26th Annual Student Research Conference
The Influence of Popular Culture on Synthesis Writing
Dani R. Dell'Orco♦
Dr. Rebecca Dierking, Faculty Mentor
People synthesize information naturally to see connections between the things they learn. The purpose of this study was to help students comprehend the synthesis process in writing by using popular culture. Using a pretest-posttest group design, this study explored the influence of popular culture on high school freshmens ability to synthesize their own ideas with the assigned text, Romeo & Juliet. The baseline writing assessment was a written position statement in preparation for a full class debate. Students gathered evidence both from the text and outside sources to defend their assigned stance in their baseline position statement. After learning two synthesis strategies, students were asked to construct a second position statement with the inclusion of a connection to popular culture. The analysis suggested that students were better able to understand and practice synthesis writing by it connecting to popular culture and using it to construct new meanings with the text.
Keywords: Synthesis, Writing, English, Secondary Education
Topic(s):Education
English
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 306-4
Location: MG 2090
Time: 2:00