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Synthesis Creation - Education In many ways, the synthesis essay is similar to the argumentative essay. In the argumentative essay, you make a claim, then support it with data stored in your head. In the synthesis essay, you make a claim, then support it with data stored in the sources. To help you understand the process needed to be successful with the synthesis prompt, your task is to create a synthesis prompt on the topic of education while working collaboratively with a group. Assigned - 28 March In-Class Work Days – 28 March, 9 April Due – 11 April The Topic & Task - Education is a concept as difficult to define as it is essential to our identity. What makes a person educated? Is a skilled artisan with no formal schooling educated? When we are seeking education, are we looking for knowledge, wisdom, skills, or all three? Should schools impart values as well as knowledge? Do mainstream ideas take precedence over the concerns of individual groups? What information and skills do students need to compete in a global economy? With these questions in mind, your assignment is to create a prompt based on the following: Reflect on what education means and whether – and how – American schools embody that vision. In other words, to what extent do American schools serve the goals of a true education?The Format - your synthesis prompt needs to look like the prompt you will receive on the day of the exam. Refer to the sample prompt page and the sample source page. The Sources - you need to include seven potential sources in your prompt. You may decide the order of the sources, but each source needs to be assigned a corresponding alphabetical letter, include the citation in a box at the top of the source, and provide a contextual phrase before the source. You have been given five sources in class; as a group, you must choose your two secondary sources. Because the sources provided to you in class are lengthy, you must also decide how you will condense them to provide a usable amount of information. No text source should be less than three paragraphs (excluding the video source). One source must be a graph or an image. Note: While the list below is a reference of the sources you must use, I have provided links to digital versions of each text. You may find the digital copy of this assignment sheet on my weebly. Francine Prose - “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read” (page 176) - Sherman Alexie - “Superman and Me” (hard copy provided in class) - Margaret Talbot - “Best in Class” (page 223) - Eduardo Porter - “School vs. Society in America’s Failing Students” (hard copy provided in class) - Now This News Stories - “Here’s Why the U.S. School System is Broken” (documentary clip) *** this is a nontraditional source. You will want to be provide a transcript of the source - focus on the most important or interesting facts and comments the video creates. Image or Graph - group’s choiceGroup’s choice - choose an additional written source to use. The best souces are a mix of facts and personal opinion. Citation Format: *** The synthesis prompt does not require hanging indents or double spacing for citations An Article in a Web MagazineProvide the author name, article name in quotation marks, title of the web magazine in italics, publisher name, publication date, URL, and the date of access.Bernstein, Mark. "10 Tips on Writing the Living Web." A List Apart: For People Who ????Make Websites, 16 Aug. 2002, article/writeliving. Accessed 4 May 2009.A YouTube VideoVideo and audio sources need to be documented using the same basic guidelines for citing print sources in MLA style. Include as much descriptive information as necessary to help readers understand the type and nature of the source you are citing. If the author’s name is the same as the uploader, only cite the author once. If the author is different from the uploaded, cite the author’s name before the title. “8 Hot Dog Gadgets put to the Test.” YouTube, uploaded by Crazy Russian Hacker, 6 June 2016, watch?v=WBlpjSEtELs.An Image (Including a Painting, Sculpture, or Photograph)Provide the artist's name, the work of art italicized, the date of creation, the institution and city where the work is housed. Follow this initial entry with the name of the Website in italics, and the date of access.Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. Museo Nacional del Prado. museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/the-family-of-carlos-iv/f47898fc-aa1c-48f6-a779-71759e417e74. Accessed 22 May 2006.A Work in an Anthology, Reference, or CollectionWorks may include an essay in an edited collection or anthology, or a chapter of a book. The basic form is for this sort of citation is as follows:Last name, First name. "Title of Essay." Title of Collection, edited by Editor's Name(s), Publisher, Year, Page range of entry.Harris, Muriel. "Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant Writers." A Tutor's Guide: Helping Writers One to One, edited by Ben Rafoth, Heinemann, 2000, pp. 24-34.Make sure to include the name of each group member at the top of your prompt page. Your prompt page will have three parts: Directions: This will be the same for all of you; it should read exactly as it does on the sample one. Introduction: This section will serve as an introduction to your topic since the writer may be unfamiliar with the issue. It should be one to two paragraphs in length. You will want to give background information about the subject at hand. Keep in mind that this Introduction goes BEFORE the reader has gotten to the Assignment section. Be careful to address multiple potential sides to the issue, so you do not “slant” the reader in one direction. You will need to determine what background information is MOST essential to the writer who is going to view the accompanying sources.Assignment: Parts of this section may very closely resemble those on the sample prompt. Be sure to tell them to read the attached sources and write an essay. Your prompt should require the student to include elements of both exposition and argument. You may be asking your writer to propose a potential solution to the problem. You want your writer to offer an opinion or suggestion about something, not just explain the topic. You also want them to give enough background information to explain how they came to their conclusion. Assignment Examples: A. Exposition Assignment (bad): Write an essay in which you examine which issues are involved when making decisions about Space Exploration. B. Argument Assignment (bad): Write an essay in which you agree or disagree with the necessity of Space Exploration. C. Both (good): Develop a position about what issues should be considered most important in making decisions about Space Exploration A. Exposition Assignment (bad): Write an essay in which you examine the issues related to tension in schools between individuality and conformity. B. Argument Assignment (bad): Write an essay in which you support, refute, or qualify the notion that schools’ chief goals should be to promote individuality. C. Both (good): Write an essay in which you use a chosen issue (dress code, mandatory classes, structure of the school day) to argue the extent to which schools should support individuality or conformity.Reflection – Each student must submit a two-paragraph reflection. Some topics to consider including in your reflection: How did your group work together? Did you find working in a group effective? What did you learn about your topic that you found interesting? Do you think your prompt page was effective? Is there anything you feel would help the test taker adequately answer your prompt? Do you feel that your sources were diverse and appropriate? Were they adequate in helping you write your essay? Was there another source you would have found helpful? Were there any sources that you found unhelpful or unrelated? How well do you feel you did on the response? Is there anything you would change if you were to do the project again?AP English Language Synthesis Creation RubricDirections: 5 / __________ - Does the Prompt Page include directions? - Are the directions exactly as they appear on sample exams? Introduction: 10 / __________ - Does the Prompt Page include introductory information? - Is the introductory information relevant and directly related to the assignment? - Is the introductory information complete? - Is the introductory information unbiased? Assignment: 10 / __________ - Does the Prompt Page include an assignment? - Does the assignment address all parts of the expectations (reading, writing, citing, etc.) - Is the assignment related to the introductory information? - Does the assignment include elements of exposition and argumentation? - Is the assignment clear and written in a well-organized, concise manner? Sources: 60 / __________- Is each source listed on the prompt page and provided an alphabetical letter? - Does each source begin with its citation information in a box at the top of the page?- Does each source begin with a line that contextualizes the source?- Is each source an adequate length and relevant to the prompt’s topic? - Do the sources consist of the mandatory class sources, an image or chart, and two group-generated sources? Style/Mechanics: 5 / _________ - Grammar and Spelling - Proofreading Submission & Reflection: 10 / _________- Each student must submit a reflection on Google Classroom as a Google Doc. One person for your group should submit your synthesis question as ONE Google Doc. No late work is accepted. All assignments are due by the start of class on April 11th. Total: 100 / _________ *** Your synthesis prompt will be graded as a test grade. I will also be using these prompts in class, so students will be writing an essay using the prompt you create. ................
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