29 Writing to Synthesize (Section Overview)

“Synthesis” refers to the combination of different sources of information to form a coherent whole. Where analysis calls on us to break an artifact down into individual parts, synthesis requires us to make connections between those parts or—in most academic writing—among sources, topics, or events (just to name a few possibilities).

To conduct a synthesis, you would need to:

• Identify the key ideas in each source
• Draw connections between those key ideas
• Make an argument about the significance of those connections: why do they matter, what do they help you see differently

A common type of synthesis in academic writing, for example, is a literature review in which the researcher-writer collects, compares, and shows connections or differences among different scholarly sources as well as gaps in the research. With academic writing foremost in mind, Lumen Learning defines synthesis as “analysis across sources,” adding that “what you write in reaction to the work of others should use synthesis to create new meaning or to show a deeper understanding of what you learned.” The idea is not just to summarize but to make connections.

In fact, we synthesize all the time but may not realize we’re gathering, comparing, and evaluating sources in this way. For example, imagine this scenario: You and a group of friends want to attend a movie together but cannot decide which one. Each of you makes a recommendation, summarizing key details about your choices (genre, good reviews, compelling plots, and so forth). Together, you and your friends compare the films, discuss each other’s assessments of the options available, and reach a conclusion: you’ll go see the sci-fi flick! That’s synthesis (or “analysis across sources”). In this case, your friends’ individual analyses are your sources; your discussion and conclusion are the synthesis.

For a more formal piece of writing, imagine that you need to gather sources, annotate them, and then report what connections, differences, gaps, and other relationships you found. That’s one approach to writing a literature review, a common academic genre that synthesizes available research to position the writer to come to a conclusion or a recommendation on a topic. But it occurs in many other genres of writing as well. In the next section, we will examine Teju Cole’s “The Superhero Photographs of the Black Lives Matter Movement” to see how he synthesizes different rhetorical artifacts in order to make his own argument.

Synthesis Example in Teju Cole’s “The Superhero Photographs of the Black Lives Matter Movement”

First, read Cole’s article [New Tab]. Cole analyzes “Taking a Stand in Baton Rouge,” the iconic photograph of Black Lives Matter protestor Ieshia Evans standing firm against police officers in riot gear, who are in the act of arresting her. In order to understand how and why this photograph went viral on social media, Cole connects it to other iconic BLM images in order to identify a common visual aesthetic. He then analyzes the significance of this visual language by comparing black protest photography to superhero movies, which leads him to make these two claims, which together form the central argument:

1. “The relationship between superhero movies and the photographs from Black Lives Matter is not a matter of photographers trying to make protesters look like superheroes. It is that when such photographs emerge from the countless thousands taken at rallies and similar events, they are immediately recognized by a crowd already sensitized to their formal qualities.”
2. “The ‘superhero’ photographs of protesters, with their classic form and triumphal tone, are engaged in a labor of redress. They bring a counterweight to the archive. Against death and helplessness, they project power and agency.”

Notice that Cole’s argument essentially centers around synthesis. First, he compares “Taking a Stand in Baton Rouge” to other iconic BLM photographs:

Fig. 29.1. Clockwise from top left corner: Photograph of Ieshia Evans being detained in Baton Rouge; photograph of Edward Crawford throwing a flaming tear-gas canister; photograph of Bree Newsome on a flagpole at the South Carolina State House removing a Confederate flag; photograph of DeRay Mckesson staring straight at the camera as he was being arrested in Baton Rouge. 

Next, he compares these images to superhero texts:

Fig. 29.2 Clockwise from top left corner: Photograph of Ieshia Evans being detained in Baton Rouge;  image of Thor launching his hammer, in a posture similar to that of Edward Crawford throwing a flaming tear-gas canister; image of Spider-Man hanging from a pole, in a posture similar to that of Bree Newsome; image of  Cyclops with his as “optic force blasts,” with an expression similar to that of DeRay Mckesson.

These connections lead Cole to make the claim that the iconic BLM images tended to “deploy the visual language of the comic-book superhero.” He then made an argument about the significance of this connection and why it matters: when we realize that the photographs depict these protestors in a way that is counter to a reality in which black people “are beaten, charged, arrested, jailed,” we see how “the ‘superhero’ photographs of protesters, with their classic form and triumphal tone, are engaged in a labor of redress.”

Invitations to Read, Reflect, and Write

In this introduction to the section “Writing to Synthesize,” we invite you to read some sample syntheses from other Saint Mary’s College students. We have also included some invitations to write, shared by writing professors at Saint Mary’s College.