The Effects of Childhood Trauma and Abuse

Writing Assignment #3

The Multiple-Source Synthesis Essay: Literature Review

Summary of Assignment

·Task: The multiple-source essay asks you to synthesize the arguments of at least 10

sources

·Length: 2000-3000 words

·Format: APA

·Sources: a total of at least 10 sources, all of which should be from scholarly journals or

credible trade journals. You should find your sources through library searches.

If you cite sources from websites or popular journals, these sources should be in

addition to the 10 sources you have cited from scholarly or trade journals.

·Topic: Please use the same topic that you used for writing assignments #1 and #2. It is recommended
that you focus on or expand on the essay that you wrote for writing assignment #2. You will continue
with the topic you have selected and will conduct additional searches in the library databases, hopefully,
focusing the topic more, and determining the 10 or more sources to use in this essay. Please note that
this is a review of the literature on a topic. It is not a persuasive essay using sources to support a point.
Rather it is an overview of the current research on a topic.

Integration of Sources: At least eight sources must be cited in the body of the essay. You may cite
sources in your introduction to help you define terms, and you may cite sources in your conclusion to
help you direct the reader to further inquiry. However, the body of the essay should synthesize at least 8
sources.

Strategies in Developing the Topic for this Essay

Up to this point in the semester, you have completed an annotated bibliography on your chosen topic.
You have also incorporated and synthesized six sources into writing assignment #2. The work you have
completed for these assignments provides a solid foundation for writing assignment #3. In this
assignment, you will synthesize the ideas of at least 10 sources in a synthesis essay, or literature review.
For your annotated bibliography, you selected a topic based on your interests and, potentially, your
major. You constructed a list of five references and summarized and critically analyzed them in 150-200
words each. You then completed the the six-source essay and synthesized sources. Through this process,
you may have seen patterns in the scholarly literature in the topic on which you conducted research. For
example, consider the following examples:

•You may have researched studies in criminal justice and found that there are varying opinions on how
to respond to criminal behavior among youth.

•·You may have researched studies in psychology and found that counseling strategies for victims of
domestic abuse tend to fall into four categories.

•·

You may have researched articles on gerontology and found studies that answered three basic

questions on how older adults respond to training for physical performance.

•·You may have researched articles on environmental management and found studies on climate
change. You noticed that various demographic factors influence whether individuals believe in climate
change and, if so, whether they believe it is caused by human activity.

In the synthesis essay, you will focus your research efforts in a particular area, as a

response to what you found while writing the annotated bibliography and in constructing the

four-source and six-source essays. You will then conduct more research and synthesize your

findings in this literature review.

Please note that the annotated bibliography, the four-source essay, and the six-source essay

represent a journey in your research.

You might decide to disregard several of the articles you analyzed in the critical annotated

bibliography or in the following two essays because they do not speak to the specific area on

which you have decided to write your multiple-source literature review. You might select one

article that you analyzed in the critical annotated bibliography, look up the articles cited in that

article, and “snowball” your research in that way.

In other words, this process is a recursive one. You might find reasons to hone in on and narrow

your topic even further after you have written the annotated bibliography.

For these reasons, you are strongly encouraged to write on the same general topic on which you

wrote writing assignment #3. You might focus the topic more for writing assignment #4. Or you

might expand on the topic for writing assignment #4.

How to organize the multiple-source essay:

You will divide the essay into categories. Each category will be labelled with a heading.

For you to see this concept with a real-life example, you can access a sample synthesis

or literature review from a psychology student by clicking here, or you can find it in in Week 7
Content/Resources under PSYCHSample_LitReview.

The student authors her paper on the following topic: Emotional Eating: The Perpetual Cycle of Mood-
Food Influence. She her literature into the following categories, which are used as headings throughout
the paper:

•Influence of Mood on Eating Behavior

•Gender Differences

•Influence of Eating Behavior on Later Moods

•Chronic Stress Response Network

Notice how she synthesizes and integrates the research into the distinct categories, labeled by

headings.

Strategies in Developing Categories

When you have focused on your topic, determine how you will divide the literature. In other

words, consider the following examples we described above:

You may have researched studies in criminal justice and found that there are varying opinions

on how to respond to criminal behavior among youth.

You might divide the paper as follows:

Introduction

Body

·Category 1: “A” view on responding to criminal behavior.

·Category 2: “B” view on responding to criminal behavior.

·Category 3: “C” view on responding to criminal behavior.

·Category 4: “D” view on responding to criminal behavior.

Conclusion

You may have researched studies in psychology and found that counseling strategies for

victims of domestic abuse tend to fall into four categories.

You might divide the paper as follows:

Introduction

Body

·Category 1: “A” counseling strategy for victims of child abuse

·Category 2: “B” counseling strategy for victims of child abuse

·Category 3: “C” counseling strategy for victims of child abuse

·Category 4: “D” counseling strategy for victims of child abuse

Conclusion

You may have researched articles on gerontology and found studies that answered three basic

questions on how older adults respond to training for physical performance.

You might divide the paper as follows:

Introduction

Body

·Question 1

·Question 2

·Question 3

Conclusion

You may have researched articles on environmental management and found studies on

climate change. You noticed that various demographic factors influence whether individuals

believe in climate change and, if so, whether they believe it is caused by human activity.

You might divide the paper as follows:

Introduction

Body

·Political affiliation and its impact on belief in climate change

·Socio-economic status and its impact on belief in climate change

·Religious and other influences on belief in climate change

Conclusion

Point of view

For this essay, you will use third-person point of view.

Please do not use first person point of view (e.g., “I,” “me,” “we”) in writing this essay.

In addition, please do not use second-person point of view (“you” or “your”) in writing this

essay. For example, instead of “Smith argues that, as a director, you have a duty to coordinate

cybersecurity efforts…” you would write, “Smith argues that directors have a duty to coordinate

cybersecurity efforts…”

APA Style

The paper should be formatted in APA style. The link “APA 7th edition example student paper” from
Week 3 will be a helpful resource. In summary, you should observe the following:

·Use one-inch margins.

·Double space.

·Use size 12 Times New Roman font.

·Include a running head.

·Include page numbers.

·Include a title page.

·Include a “References” page on which you list the articles in APA style

·Do not include an abstract. This paper is not long enough to warrant an abstract.

Submitting the assignment:

You will submit a first draft of the essay to the assignment folder. The first draft will not be

graded. The instructor will provide comments to it.

After receiving comments from the instructor, you will submit a revised draft. The final draft

will be graded.

Helpful Resources

·Graff, G. and Birkenstein, C., They Say / I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic

Writing with Readings. This chapter in in the e-reserves of our class. It mentions

various techniques to apply in stating what an author said and your response to the

author. It is recommended that you read that chapter so that you might apply

these techniques to this essay.