Flawed Educational System

 Keep note: The essay MUST include the similarities/differences between the articles and the bigger picture of what they both allude to. Summarizing the articles is very important. You must be able to filter through a lot of information to get at the core set of ideas from each essay. The synthesis essay requires that you summarize the important ideas from each article and then compare and contrast them in order to come to a better and more complete understanding of the issue. One article gives you one piece of the puzzle and the other article gives you a different piece of the puzzle. Sometimes they overlap. Where they overlap is probably significant. Make sure you have read and understood the articles and break down each into a set of main ideas (and be able to support each main idea with detail if necessary). Organizational Framework of how the essay should be written: First paragraph must contain a powerful thesis! Click the following link to view how a SYNTHESIS THESIS should be written: https://facweb.northseattle.edu/mleek/Teaching/99-101/E-5_Synthesis_Thesis_Statement.pdf The introduction does what all introductions do . . . it looks at the big picture and lays the foundation for understanding the topic and why it is important; it might also provide a preview or road map of where the essay will lead. After the brief introduction, write a summary of the first source: ‘‘From Degrading to De-Grading’’ by Alfie Kohn. Summarize the main ideas that provide the “take away”; relate the theme, tone, and point of view as well. MUST BE accurate and thorough. Click the following link to view the first source: https://www.alfiekohn.org/article/degrading-de-grading/ After that, write a summary of the second source: ‘‘Against School’’ by John Taylor Gatto. Summarize the main ideas that provide the “take away”; relate the theme, tone, and point of view as well. At this point, you can also start to draw comparisons from the first source. Your second source is referencing the first source when it sees a connection. Click the following link to view the second source: https://www.wesjones.com/gatto1.htm Synthesis takes place when you consider the contribution that each source makes to the big picture. Sometimes they both contribute the same thing but in different ways, or different things in the same way. The central question is when working together how do they contribute to the big picture, now what do we think about the role schools play within a society? Both of the essays listed below view our current education system in a negative light. Kohn believes that grades interfere with learning and Gatto argues that our schools are “deliberately designed to produce mediocre intellects, to hamstring the inner life, to deny students appreciable leadership skills, and to ensure docile and incomplete citizens in order to render the populace ‘manageable’”. Your assignment is to synthesize these two articles by drawing upon their similarities and differences and identifying the larger ideas that both essays elude to. Devise a thesis that is broad enough to encompass the ideas from the two articles and then draw information from the articles to support your thesis. For more detailed information on writing a synthesis, visit: https://users.drew.edu/sjamieso/Synthesis.htm Before writing consider this: PURPOSE — to demonstrate a close reading of Kohn’s and Gatto’s essays, and to synthesize their ideas into a single response essay. Be sure to refer to the texts when appropriate and support your ideas with specific examples and explanations.