Methodology: Synthesis

Methodology: Synthesis

Goal of the exercise

In ≈ 500 words, you must bring together three documents (often a non-fiction text, a literary text and an image) around a common axis, without copying them and without adding personal opinion.

Step 1 – Document analysis

For each document, identify:

• nature (article, novel excerpt, cartoon, photograph),
• source and date,
• main idea,
• point of view (objective, satirical, militant),
• a striking quotation or detail you may use.

Step 2 – Find the common thread

Look for a question that runs through all three documents. Avoid being too narrow (each document brings something specific) or too broad (the topic must be precisely the corpus). The common thread becomes your problematic.

Step 3 – Build a plan

Typical structures:

• Thesis – antithesis – synthesis: a position, its opposite, a reconciliation.
• From causes to consequences to responses.
• Three complementary angles (e.g. economic / social / cultural).

Each part must use the three documents at least once (or explicitly justify their absence).

Step 4 – Write the synthesis

• Introduction: present the topic, identify the documents (no list-like description), formulate the problematic, announce the plan.
• Body: 2 or 3 paragraphs. Each starts with a topic sentence and cross-references the documents using attribution phrases: as journalist X argues in Doc 1, Doc 2 echoes this view, the photograph in Doc 3 challenges this idea.
• Conclusion: answer the problematic, optionally open the debate.

Cross-referencing phrases

Function	Phrases
Agreement	echoes, supports, illustrates, confirms
Disagreement	contradicts, qualifies, undermines, complicates
Addition	adds, complements, extends
Nuance	however, on the other hand, conversely

Things to avoid

• No "I think" or "in my opinion" — the synthesis is neutral.
• No long quotations: paraphrase and integrate short fragments.
• No description of the documents one after the other (this is not a corpus presentation).
• No information from outside the corpus.

Time management (90 min)

15 min analysis · 15 min planning · 50 min writing · 10 min re-reading.