Explanatory Synthesis Essays- Structure and How to write

Explaining things is critical to helping you navigate various life phases, including academics. But what can be challenging is taking complicated subjects, breaking them down, and thoroughly explaining them for others to understand.

And this is what explanatory synthesis essays do. Here, you take a complex theory or concept and explain it in terms of the existing knowledge that a learner already has. These essays not only help readers but the writer too.

Explanatory synthesis essays help you to develop critical and logical thinking skills and different perspective considerations. The net effect is to help you articulate your thoughts perfectly, even to the most layperson.

But if this is your first time hearing about this essay, this article will educate you further on how to write and other aspects so you can become a skilled explanatory synthesis essay writer.

What Is an Explanatory Synthesis Essay?

As explained, an explanatory synthesis essay explains a concept. It requires you to look at all available resources and provide a detailed, comprehensive, and objective answer to a problem or a theory.

Ideally, an explanatory synthesis essay aims to better understand a topic.

These essays are often based on research from other authors or researchers who have previously written on the topic. Further, they are usually found in academic journals that publish articles about discoveries, technological advances, and other issues related to science, medicine, and technology.

They can also be found in scholarly books that discuss new theories of history or philosophy and in popular magazines and newspapers that address topics such as science fiction movies and television shows. However, they may vary from topic to topic, but it is always written in a way that allows the reader to understand the subject better.

What Is the Structure of an Explanatory Synthesis Essay?

The structure of an explanatory synthesis essay is basically the same as it is for any other essay. The difference is that instead of just presenting one point, you will have to give supporting pieces of evidence from reliable sources in any paragraph.

The structure has;

• Introduction
• Body
• Conclusion

Introduction

The introduction is the gateway to your essay. As such, it should be welcoming, easy to grasp, and captivating so that readers can quickly understand what you will talk about. In addition, you should make it brief but also provide the most crucial information.

The aim here is to introduce the essay; the better you do it, the better the chances of scoring higher and having your article read.

Some of the information to include here is the thesis statement and why a reader should read the entire piece. You should also give some background information to help readers understand your thought process.

The Body

This is the main or bulk of your essay and is typically three paragraphs. The body entails evidence and facts about your topic and why and how it supports your thesis statement.

Typically, each paragraph has an opening section known as the topic sentence. This is the main idea of your paragraph and should be placed at the beginning of each new body paragraph. It should also be specific enough to guide your readers about the paragraph.

The second part is the supporting evidence, where each body paragraph contains supporting evidence for the topic sentence. These are usually facts or examples that illustrate what you mean. They can also include statistics or other helpful information that supports your main idea. You should try to have at least two pieces of supporting evidence per paragraph.

Finally, you end each paragraph by tying the topic sentence and your evidence to help readers see the relationship between the two.

Conclusion

The conclusion of an explanatory synthesis essay provides readers with the information they might need to understand your position on the topic. You can also use this section to remind them of what you have already said in the preceding paragraphs.

Essentially, you summarize everything you have said into a single paragraph and then show how that information supports your thesis statement.

How to Write an Explanation Synthesis Essay

Writing an explanatory synthesis essay is easy and fun if you know your way around it. And it is a great way to show your subject mastery and writing skills; thus, you should not shy away from them. Not only that, but they also provide you with a platform to share your ideas with other people.

To write a good synthesis essay, you must know how it works. You have to combine multiple sources into one text but maintain a level of objectivity and accuracy of information presented in each source. However, the result will be inaccurate and incomplete if you don’t follow these principles when writing your synthesis essay.

And if you’re looking for some inspiration about how to write an explanatory synthesis essay, here are some tips and tricks that will help you write an excellent paper.

1.      Do Thorough Research

Explanatory synthesis essays require you to have multiple information sources. These essays are not about personal opinions, so you can’t write without referring to credible sources. Researching helps you find out the main points and points of view of different authors on one subject.

Additionally, researching helps you to understand the topic better, thus putting you in an excellent position to write about it without confusing your readers. And reading one source is not enough. In fact, you need to read at least three sources to write an effective essay. You can use one source as your primary one while the others as secondary sources or support for your argument.

Some of the sources that will help you are;

• Books – Books are usually written by experts in their fields and provide a detailed discussion of the topic. They are often published by university presses or academic publishers, who are more concerned with accuracy than commercial success.
• Journal articles. These are written by experts in their fields and published in peer-reviewed journals. These articles tend to be more technical than books, but they provide more up-to-date information on recent developments in an area of study.
• Newspaper articles – Newspaper articles can also help explain complex ideas to students who may not be familiar with them. However, it’s important to remember that newspapers often have a particular point of view on any given issue and should therefore be used with caution.

2.      Organize your essay

Organizing your essay is an integral part of writing it. Organization helps you present a well-thought-out and coherent paper. If you don’t organize your thoughts, you will likely end up with a disorganized piece that will confuse the reader, even if you have good ideas.

You should also be mindful of the structure and what each part entails. Further, the evidence in the body paragraph should follow a specific order. The best way is to start with the most important or strong points and finish with the weakest.

Following this order builds confidence in your readers, and you come off as an authoritative writer. This is also the point you create your outline, which helps you see what your essay will look like.

Keep the Essay Concise

Conciseness does not mean being brief, but rather do not fluff your paper. It means carefully looking at every piece of information, keeping what adds value, and discarding the rest.

For example, your thesis statement should clearly state what you will prove in your paper. You should ensure you have a few key points that are clear and easy to understand, which will lead the reader down the path of understanding the rest of your paper.

Similarly, keep your paragraphs as concise as possible, as this will help you stay on topic and avoid rambling or repeating yourself. If your paragraphs are too long, they may be hard to follow, so try to shorten them as much as possible while ensuring they contain all of the vital information your reader needs.

A good way to do this is by using transitions between paragraphs. A transition is a word or phrase that shows the relationship between ideas in a sentence or paragraph. This helps you cut off unnecessary words while still showing the relationship between every paragraph with the thesis and between sentences.

Other tips to keep your essay as concise as possible include;

• Use simple language
• Use short sentences and paragraphs
• Don’t use fancy words or phrases that might confuse the reader
• Not using contractions or slang

Use Quotes and References

Your essay needs references as a way to support the information you write. And as a requirement, you should use different sources to help create the credibility of your argument.

Depending on your professor’s instructions, you should follow the prescribed reference style. You can also opt to use quotes from reputable individuals. These help spice up your piece and support every analysis you make.

Wrap-Up

Now you know what explanatory synthesis essays are and how to write one. They are crucial pieces of writing that help you demonstrate your research and research skills. Further, they allow you to learn more about an issue and explain it to anyone expertly.

And with the stated tips, you are now poised to become the next expert writer for explanatory synthesis essays in your class.