Rules for writers, Tenth edition - Diana Hacker, Nancy Sommers 2021

Synthesize sources
Integrating sources
Writing Papers in MLA Style

When you synthesize multiple sources in a research paper, you create a conversation about your research topic. You show readers that your argument is based on your analysis and integration of ideas and is not just a series of quotations and paraphrases strung together. Your synthesis will show how your sources relate to one another; one source may support, extend, or counter the ideas of another. Not every source has to “speak” to another in a research paper, but readers should understand how each source functions in your argument.

Considering how sources relate to your argument

Before you integrate sources and show readers how they relate to one another, consider how each source might contribute to your argument. As student writer Sophie Harba became more informed about her research topic, she asked herself these questions:

✵ What have I learned from my sources?

✵ Which sources might support my ideas or illustrate the points I want to make?

✵ What counterarguments do I need to address to strengthen my position?

She annotated a passage from one of her sources — a nonprofit group’s assertion that our choices about food are skewed by marketing messages.

VIDEO

For advice on addressing counterarguments in your essay, watch "How to address a counterargument."

Placing sources in conversation

You can show readers how the ideas of one source relate to those of another by connecting and analyzing the ideas in your own voice. After all, you’ve done the research and thought through the issues, so you should control the conversation. Keep the emphasis on your own writing. The thread of your argument should be easy to identify and to understand, with or without your sources.

In this synthesis, Harba uses her own analysis to shape the conversation among her sources. She does not simply string quotations together or allow them to overwhelm her writing. She guides readers through a conversation about laws that could promote and have promoted public health. She finds points of intersection among her sources, acknowledges the contributions of others, and shows readers, in her voice, how the sources support her argument.

When synthesizing sources, use the following guidelines:

✵ Be sure your sources address your research question.

✵ Think about how your sources converse with each other. How do they support, extend, contextualize, or counter each other?

✵ Be sure that your synthesis is more than a series of quotations and paraphrases strung together. You can do this by connecting and analyzing sources in your own voice.

✵ Ask: Is my argument easy to identify and to understand, with or without my sources? The answer should be yes.

REVIEWING AN MLA PAPER: USE OF SOURCES

When you have completed a draft of your research paper, ensure you have used sources effectively and responsibly by asking the following questions as you review your writing.

Use of quotations

✵ Have you used quotation marks around quoted material (unless it has been set off from the text)? (See 55c.)

✵ Have you checked that quoted language is word-for-word accurate? If it is not, do ellipses or brackets indicate the omissions or changes? (See 56b.)

✵ Does a clear signal phrase (usually naming the author) prepare readers for each quotation and for the purpose the quotation serves? (See 56c.)

✵ Does a parenthetical citation follow each quotation? (See 57a.)

✵ Is each quotation put in context? (See 56c.)

Use of summaries and paraphrases

✵ Are summaries and paraphrases free of plagiarized wording — not copied or half-copied from the source? (See 55d.)

✵ Are summaries and paraphrases documented with parenthetical citations? (See 57a.)

✵ Do readers know where the cited material begins? Does a signal phrase mark the boundary between your words and the summary or paraphrase? (See 56c.)

✵ Does a signal phrase prepare readers for the purpose of the summary or paraphrase in your argument? (See 56c.)

Use of statistics and other facts

✵ Are statistics and facts (other than common knowledge) documented with parenthetical citations? (See 56c and 57a.)

✵ If there is no signal phrase, will readers understand exactly which facts are being cited? (See 56c.)