Synthesizing creates a new idea through combining two or more sources with our own thoughts on the topic. Keep track of your own smartphone activity for 1 or 2 days, noting the times and reasons for use.
Then, write an essay on the benefits and dangers of smartphone use, stating whether you agree and/or disagree with the arguments in “Go Ahead:
Waste Time on the Internet” by Kenneth Goldsmith and “How Smartphones Hijack Our Minds” by Nicholas Carr and using quotes from these essays as support.
Will write at least 5-6 complete pages that synthesizes two or more texts. Here you join in a “conversation” with multiple perspectives on an issue.
Rather than simple pro/con constructions, you start to analyze and evaluate arguments to form your own view. You establish your own “voice” and credibility.