Write a 700-1,100 word essay that explains how your areas of study come to together to prepare you to accomplish your proposed careers. The essay should justify your choices of areas of study and convince an audience (future employers) that you have made wise choices in your degree.
Synthesis Essay Instructions
Don't use plagiarized sources. Get Your Custom Essay on
Syn ess
Just from $13/Page
Prompt: In 700-1,100 words, convince a hiring manager in your field that your choice of areas of study has prepared you well for your proposed future career.
Requirements:
1. You may use first person, but not second person.
2. Your grammar, spelling, and punctuation should be flawless. Visit the Liberty University writing centers if you want extra help:
https://www.liberty.edu/academics/casas/academicsuccess/index.cfm?PID=38382
3. As per college writing best practice, your essay should be thesis driven, and each body paragraph should ideally be centered around a specific area of study. Include introduction and conclusion paragraphs.
4. If you are not pursuing a professional job after you graduate (retiring, stay-at-home-parent, graduate school, etc.), explain how what you have learned will be relevant to your next stage in life.
5. You should not explain your personal history or the story of how you chose your areas of study. Focus only on answering one simple question: “How do your areas of study and the specific classes you took prepare you for this job or graduate program or promotion or next stage in life?”
6. Develop your main points using specific examples of particular classes, information, and skills you learned that will contribute to your career field.
7. Organize your paper like this:
a. Introduction to establish what your areas of study are, what the next career step is, and what your thesis is
b. Body paragraph justifying first area of study with specific examples
c. Body paragraph justifying second area of study with specific examples
d. Body paragraph justifying third area of study (if you have a third area) with specific examples
e. Conclusion to summarize main points and emphasize your preparedness
8. Use APA formatting and a title page, but no abstract page is required.
Additional Suggestions:
1. You need to justify all areas of study in your degree, but you can use as many paragraphs or sub-points as you like for each.
2. Remember you will succeed if you convince your audience that your areas of study were good choices, not necessarily that they should hire you. Focus on how well prepared you are based on your choices in undergrad.
3. Reliable sources, while not required, will make your argument far more trustworthy.
4. To begin brainstorming, you can ask yourself, “What relevant skills, knowledge, or experiences did I acquire in earning the credits for each of my areas of study?”
5. Note that even if you transferred in credit or received PLA credit for life experiences, you can still use skills learned through those to justify your decisions.
6. For many INDS students, their areas of study are a series of choices over the course of several years as they learn of new areas of interest and their career plans evolve; be honest but remember that it is up to you to explain why your skills are relevant to your field.
7. If you have an area of study that seems to no longer apply to your proposed field, you still have to justify it. Be creative and remember back to what you learned; think about how it might still be relevant.
8. You can use Liberty’s web pages as a source when describing classes or your degree.
INDS 400
Synthesis Essay Grading Rubric
|
Criteria
|
Levels of Achievement
|
|
Content 70%
|
|
Advanced 90-100%
|
|
Proficient 70-89%
|
|
Developing 1-69%
|
|
Not present
|
|
Argument
|
32 to 35 points
Argument is focused on the audience, convincing, and effective. The thesis statement is clear and helpful. Paragraphs are unified and focused.
|
25 to 31 points
Argument loses focus at times but is still largely convincing. Paragraphs lack unity at times, and the thesis statement is present but unclear.
|
1 to 24 points
Argument is ineffective, has gaps in logic, or is not convincing. Thesis statement and paragraph unity are not present.
|
|
|
|
0 points
Not present
|
|
Support
|
32 to 35 points
Argument is supported with strong, logical, and specific evidence collected from student’s classes, knowledge-learned, and skills-learned from areas of study.
|
25 to 31 points
Argument could use more support or doesn’t have very many specific examples. Or examples are not very specific and aren’t explained well.
|
1 to 24 points
Examples are poorly chosen, unhelpful, or too broad. Main points are not well supported.
|
0 points
Not present
|
Structure 30%
|
Advanced 90-100%
Proficient 70-89%
Developing 1-69%
Not present
|
Grammar, Punctuation, Diction, & Spelling
|
18 to 20 points
Conventions of proper English writing and academic tone are followed throughout with few mistakes that largely do not detract from professionalism of content.
|
14 to 17 points
Writing is somewhat unclear and has several mistakes that detract from the professionalism of the paper. Academic tone has some mistakes, but still serves the purpose.
|
1 to 13 points
Paper has many errors that severely detract from the professionalism of the paper. Academic tone is insufficient.
|
0 points
Not present
|
Formatting
|
10 points
Conventions of APA format are followed throughout with only minor errors that are difficult to detect.
|
7 to 9 points
One or two glaring errors in APA formatting with some smaller ones also evident that detract somewhat from professionalism of the paper.
|
1 to 6 points
Paper has many noticeable APA errors present that significantly decrease professionalism of the paper, but APA style is still evident.
|
0 points
Not present
