Four Readings About Poe's Death
Synthesizing Sources: Seeing the Big Picture
When you research a subject, you read many different sources carefully. Then you need to synthesize the information, putting all the pieces together to see the big picture. Follow these steps:
- Find the main idea. Look for each writer’s main idea, and take notes about it. To work your way through a difficult passage, paraphrase it—restate the passage in your own words.
- Look for supporting evidence. Ask yourself, “Does the writer support his or her ideas with facts, statistics, examples, anecdotes (brief real-life stories), or quotations? Does the writer use logic and reasoning to prove a point?” For help identifying the writer’s main ideas and support, try making a chart.
| Main Idea 1 | Main Idea 2 |
|---|---|
| Support 1 Support 2 |
Support 1 Support 2 |
- Compare and contrast. Look for similarities and differences between your sources. In particular, compare and contrast the main ideas and the types of support the authors use.
- Make connections. Does the information in your sources remind you of ideas that you’ve read about in the past—perhaps in other articles or books or even in a story or poem?
- Put it all together. Once you’ve completed these steps, you’re ready to put all the pieces together. To synthesize what you’ve learned, you may want to write a research report, an editorial, a speech, or a letter.
Connecting to the Literature
The life of Edgar Allan Poe, author of “The Cask of Amontillado,” is shrouded in mystery. Most scholars believe that Poe died as a result of drinking too much alcohol. According to another theory, Poe died of rabies, a disease people can get when they are bitten or scratched by an animal infected with the rabies virus. The following four selections present a debate about what killed this tragic genius.
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