Synthesis Essay Outline

Are you preparing to write a synthesis essay? Well, first, you’ll need to write a synthesis paper outline. It will help you to come up with a catchy title for you to talk about and build your claim. It’s important to choose a prompt with opposing viewpoints so that you may answer the question “so what?” Some suitable examples include:

• Abortion
• Daylight savings
• Immigration policy
• Gun control
• Social media

Once you choose a topic for your outline for synthesis essay, you can start crafting a framework. Below, you’ll find tips to guide you through this process plus a few tutorials to make sure that you fully understand the concept. Let’s begin!

Why Should You Have a Synthesis Essay Outline?

Writing a template is crucial to ensuring that you properly structure your paper and plan your writing. First, you’ll need to separate your synthesis paper outline into three parts where you’ll include supporting evidence, specific points of view, and sub-arguments, all in their appropriate sections.

Ensure that each point strengthens your thesis statement. However, to make your essay more interesting, acknowledge claims which go against yours. Lastly, ensure that you go through all your sources as you analyze every piece of information to add to your point of view.

Synthesis Essay Outline Template: Is Social Media Changing Our Relationships?

Here is an example of an argumentative synthesis essay whereas as the author, you’ll need to give your opinion and explain it using credible resources and facts. Arrange your supporting statements logically and in a standard format.

Your Synthesis Essay Outline Introduction

Here, mention the topic that you’ll be covering in the paper and give some background too. Set the right tone and define the audience. Remember that the introduction is the first thing that your audience will see, so it needs to be impeccable. Besides, the tone that you choose will depend on the type readers that you’re writing for. If you wish, you could even specifically identify your audience.

Lastly, focus on drawing the attention of your audience using a catchy thesis statement. This is the primary argument of your whole essay. In this essay, you can have different ideas in your statement, even though you’re talking about one topic. Such is because the argument is based on an individual opinion meaning that it’s open to interpretation.

Take a look at these two examples:

“The appealing nature of social media has taken over almost all aspects of our lives, including how we interact with one another, both platonically and romantically. Besides, the dating mystery is now quite simplified. Today, you can learn about someone’s tastes in music or their zodiac sign using a simple app or website.”

“Negatively, social media is changing the way we view human relationships. Those who spend more time browsing through the websites stand a greater chance of suffering from low self-esteem and depression.”

Of course, a lot of students tend to make mistakes while writing this part of their essays. So, a synthesis paper outline will help you in avoiding errors like having weak thesis statement which does not explicitly state your claim. It’s one of the most critical components of any paper, so don’t rush into it but take your time!

The Main Body of Your Synthesis Essay Outline

You’ll need to come up with strong topic sentences, drawn from relevant sources to support your thesis. Organize them into paragraphs explaining their relevance to the topic. In this synthesis essay outline example, we’ve arranged our ideas directly and transparently. Take a look!

Paragraph 1:

Social networking allows us to create an image of ourselves. You’ll need to explain the relevance of this point to strengthening your different thesis statements. For instance, how changing your personality to make someone fall in love with you is a clear sign of lack of self-esteem. Support your claim with relevant sources.

Paragraph 2:

Use credible sources to show how social media websites like Facebook and Twitter have made dating an object of publicity and spectacle. For example, today, everyone can see each detail of your private life through posts, likes, and pictures. Also, how does this point contribute to your claim?

Paragraph 3:

Social media platforms are making more people stay loyal and committed to their spouses due to the public nature of relationships nowadays. How does this point support your thesis statement? Go through sufficient resources to get evidence.

Paragraph 4:

Social media has created a public platform of rape and sexist culture. Look for past cases of victims who’ve suffered from such vices.

Paragraph 5:

Social media creates an avenue for people to share their beliefs and ideas. In doing so, it’s slowly creating a culture of fast, instant, and robust relationships. Include sufficient evidence that shows the relevance of this point and how it improves your thesis statement.

Some of the mistakes you’ll need to avoid here are:

• Stating irrelevant facts
• Failure to back your ideas with credible resources
• Using weak topic sentences to support your claim

The Conclusion to Your Synthesis Paper Outline

Your conclusion should restate your thesis statement and summarize all critical points in your body of text. Take a look at this example:

“Although social media sites connect us to different people instantly and improve our communication, we can’t get enough of it. Instead of enjoying lunch with a friend, we would rather be texting. Have we lost touch with what connects us as human beings?”

Fundamental mistakes to avoid when writing your conclusion include:

• Providing an inadequate summary of ideas
• Not including a call-to-action

An AP English Synthesis Essay Outline

Here is a rigorous course where you’ll need to come up with an essay that shows how you’ve understood the topic. You must defend, challenge and qualify your claims.

Therefore, an excellent synthesis essay outline template should focus on three parts:

• The Argument

This is the most straightforward component. First, you’ll need to develop your claim and look for the strongest supporting pieces of evidence. Make sure you convince your audience that you’re right.

• Synthesis

In this section, you’ll need to go through several perspectives to identify a disagreement and agreement among the sources. This part is vital as it helps you to settle on your claim.

• Rhetorical Analysis

This part talks about you as the writer and your specific intentions. You’ll have to answer questions such as:

• What’s the primary objective of writing this essay?
• Who’s going to read this paper?
• How does the claim appeal to the readers?

Tips for Writing an AP English Synthesis Essay Outline

You’ll find two acronyms that will guide you in writing the three sections of this synthesis essay outline template.

1. To Strengthen Your Argument/Claim Use SOAPS

‘S’ -Identify the main speaker, look for bias and add any information that you have on him or her and come up with a well-written claim. For example, “A speech by President Andrew Jackson shows that he was biased by telling the Congress that Native Americans should be sent to the west.”

‘O’- You could also use an occasion to convince your readers that you’re right. For instance, “When Andrew Jackson was in office which is around 1829 to 1837, the Congress decided to send Native Americans to the western lands to prepare the land for colonial use. President Jackson was the first to come up with this proposal.”

‘A’- Who was the audience? President Andrew Jackson was talking to a council.

‘P’- What’s the main purpose of the speech. Make sure that you analyze the tone. For example, “Andrew Jackson portrayed Indians as “savages” to make Congress approve the Indian Removal Act. “

‘S’- What will your subject look like?

Finally, your claim should sound like this, “Andrew Jackson wanted the Congress to approve the Indian Removal Act as he believed that Native Americans were a group of savage and uncultured people.”

DIDLS:

Look for textual analysis to improve your AP English synthesis essay outline. Try to look for:

Diction

Imagery

Details

Language

Sentence structure

If you find something which stands out from any of the above, remember to add it to your synthesis essay outline.

Unfortunately, a good number of students rush through this process to complete writing their papers quickly. Eventually, they end up making mistakes such as:

• Over-summarizing the sources
• Weak control of syntax and organization
• Several research errors in the final synthesis paper

Conclusion

Argumentative and AP English synthesis papers are some of the coursework projects that you’ll come across in your academics. Although some people consider them to be the most robust projects, you only need to come up with an attractive outline for synthesis essay, a captivating title plus well-researched and supportive ideas. In doing so, you’ll have an easy time when it comes to writing an entire paper!

Follow the tips outlined here and use the synthesis essay outline examples given here to guide you in coming up with your own outline for synthesis essay.