Synthesis Writing and Analysis of Key Texts

Purpose of a Synthesis Essay:
- Create new knowledge from existing sources.
- Search for meaningful connections between different materials by identifying common themes and traits.
- Provide a unique perspective on a topic and argue a point using multiple sources.
- Synthesis involves combining two or more sources meaningfully to support an argument or claim.
Important Aspects of Synthesis:
- True synthesis requires establishing relationships between sources.
- Synthesis should analyze how these relationships support the writer's overarching claim.

Thesis Requirements for the Synthesis Essay:
1. Have a thesis that addresses the prompt:
- Focus on how and why the texts use language as resistance.
1. HOW
- Explore rhetorical, structural, thematic, and historical connections between the texts concerning language as resistance.
1. WHY
- Discuss the importance of these methods in a larger historical or conceptual context. Examine what collective insights reveal about:
  - The legacy of slavery, race, power, the human condition, American culture, etc.
  - E.g., texts create dissonance by depicting graphic violence against Black bodies by White Christian slaveholders, inciting reader indignation and prompting action.

Structure of Body Paragraphs:
- Each body paragraph should focus on a single text.
- Perform close reading/analysis that demonstrates how the texts converse with one another and substantiate the thesis.
- Use topic sentences that highlight connections before delving into analysis supporting the claim.
Effective Verbs/Phrases for Synthesis Writing:
- Similarity:
- agrees, concurs, confirms, reinforces, echoes, mirrors.
- Similar but Different:
- expands upon, elaborates, contributes to, goes even further, clarifies.
- Disagreement:
- disagrees, rejects, challenges, refuses, troubles, whereas X [does]…
Example Connections:
- "Like Wheatley, Douglass reinforces the value of veiled uses of language to deny information to certain audiences."
- "Jacobs uses biblical rhetoric to reinforce the moral incongruity of Christian slaveholders; whereas, Douglass suggests that religious hypocrisy is best emphasized by…"

Themes:
- Concealment of true emotions.
- Pain and hardship experienced beneath outward smiles.
Key Lines and Analysis:
- "We wear the mask that grins and lies,"
- Symbolizes the façade people maintain to hide suffering.
- "With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,"
- Emphasizes the deep emotional pain behind superficial appearances.

Harriet Jacobs:
- Born in Edenton, North Carolina, 1813.
- Escaped slavery in 1842 after hiding for seven years.
- Worked to reunite with her two children in the North.

Examination of slaveholders' dishonorable behavior, particularly regarding their deceitful portrayal of the North to slaves.
Importance of education and awareness among slaves about freedom and their own capabilities.

Misrepresentation by Slaveholders:
- Slaveholders boast honor but spread exaggerated lies about conditions of runaways in the North.
- Jacobs recounts a specific false story told by a slaveholder regarding her friend in New York, demonstrating manipulation of truth.
Impact of Laws on Freedom:
- Slaveholders perpetuate the belief that freedom is not worth the risk based on false narratives.
- Jacobs critiques laws that return fugitives to slavery which hinders self-actualization of slaves.
Perception of Slavery:
- Jacobs highlights ignorance among slaves regarding true conditions in the Free States.
- She wishes for a more enlightened understanding of liberty's significance and capabilities among slaves.

Jacobs urges for more voices for freedom; states more slaves should seek knowledge and liberation.
Criticism of both Southern principles and Northern complicity, emphasizing that true morality aligns with freedom for all.
Jacobs reflects on oppression faced by Black people in America, drawing larger implications of social and moral injustices inherent in the institution of slavery.