solidifies his argument about how the film Stagecoach created/reinforced a western stereotype.

Przybylowski most likely let this source really shape his paper. He could have found this quote arguing about Stagecoach, and found that it would be a good thing to mention in his paper.

This left him with a topic and quote that supported his thesis.

In RFW it is mentioned that you should always connect and analyze sources in your own voice.

It’s important to collect and include a lot of good quotes and data, but you should also synthesize your own opinion and voice in there to argue your thesis as well.

Questions

1. How do you typically go about synthesizing your research into your paper?

Questions

2. Do prefer to get a good idea of all the topics you’d like to cover, and then research them, or do you do the research initially to find out which topics you could best use to support your thesis based on the research you find?