Synthesize Ideas unit test

Organizing by claim, not by source

Revision as re-seeing

Signal phrases

Building a line of reasoning

The paragraph test for synthesis

Conclusion that does work

Paraphrase that is too close

Defensible thesis

Quotation vs paraphrase vs summary

In-text citation purpose

Block quotations

The evidence-to-commentary ratio

END-OF-COURSE EXAM, PART B (90 minutes, 24 points). Read the four sources, summarized below, focusing on a theme or issue that connects them and the different perspective each represents. Then write a logically organized, well-reasoned, and well-written argument presenting your own perspective on the theme or issue you identified. You must incorporate at least two of the sources, cited as Source A–D or by author, and link your claims to supporting evidence. The four sources (connected by the theme of CHOOSING A PATH), summarized: Source A — Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken," The Atlantic Monthly, 1915: the celebrated poem in which a traveler pauses where two roads diverge in a yellow wood, chooses one — admitting the two were worn "really about the same" — and imagines telling the story "ages and ages hence" with a sigh, that taking the road "less traveled by" made all the difference. Source B — Anant Agarwal, "Why Today's Professionals Are Taking the Career Road Less Traveled," Forbes, October 2018: an article arguing that nonlinear career paths have become legitimate and even glamorous — citing edX research that 29% of Americans aged 25–44 have completely changed fields since their first post-college job — and that continuous learning lets professionals reinvent themselves across industries. Source C — OECD, The State of Global Teenage Career Preparation (2025): a report drawing on PISA 2022 data from 690,000 students in 81 countries, finding that teenagers' career expectations are narrow and often misaligned with labor-market reality, that students who participate in career development activities and part-time work show better later outcomes, and that disadvantaged students have least access to such preparation.', Source D — Barbara Bush, Commencement Address to the Wellesley College Class of 1990: the former First Lady tells graduates that a first-class education means they need not live a "paint-by-numbers" life — decisions are not irrevocable and "choices do come back" — and urges three choices: believe in something larger than yourself, find joy in life, and cherish human connections; famously suggesting that success at home outweighs professional triumphs.