Synthesis Paper

Using three stories ( You may choose any stories in Growing Up Ethnic in America as well as your outside novel, the JT Farrell Irish stories we read,  and My First Conk by Malcolm X) find a common theme that interests you and explore how the different authors treat this themenote the similarities and differences. Overall what are the authors, individually and as a group trying to teach us about ethnicity and life in general in America. Your topic should be much narrower than Ethnicity in America. Think about special subtopics.

Here are some possible topics–you are welcome to choose one of these or craft a different one. Once you know your topic you can determine which stories to read or re-read and take notes. 

Death and death rituals

Making a Living

Mother Daughter Relationships

Father Son Relationships

What Siblings Mean to Each other

Marital Relationships

What Parents Want for Their Children

Material Possessions in the Lives of Children

Language Loss

Language Barriers

The Emotional Impact of the Classroom

Independent Female Characters

Submissive Female Characters

Views of Poverty

Brutality in Families

Urban Settings

Violence and its connections to racism

The family as safe space

Alcoholism and substance abuse

Bullying

Lies and secrets within families

In a 5-7 Page paper address your overall theme and relate how that theme is treated in each of the pieces, making connections and looking for a trend. Include direct quotes and close reading to prove your point and use MLA citation style to do so. The OWL at Purdue ( a free online resource) is great help with this.  No outside sources are necessary, but I should see examples in both long and short quote format in this paper. Your own ideas should be driving the work.

Important!:

1. All direct quotes and paraphrases should be introduced, cited, and analyzed. Do not just drop them in and expect the reader to make sense of it. 

2. when you introduce the thesis, also be sure to introduce the authors. The first time you use an author’s name, use both the first and last name. Every time after that you may refer to the author by last name only, but never first name only. 

3. Stay in the present tense when writing about literature, film or art. Basically: Joe Gagliardi writes with depth about his experience as a choirboy. NOT Joe Gagliardi wrote…   The same applies with characters: Honey Boy fights to save his cousin and brother from the villains in the locker room. Not Honey Boy fought.  These are subtle rules the add greatly to your ethos as a writer.