Writing Book 8 · Lesson 12

Synthesis notes across three sources

One outline built from three texts, organized by idea rather than by source.

What it is

Three sources organized by source give you three summaries. Organized by idea, they give you an argument — because you can see where sources agree, and more usefully where they disagree. Disagreement between sources is the most valuable thing in your notes, and it is invisible unless you organize this way.

Watch it built

1
Set the idea as the heading, not the source.
I. Why the settlement was abandoned
2
Put every source's position under it, tagged.
  A. Drought (S1, S3)   A. Trade route moved (S2)
3
Mark the disagreement explicitly. This is your essay's opening.
    1. ⚠ S2 rejects drought — says dates do not fit
Remember
Idea on top, sources underneath. Mark every disagreement.
Ask yourself: “Where do my sources disagree, and have I marked it?”

Remember

Idea on top. Sources underneath. Mark every disagreement.

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