The previous slide graphically depicts the way thinking progresses as we attempt to solve problems. It’s the Inquiry Cycle. We first wonder or are puzzled about something, and then we put our wondering in the form of a question, or Q. Sometimes this happens so fast we aren’t even aware we are asking the questions. (e.g. My car won’t start

up. Oh no! What next? Why won’t it?”

Then, we guess or hypothesize –H—about a possible answer or solution to the Q. (“Maybe the

battery’s dead.”)

But we know our possible H might be wrong, so we have to test—T—the H with the facts—TwF. (“Hmm. No, the lights are all on bright, and the engine turns over.”)

If the facts don’t support the H, then we have to create another H, making the process recursive. (“Oh

good grief, maybe I’m out of gas!”)

We employ the T again, and if it’s consistent with the H, we end up with a theory—Th.

The Th then often creates more Qs (“Who used this car last??”)

and the process continues… Now, let’s see how the recursive QHTwFTh process, aka The Inquiry Cycle, applies to academic writing.

Academic writing takes many forms--summary, synthesis, critique, analysis.

Often, a paper is a mixture of all of these, or one form is emphasized… in

this case, we need to synthesize the stances taken by the authors of our texts on school reform, as well as discuss what we’ve found through exploratory research on the web.

AllAll the forms of writing the forms of writing really are just ways that really are just ways that

writers use to report their writers use to report their progress on progress on questions questions

they’ve posed, aka they’ve posed, aka INQUIRIESINQUIRIES

So, SUMMARY, e.g., is a response to this inquiry:

““What is the author saying, and What is the author saying, and how can I put it into my how can I put it into my words?”words?”

You are asked think about synthesizing the

writers’ assertions/theories, so

let’s examine synthesizing more in

depth…

SYNTHESIS asks this basic question:

““What relationship does What relationship does text X have with text Y?”text X have with text Y?”

But, SYNTHESIS requires But, SYNTHESIS requires further thinking…further thinking…

Among the sorts of hypotheseshypotheses we generate when tackling the synthesizing question, these are the most common:

•X is X is likelike Y in some Y in some ways, ways, unlikeunlike Y in other Y in other ways ways (this is the simplest & most obvious approach) (this is the simplest & most obvious approach)

•X in some ways, reveals instances of Y

•X may be a cause, or an effect of Y

To demonstrate these forms of thinking, the following exercise may help…(you don’t really

have to do them, but it’s kind of fun…this may be a great activity for your students, too!)

…From Jumbled Array to Synthesis

• Goal: Formulate “synthesizing hypotheses” from the list of jumbled words.

• Take two of the terms (any two you see a possible relationship between), then synthesize their concepts into a single sentence. You’ll need to come up with 3 sentences using 3 different pairs of words; each sentence will display a different one of the three main types of synthesizing hypotheses.

• See examples below the array.

• dizziness asphalt blindfold• right-handedness ignorance fetus• wet paint gymnastics recycling• investment semester exams pacifier• Inaugural Address birthday photographic negative• light years metric system verbs• the right to strike strawberry jam Christopher Columbus• Siberia acupuncture elephant burial ground• Michael Jordan electric blender volcano• balance of trade index First Lady• story home stretch checkmate• plutonium envy ambition• brilliance table quotation

• EXAMPLES:• Synthesizing by comparison/contrast (X is like Y in some

ways, unlike Y in other ways)• Semester exams and birthdays both make the days on which

they fall feel special—but birthdays tend to be more pleasant than semester exams.

• Synthesizing by exemplification (X is an instance of Y)• Among the words and phrases in the President’s Inaugural

Address that annoyed everyone was the over-used phrase “First Lady.”

• Synthesizing by cause and effect (X is a cause/effect of Y)• If we have no need to fear being blinded by the brilliance of

stars, that is because of their distance from us, which is normally measured in light years.