Synthesis
You just finished reading a long article for a class. Now what? After you're sure you understand the vocabulary and concepts, it's time to pull it together with what you already know. Combining ideas like this is called synthesis. Think about what you already know about the topic of the article, and then think about what the article taught you. How does that help you create new ideas? What can you now figure out after pulling different ideas together? Watch this video on synthesizing to see how you can combine ideas to make new ideas.
Passage 1: Coffee is not a delicacy. It's a source of cheap, fast, and potent fuel for the modern worker. While trendy cafés may be enjoying a renaissance as of late, in the long run they won't last. Most people do not have the time or money to spend in fancy cafés that charge a premium for hipster ambience and artisanal caffeinated drinks that take forever to make. In the end, these cafés will go the way of the dinosaur, but a solid cup-of-joe will still be waiting for you just around the corner at your local diner or drive-through coffee shop.
Passage 2: In the past, most people did not discriminate over the coffee they drank. However, today, many prefer a hand-crafted latte or cappuccino to a mass-produced cup-of-joe. In response to this need, artisanal cafés are popping up all over the place, from chic, urban downtowns to small, rural main streets. These cafés not only produce a tasty product, they also provide good-paying jobs for skilled baristas, a great place to work and study, and a lively hub for social activity. The modern café offers so much more than the grease-stops of yesterday.
Source: Excelsior Online Writing Lab, https://owl.excelsior.edu/orc/what-to-do-after-reading/synthesizing/
https://owl.excelsior.edu/orc/what-to-do-after-reading/synthesizing/synthesizing-activity-1/
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