SYNTHESIS MINI LESSON

Like a ripples circling outward in a pond, you must join or connect the argument to something else.  Make a bridge or show an insight

Answers one of the questions:

“So where do we go from here? 

What does this mean in the real world? 

How does it apply to other situations?”

EXPERT TIP: 

Think out of the box. 

Make a connection.

Show an insight.

Explore “Option C” as an alternative to the prompt’s choices.

EXAMPLE:  One might consider for a moment if there is another, third character who had was a greater influence on Charlotte -- for example, Charlotte’s father.  He raised her after all, creating the “proper young lady” that she eventually rebelled against.  It was he threw her diary (confessions) into the fire, triggering her life-changing decision…

• Ask a new question that arose through thinking about the topic.

EXAMPLE:  Flipping around the topic, one can wonder what kind of influence Charlotte had on the crew of the Seahawk itself?  They went from dismissing her as a silly little girl to embracing her as their new Captain.  Indeed, the course of their lives was shifted dramatically because of…

• Examine a “what if” scenario related to the Claim.

EXAMPLE:  If Charlotte was mostly influenced by Jaggery for the negative, one can but wonder what would have happened if Jaggery had been the opposite:  a great father figure who’d influenced her for the positive.  Would she have chosen a life at sea still?  Would she have sought to become a Captain herself, or retired to America to continue her life as a traditional upper class young lady?...

• Drill down deeper into the real issue at the heart of the topic.

EXAMPLE:  At the heart of the question is whether Charlotte felt more love for Zarchariah, or more fear and hate for Captain Jaggery.   Love and hate….

• Explore “what’s next?” by making a logical prediction for the future.

EXAMPLE:  Projecting forward into Charlotte’s future, one must wonder whether she became an outlaw and pirate, or became an “above board” Sea Captain in a world prejudiced against women holding positions of authority.  Given her education and proven leadership…

• Bridge into some related topic, making an interesting connection.

EXAMPLE:  If one were to take this template (father as mentor/father as enemy) to other literature, one could imagine the same question presented in the Hunger Games.  Who is the greater influence on Katness Everdeen:  Haymich or President Snow?...

• Go global by showing how this new information fits into the larger picture

EXAMPLE:  If young women were more like Charlotte Doyle so long ago, one can only imagine how far the woman’s movement would be today.  Would we have had a female President by now?  Would more of the highest paying positions in our businesses be run by women..

• Provide a new insight into the topic that is fresh and original.

EXAMPLE:  One way to interpret this argument is to look at this issue through the lens of the concepts of family and home.  Charlotte was away from her home and her family by being on the Seahawk.  She’d been in a boarding school.  What the types of family and sense of home (or belonging) that both men offered were very different…

• Go personal by applying the Claim back into the world of the reader.

EXAMPLE:  While Charlotte was on her journey, alone and away from her family, I can relate.  I had to take an intercontinental flight across the same Atlantic Ocean she journeyed on to see my Dad in England last year.  While there certainly was no mutiny of the crew, I can relate to her in that…