WRTG391 2019 January Multiple-Source Essay Latest

WRTG 391 7970 Advanced Research Writing

Multiple-Source Essay (Literature Review) -- WA#4

Writing Assignment        #4          

The        Multiple-Source               Synthesis             Essay:                   

Literature            Review

Summary of assignment

• Task: The multiple-source essay asks you to synthesize the arguments of at least 10

sources

• Length: 2000-3000 words

• Format: APA

• Sources: a total of at least 10 sources, all of which you will find through library

searches. Please use the same topic that you used for writing assignment #3. It is

recommended that you focus on or expand on the essay that you wrote for writing

assignment #3. You will continue with the topic you have selected and will conduct

additional searches in the library databases, hopefully focus the topic more, and

determine the 10 or more sources to use in this essay.

Strategies in Developing the Topic for this Essay

Up to this point in the semester, you have completed an annotated bibliography. You have also

incorporated and synthesized four sources into writing assignment #2 and six sources into

writing assignment #3. The work you have completed for these assignments provides a solid

foundation for writing assignment #4. In this assignment you will synthesize the ideas of at least

10 sources in a synthesis essay, or literature review.

For your annotated bibliography, you selected a topic based on your interests and, possibly, your

major. You constructed a list of five references and summarized and critically analyzed them in

150-200 words each. You then completed the four-source essay and the six-source essay.

Through this process, you may have seen patterns in the scholarly literature in the topic on which

you conducted research. For example, consider the following examples:

•You may have researched studies in criminal justice and found that there are varying

opinions on how to respond to criminal behavior among youth.

•You may have researched studies in psychology and found that counseling strategies

for victims of domestic abuse tend to fall into four categories.

•You may have researched articles on gerontology and found studies that answered

three basic questions on how older adults respond to training for physical performance.

•You may have researched articles on environmental management and found studies

on climate change. You noticed that various demographic factors influence whether

individuals believe in climate change and, if so, whether they believe it is caused by

human activity.

In the synthesis essay, you will focus your research efforts in a particular area, perhaps as a

response to what you found while writing the annotated bibliography and in constructing the

four-source and six-source essays. You will then conduct more research and synthesize your

findings in this literature review.

Please note that the annotated bibliography, the four-source essay, and the six-source essay

represent a journey in your research.

You might decide to disregard several of the articles you analyzed in the critical annotated

bibliography or in the following two essays because they don’t speak to the specific area on

which you have decided to write your multiple-source literature review. You might select one

article that you analyzed in the critical annotated bibliography, look up the articles cited in that

article, and “snowball” your research in that way.

In other words, this process is a recursive one. You might find reasons to hone in on and narrow

your topic even further after you have written the annotated bibliography.

For these reasons, you are strongly encouraged to write on the same general topic on which you

wrote writing assignment #3. You might focus the topic more for writing assignment #4. Or you

might expand on the topic for writing assignment #4.

How to organize the multiple-source essay:

You will divide the essay into categories. Each category will be labelled with a heading.

In order for you to see this concept with a real-life example, you can access a sample synthesis

or literature review from a psychology student by clicking here. The student writes her paper

on the following topic: Emotional Eating: The Perpetual Cycle of Mood-Food Influence. She

divides her literature into the following categories, which are used as headings throughout the

paper:

•Influence of Mood on Eating Behavior

•Gender Differences

•Influence of Eating Behavior on Later Moods

•Chronic Stress Response Network

Notice how she synthesizes and integrates the research into the different categories, labelled by

headings.

Strategies in Developing Categories

When you have focused on your topic, determine how you will divide the literature. In other

words, consider the following examples we described above:

You may have researched studies in criminal justice and found that there are varying opinions

on how to respond to criminal behavior among youth.

You might divide the paper as follows:

Introduction

Body

•Category 1: “A” view on responding to criminal behavior.

•Category 2: “B” view on responding to criminal behavior.

•Category 3: “C” view on responding to criminal behavior.

•Category 4: “D” view on responding to criminal behavior.

Conclusion

You may have researched studies in psychology and found that counseling strategies for

victims of domestic abuse tend to fall into four categories.

You might divide the paper as follows:

Introduction

Body

•Category 1: “A” counseling strategy for victims of child abuse

•Category 2: “B” counseling strategy for victims of child abuse

•Category 3: “C” counseling strategy for victims of child abuse

•Category 4: “D” counseling strategy for victims of child abuse

Conclusion

You may have researched articles on gerontology and found studies that answered three basic

questions on how older adults respond to training for physical performance.

You might divide the paper as follows:

Introduction

Body

•Question 1

•Question 2

•Question 3

Conclusion

You may have researched articles on environmental management and found studies on

climate change. You noticed that various demographic factors influence whether individuals

believe in climate change and, if so, whether they believe it is caused by human activity.

You might divide the paper as follows:

Introduction

Body

•Political affiliation and its impact on belief in climate change

•Socio-economic status and its impact on belief in climate change

•Religious and other influences on belief in climate change

Conclusion

Point of view

For this essay, you will use third-person point of view.

Please do not use first person point of view (e.g., “I,” “me,” “we”) in writing this essay.

In addition, please do not use second-person point of view (“you” or “your”) in writing this

essay. For example, instead of “Smith argues that, as a director, you have a duty to coordinate

cybersecurity efforts...” you would write, “Smith argues that directors have a duty to coordinate

cybersecurity efforts…”

APA Style

The paper should be formatted in APA style. The video How to format your paper according to

APA style might be helpful to watch. In summary, you should observe the following:

• Use one-inch margins.

• Double space.

• Use size 12 Times New Roman font.

• Include a running head.

• Include page numbers.

• Include a title page.

• Include a “References” page on which you list the articles in APA style

• Do not include an abstract. This paper is not long enough to warrant an abstract.

Submitting the assignment:

You will submit a first draft of the essay to the assignment folder. The first draft will not be

graded. The instructor will provide comments to it.

After receiving comments from the instructor, you will submit a revised draft. The final draft

will be graded.

Helpful Resources

• Graff, G. and Birkenstein, C., They Say / I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic

Writing with Readings. This chapter in in the e-reserves of our class. It mentions

various techniques to apply in stating what an author said and your response to the

author. It is recommended that you read through that chapter so that you might apply

these techniques to this essay.