Here are some examples:
Thesis
|
Anti-thesis |
Synthesis Example 1. Example 2. Example 3. |
The words in red are useful for synthesising.
Grammar Notes:
Related materials: contrast clauses, cause and effect, and suggesting solutions in a formal way.
Question 1. | |
As was noted earlier, the majority of
computer games produced today have violence as their
principal theme. Despite the growing concerns of parents and
teachers in the past decade, it would appear from my
research that violence in computer games is becoming
increasingly realistic and explicit. We are thus faced with the
familiar question: Does playing violent computer games lead to
aggressive behaviour in young people? This is clearly a
highly complex issue. Research conducted in the past decade
has revealed that young people who regularly play violent
computer games have a tendency to be more aggressive than
those who do not. Perhaps not surprisingly, my findings tend
to support this position. (extracted from p. 116)
Walker, A. (2001). Computer games and adolescent aggression. In N. Peters (Ed.), Research into the effects of computer games (pp. 108-124). London: St Martin’s Press. |
On the issue of violence, the modern
media surrounds us with violence. Movies such as 'The
Matrix', television programs such as the news, newspaper
reports of sports such as boxing, and radio dramas often
involve violence. It is difficult to watch TV for one
evening without seeing an explosion, car chase, death or violence.
Children's programs are especially violent, as is shown by
Tom and Jerry. If young children are expected to realise that it
is only a cartoon, teenagers playing computer games can also
recognise that it's only a game. In addition, many computer games are non-violent, for example, 'The Sims' is a very popular game of social interaction, and football playing and management games involve almost no violence. Smith, A. J. (2003). Synthesis. Retrieved from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, The English Language Centre Web site: http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/CILL/eap/synthesis.htm |
Question 2. | |
Clearly, one of the most serious
problems associated with playing computer games is that they
are highly addictive. Parents often find that when their
children start playing games they simply cannot stop. There
is some evidence that as a result of their compulsive
involvement in computer games, some young people tend to ignore
more important activities such as homework and reading. There
are also concerns that their solitary absorption in computer
games prevents them interacting with family and friends.
Davies, S. (2003). Computer games and personal
development. Family Forum. Retrieved
from http://www.ff.org. |
Popular activities of any sort can be
addictive. Some people are addicted to sport, and some to
television, for example. Both these examples, and many
others, can be harmful to one's health and social life if done
too much. In addition, the quality of a computer game is an
important factor that may cause people to play it a lot, in
fact, some players think that a good computer game should be
addictive.
Smith, A. J. (2003). Synthesis. Retrieved from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, The English Language Centre Web site: http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/CILL/eap/synthesis.htm |
Question 3. | |
Doubts about the value of English are raised when we
consider the economic performance of certain EFL and ESL
countries in recent decades. In the post-World War II period Japan
and Germany have been two of the most dynamic economies in
the world. In the case of Japan, where English is learned as
a foreign language, it would be reasonable to argue that
very few employees possess high levels of proficiency in the
language. While it is true that English levels in Germany
are higher than in Japan, it must be remembered that the language
is still learned as a foreign language. Unlike Hong Kong, it
is not used as the medium of instruction at secondary and
tertiary levels in Germany; nor has it enjoyed the status of
an official language (e.g. in government and the law).
Another point to consider is that English is widely used as
a second language in Asia (e.g. the Philippines, India) and Africa
(e.g. Kenya, Zimbabwe). If (as some business people in Hong
Kong claim) the use of English is so important to a
country’s economic development, why are ESL countries like
the Philippines significantly less prosperous than EFL
countries like Japan and Germany? (extracted from p. 25) |
Chan (2003, p.25) argues that the value of English is doubtful for two reasons, firstly the economic success of countries where English is rarely spoken, such as Japan, and secondly because of the lack of economic development of some countries in which English is widely spoken, such as India and the Philippines. However, there are many factors that influence the economic performance of a country. These include location, history, raw materials, education, politics and culture. Chan may therefore be overestimating the importance of English as a factor in the economic success of a country, and therefore unfairly criticising it. Smith, A. J. (2003). Synthesis. Retrieved from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, The English Language Centre Web site: http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/CILL/eap/synthesis.htm |
Question 4. | |
One problem that Internet users have to deal with is the
huge quantity and variety of sources of possible interest to
them. This creates problems of how to select relevant information.
The problems are aggravated by a lack of effective search
tools. Many search facilities are limited in their
capabilities and are consequently not able to deal with the
volume of available resources. Some search engines often
return a huge number of results to users’ queries, and the details
provided in the search output often lack enough detail to
enable users to assess the relevance of the sites which are
listed. However, other search engines source a limited
number and kind of sites. This makes the list of sites they
provide both restrictive and possibly biased. It is hard for
the untrained eye to detect these restrictions. |
Although, for a novice user, the results returned by Internet search engines may appear confusing and any bias may not be obvious, these problems are becoming less serious. Firstly, although some search engines have problems, there is a wide range of engines available. Users can choose a search engine which suits them and gives informative and relevant results. Secondly, modern search engines often identify sponsored links. If users find that their search engine refers them to sites that give irrelevant commercial links, they can use a different search engine. Finally, as the Internet becomes more mature, users become more experienced. Therefore they can increasingly use search terms or advanced search functions which give better results. Smith, A. J. (2003). Synthesis. Retrieved from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, The English Language Centre Web site: http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/CILL/eap/synthesis.htm |
Question 5. | |
It is a fact that many individuals
use the Net to share their opinions with a potentially huge
audience via their own Web pages. Some of these individuals
are fully qualified to write with authority on their
particular field of expertise. Others, unfortunately, are
not qualified and their views are really little more than personal
opinions and beliefs rather than fully supported, credible
arguments. Clearly, a set of criteria is needed to help
students distinguish between reliable information and that
which must be viewed more critically. One criterion is that
of authorship, a second the status of the website, while a
third is the credibility of a document itself. There are various
checks that a student can perform to determine these, and it
is crucial that they do so. Source: Chan, W.K. (2001). Using information found on the Web. IT Journal 6(2). |
Although Chan's (2001) criteria are theoretically appealing, they are so time consuming that they are impractical. To check whether an author is an expert involves searching the Internet for references to that author's work, and analysing whether those references are just from people with similar opinions, or from other experts. While it is relatively easy to determine whether a website is a high-status educational or government domain, it is much more difficult to discover the reliability of a commercial site. The credibility of the document may also be difficult to determine, as it may have all the components of a reputable page, such as links to supporting evidence, but the content may still not be credible. Finally there are many genuine academic debates with many valuable points of view. There is no clear distinction between beliefs and different interpretations of evidence in many areas. Therefore Chan's criteria may be too simple. Smith, A. J. (2003). Synthesis. Retrieved from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, The English Language Centre Web site: http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/CILL/eap/synthesis.htm |