How to Write a Synthesis Essay: Inside Out

What is a student’s first thought when they get assigned to write a synthesis essay?

It can be something like “Synthesis? Does it have anything to do with chemistry?” Or, it could be the drudgery of waiting for time-consuming, daunting work, given the specifics of such a task.

Indeed, synthesis essays aren’t as simple as the narrative or personal papers you often write in school and college. That’s why it would help to learn more about it and understand how to write a synthesis essay so that you are ready to craft a stellar one when a corresponding prompt appears.

This guide will reveal the basics of synthesis paper writing, explain its core elements, and explain how to organize your essay for better clarity and flow.

The Basics of a Synthesis Essay

What is a synthesis essay?

A synthesis essay is an academic paper where you must evaluate several sources, combine their ideas on a topic, and interpret them to form a new, cohesive analysis or argument.

Important:

Synthesis essays aren’t about using others’ ideas or summarizing them in your thesis statement. You don’t repeat opinions from sources but use them to form your position and then explain it.

Your task is to show how different perspectives connect or contrast. What does it mean?

When you are doing research and choosing the resources to analyze in your synthesis essay, don’t limit yourself to just those supporting your position. Please include at least one with counterarguments and your rebuttal to them. Including the opposite side’s information will demonstrate to your readers that you understand the issue inside out.

So, what’s a synthesis essay?

It’s an essay gathering information from several sources to form a new idea or argumentative thesis. Writers also use the principle of synthesis in business papers to combine ideas into a coherent plan and in analysis papers to explore related theories. Argument papers can also be about synthesis when an author compares different views to support a claim. Research paper writers use synthesis to prove or disprove their hypothesis.

Finally, prepare to write a synthesis essay to pass your AP Language exam. It will be the first of three papers you’ll need to craft there.

Explanatory vs. Argumentative Synthesis: Key Differences

Synthesis papers are of two types:

1. Explanatory
2. Argumentative

While their structure is the same, these two are slightly different by nature.

Explanatory synthesis resembles a typical expository or informative essay: You choose several sources, explain their core ideas to the audience, and reveal connections between them. You don’t need to choose a side of the issue or persuade your readers to take one. Summarize and paraphrase your sources to explain the topic more clearly.

Argumentative synthesis is about taking a stance and defending it using evidence from your chosen sources. You take sources, develop your thesis based on them, and support it with the information from them. It resembles a standard argumentative essay where you synthesize points from various reputable sources to prove your thesis.

Explanatory synthesis essays	Argumentative synthesis essays
Describe and explain an idea based on information from the sourcesMore typical for traditional writing assignments in college	Prove an idea (thesis) using information from the sources as evidenceMore typical for advanced research or AP Language exams

How to Organize a Synthesis Essay Effectively

The synthesis essays you write in college often follow a standard five-paragraph structure: an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Here are the core elements you should include:

Thesis statement

This is your essay’s main idea and purpose, a claim you make after reading your sources, evaluating the information from there, and coming up with a new point you’ll explain or defend based on them.

How to write a synthesis thesis:

1. Choose 2-3 sources you’ll synthesize in your essay.
2. Read them carefully and evaluate their central ideas related to your assigned topic.
3. State your point of view based on those ideas in a sentence or two.
4. Write down your thesis statement at the very end of your introductory paragraph.

Introduction

It’s the first paragraph demonstrating how to start synthesis essay:

Start with a writing hook to get readers interested in your topic and encourage them to continue investigating. Then, provide a little background, introducing your sources and the landscape of ideas you’re going to discuss. Finally, conclude the paragraph with a strong thesis statement to show the reader what they can expect.

Note: A thesis is NOT an introduction but an integral part of it.  

Body

The number of body paragraphs in a synthesis essay depends on how many sources you use to synthesize your idea. As a rule, you’ll need to include three:

• Two paragraphs for the sources supporting your concept (thesis)
• One paragraph to introduce the source with counterarguments and provide your thoughts on it

It’s also fine to include just two paragraphs in the body of your essay or expand it to four paragraphs if necessary. Use quotes from your sources, summaries, paraphrasing, and analysis to show how the ideas from those sources support the claim you’re making.

Conclusion

The final paragraph of your essay consists of three sentences minimum, summing up your writing and leaving readers with food for thought.

• First, restate your thesis in a new way so that readers see your topic from a different angle.
• Then, summarize the ideas you addressed in the body of your essay, emphasizing how each point proved your thesis. Thus, you’ll reiterate why it’s valid.
• Finally, try to answer the “So what?” question your audience might have after reading your paper. What should they do (or think about) with all the information you’ve provided?

Referencing list (Bibliography)

As with other college essays, synthesis papers should include a list of references. This is a page or two at the end of your essay citing all the sources you referred to while writing.

Read your prompt carefully to see what citation style it prescribes for your essay. Whether it’s AMA, MLA, or Chicago, consider the proper formatting for your references according to the rules prescribed by the corresponding style manual.

The hardest part of writing a synthesis essay is structuring its body paragraphs for a coherent and logical flow. You’ll include points from several sources, and your task is to combine them properly.

Don’t know how to write synthesis essay paragraphs in a way that achieves that? Use any of the following three strategies for structuring your draft:

A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Synthesis Essay

1. Brainstorm: Choose a topic for your synthesis essay if nothing’s prescribed in your assignment. Brainstorm a few ideas that will be relevant to the subject of your course and interesting for you to cover.
2. Research and analyze: Conduct extensive research to decide on the sources you’ll synthesize in your essay. Analyze each for relevance and only use reliable and unbiased sources: academic papers, research journals, scientific studies, expert books, etc.
3. Come up with a statement: Read your chosen sources and develop a strong thesis statement for your essay. Remember that you should either explain a particular idea or make an argument.
4. Outline your essay: Once your thesis is ready, craft a detailed outline for your essay. Specify the points you’ll cover in each paragraph and note down the evidence from your sources you’ll use to support your points. It’s a plan for your paper that will make the writing process faster and easier.
5. Write a draft (with strong transitions): Using your outline, write your introduction (remember to include the thesis), body paragraphs, and conclusion. Add quotes, summaries, and other evidence from your sources to prove your claims; use transitional phrases between paragraphs.
6. Revise for clarity and flow: Once the draft is ready, review it to ensure that you didn’t miss anything and that the essay looks coherent and logical. Edit if necessary.
7. Proofread and submit: Reread your essay several times to prevent typos and grammatical or punctuation mistakes. Format the text according to the requirements you got in the assignment.

It’s Time to Write!

Now that you know how to write a synthesis essay and have all the tips in your pocket, it’s time to write! Choose a topic or take the one assigned to you, develop a strong thesis statement, and craft a paper that will impress your teacher and help you earn a high grade.