Leadership for the 21st Century – Winter 2011
Essay 2 Assignment: Synthesis
Write a 4-6 page analytical essay that explores a meaningful or surprising connection among
texts and concepts we’ve worked with so far this quarter. Your thesis will identify a concept or
idea from the work of the quarter, and you’ll explore the evidence for this idea from the texts and
other course materials we’ve worked with.
Define your Meaningful Connection narrowly; go for deep understanding rather than a broad,
general topic. Your essay should have a clear introduction with all the essential elements: a bold,
interesting, arguable, debatable, and concise thesis statement; logical body paragraphs showing
evidence and argument to support your thesis; and a satisfying conclusion that shows why this
idea matters to our class or our world. Give your essay a short, meaningful title.
Use two to four written class books for this assignment. You may also use films, lectures,
handouts, etc., as additional sources. All sources must be properly cited (see below). More texts
means more challenge; fewer texts will be easier to manage.
This is an opportunity to explore an issue that concerns you, an idea that captured your interest,
or aspects of the texts that we haven’t been able to fully unpack in class. You could apply a
theoretical construct like “swamp issue” or “building capacity for new behavior” to several texts.
You could compare two characters from literary works (how is Machiavelli’s Prince like
LeGuin’s Great Condor?). You could analyze a specific skill, such as listening, and see how it’s
used in different contexts.
The essay should allow you, and your readers, to more deeply understand the texts and the issue
at hand. You might imagine your essay as a kind of dialogue among the authors and their ideas.
To get started: review the texts, your notes, and your seminar papers for each one. Make a list of
themes or ideas that you’ve been most interested in this quarter. Figure out which texts and sources
you want to work with. You might generate a list of questions that relate to your central idea.
Due Dates
 Rough draft: Wednesday, Feb. 16. Bring 4 copies of your typed rough draft.
 Revised draft and Sentence Outline: Wednesday, Feb. 23. 1 copy.
 Final: Monday, February 28. Include one copy of each draft in the 2-pocket folder.
Format: Follow format guidelines in the class syllabus.
Thesis
Develop a thesis statement focused on your central connection that is arguable, debatable, clear,
focused, succinct, and interesting. Develop a working thesis early on in your writing process.
Expect to revise the working thesis as you revise the essay – keep refining the language as you
delve deeper into the texts.
Structure
Develop a structure for your argument. Block organization looks at one text, makes several
points about it, and then transitions to the second to make equivalent points about it, and on to
the next. Point-by-point organization goes back and forth among the texts, comparing one point
at a time. You can also use a mixed style that has elements of both block and point-by-point.
It will be important to find related points and ideas among the text. For example, exploring the
idea of a “a swamp issue,” you might first look at how Parks defines this term, and then use this
definition to examine Berger’s writing about terrorism, and LeGuin’s depiction of a peaceful
society in conflict with an expansionist one.
The level of challenge will increase with the number of texts you use. Choose a number of texts
that will be manageable, and let you build your skills.
Use P-I-E structure for body paragraphs. Usually each paragraph should discuss a single work in
depth. Occasionally, a single paragraph might make a related point about more than one text.
Sentence Outline
The sentence outline is due the same day as the revised draft (February 23). This is an outline of
your paper in FULL SENTENCES – not fragments or single words or questions. Each sentence
stands in for a single paragraph of your paper:
 Sentence 1 = Thesis (paragraph 1/introduction)
 Sentence 2 = Point of paragraph 2 (probably the first sentence)
 Sentence 3 = Point of paragraph 3 (probably the first sentence)
 Continue in this fashion for all body paragraphs. For a 4-6 page essay, that probably
means 8 or more point/sentences.
 Last sentence = Concluding insight or last sentence of paper.
Citations
Each text you use should be:
 Introduced briefly in your essay.
Example: “According to William Isaacs’ Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together…”
 Cited in-text using MLA style.
Example: Isaacs says “blah blah blah” (35).
 Listed in your Works Cited page, following the last page of your essay, in proper MLA style
and alphabetical order. Consult the MLA information page at the Loft web site:
https://library.northseattle.edu/instruction/citation,
or the class handout.
Works Cited.
LIST IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER. Note the hanging indent. Examples:
Frozen River. Dir. Courtney Hunt. DVD. Sony Pictures, 2008.
Le Guin, Ursula K. Always Coming Home. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001.
Nieto, Leticia, et al. Beyond Inclusion, Beyond Empowerment: A Developmental Model to
Liberate Everyone. Olympia, Washington: Cuetzpalin, 2010.
Lister-Reis, Jane. Lecture. North Seattle Community College, Seattle. 12 Feb. 2010.
Evaluation
This essay will be evaluated and is worth approximately 12.5% of your grade. The evaluation
will be based on the following criteria:
 Does the essay meet the requirements of the assignment as described above?

Does the essay show a close and careful reading of the texts?

Does the essay lead the reader to a deeper understanding or new insight about the
material?

Does the introduction include all the essential elements ?

Is the thesis statement focused, arguable, debatable, clearly worded, and interesting?

Does the essay show direct evidence for the thesis, supported by logical argument?

Does the paper use effective paragraph structures (PIE) and overall organization?

Are text citations and works cited page accurate and complete?

Does the conclusion wrap up your argument effectively, leaving a strong impression?

Has the essay been carefully edited for grammar, spelling, and punctuation?