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 should be from scholarly journals or credible trade journals. You should find your sources through library searches. o If you cite sources from websites or popular journals, these sources should be in addition to the 10 sources you have cited from scholarly or trade journals. Topic: Social Media and College Students. It is recommended that you focus on or expand on the essay that you wrote for Social Media and College Students. 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. Integration of Sources: At least eight sources must be cited in the body of the essay. You may cite sources in your introduction to help you define terms, and you may cite sources in your conclusion to help you direct the reader to further inquiry. However, the body of the essay should synthesize at least eight sources.
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 dont 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.
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
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.
