What do they say about the first amendment in the age of social media?

You will write an informative
synthesis paper on the topic of “censorship and democracy.” The
purpose of this essay is to inform your audience about an issue
related to free speech. Please note that this is not a persuasive or
argumentative essay. While you should use analysis in order to show
how different aspects of this topic fit together, you are not trying
to convince your audience about anything.

The
synthesis essay allows you to identify or infer relationships between
sources so that your audience has a clear understanding about the
ideas, real-life examples, and research available on the topic. In
other words, as the writer and researcher, you are looking at the
information available on the topic, making choices about what is
important, and conveying that information to your audience in a
logical and organized way.

This paper is not just a
summary of several sources. It is up to you to make critical
connections between the readings. You have the authority to determine
what belongs together and what does not, but you must be able to back
up your connections with evidence from each text. Your essay must
also fully explain the topic to another freshman college student who
has not read any of the sources you include in the paper.

Take
a look at the articles in the library guide. What do they say about
censorship and democracy? What do they say about free speech in
general? What do they say about the first amendment in the age of
social media? These questions are examples to get you started. You
may have a topic that explores a different issue related to free
speech (even one that is not covered in the articles). To get
started, you should identify major themes and significant details in
each individual article you decide to use. Then, draw connections
between each article. Do two articles have the same main idea? Do
they completely contradict each other? Do the writers of two sources
draw different conclusions, but you believe they actually say the
same thing? Use the connections you identify to create topic
sentences for each paragraph that direct the flow of your essay.
Remember, in order for your synthesis to be successful, each topic sentence must include an idea
that is demonstrated in more than one source (in other words, you
need at least two sources in each paragraph, except the introduction
and conclusion).

Requirements:
4-6
pages in length

A
minimum of 5 sources:

3
scholarly, peer-reviewed sources

2
other sources (can be peer-reviewed, or a good/legitimate source)

Strong
thesis and clear topic sentences that illustrate connections between
sources
Proper
MLA formatting, including in-text citations and a works cited page

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