Beloved Final Essay Assignment
What is a Synthesis Essay?
The main purpose of a synthesis essay is to make insightful connections. Those
connections can show the relationship(s) between parts of a work or between two or more
works. It is your job to explain why those relationships are important. In order to write a
successful synthesis essay, you must gather research on your chosen topic, discover
meaningful connections throughout your research, and develop a unique and interesting
argument or perspective.
A synthesis is not a summary. A synthesis is an opportunity to create new knowledge out
of already existing knowledge, i.e., other sources. You combine, “synthesize,” the
information in your sources to develop an argument or a unique perspective on a topic.
Your thesis statement becomes a one-sentence claim that presents your perspective and
identifies the new knowledge that you will create.
Beloved Synthesis Essay Prompts: The prompts below are possible ideas for you to consider
for your essay. You may also take this opportunity to discuss a different idea that Beloved has
caused you to think about or consider. Remember, Beloved is the key source for this essay,
other sources and ideas that you include will serve to support or further discuss what you are
exploring within Toni Morrison’s novel. And remember, a synthesis is not a summary!
Prompt #1: No act of violence exists without a specific purpose or intention. Choose one
such scene from Beloved, and write a well-organized essay in which you identify the
violence and analyze its significance to the text as a whole.
Prompt #2: The quest for power is a strong human drive. Choose a character from
Beloved who either seeks to gain power over another or seeks to free himself or herself
from the power of another. Write an essay in which you illustrate how this power struggle
is essential to the meaning of the text.
Prompt #3: Choose a character from Beloved who has to deal with guilt. Identify the
situation and analyze how effectively the character deals with his or her struggle. Relate
this situation to the meaning of the text as a whole.
Requirements
Due: Monday, December 15, 2014 – both in-class and on www.turnitin.com
In your essay, you must use the ideas and knowledge gained from a minimum of 4
sources. In addition to the 4 sources, you MAY include a personal observation/anecdote in
your argument; however, the essay should be mostly objective.
Title your essay with a title relevant to your topic. Use proper MLA formatting.
Make sure you cite all ideas and excerpts you use.
DO NOT “PLOP” AN EXCERPT INTO YOUR ESSAY – remember, quotes, examples, and
evidence is there to support you and your argument/thesis; not the other way around. You
will lose points if your quotes, excerpts, supporting evidence, etc. are merely “plopped” into
your essay without further analysis.