Through speaking with a student, I have figured out a way to explain how to come up with (or "generate") a thesis for the synthesis. The general structure of a synthesis thesis is something like:
All these essays relate to one another, but. . . .
The key is to make this relation and these differences meaningful by making the thesis specific to the three essays.
The only way to do this is through READING and RE-READING. Your thesis may be the last thing that you actually write down on the page. It is only through moving through these essays, noticing patterns and divergences, similarities and differences, that thesis (and thus, meaning) will emerge, as I noted in our lecture. Its through looking at the concrete connections and then distinguishing them that paragraphs will emerge, which will lead to an organization, which will lead to your own thoughts about the essays. You already have ideas about each of the essays independently, the task now is to think about all three essays as a whole.
If you do not have a thesis, but have "readings" of each of the texts, hopefully your peer reviewers can help you draw one out.
I recommend that you write a little paragraph TO each of your peer reviewers about what you feel like you need to work on that your peer reviewers can help you with (in addition to the assigned tasks). I want you to read each other's papers as if they were your OWN papers that you would have to turn in. I want you to help each other write each other's paper as a collaborative effort. This is not "cheating"--this is collaboration and realizing that meaning rarely comes from one's own head alone.
Good luck!
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