What is an informative synthesis?

Well, OK, so you have to write an informative synthesis. Either you've been given a handful of articles to read or you have to find a handful on your own that address a serious topic. If you are on your own, I hope you look for articles which express different opinions, causes, or solutions to a topic because if you choose articles which all pitch the same idea, then you're in trouble. OK, that said, the basic idea of an informative synthesis is to study what experts are saying and how their positions on the topic interact. (What? Hang on...) After reading all of your articles a few times, imagine the authors stuck in the same room together at a party. Who would argue with whom? Who would back each other up? Who would be the guy saying "True, but...." (There's one of those at every party.) In your paper, you are going to present what each author says about a topic (don't spend the whole paper on summary though!), and then you are going to explain how the authors agree, disagree, or complicate the others' positions with "True, but" info. Be sure your authors are experts and not some dude on the corner with an opinion. Also, speaking of opinion, an informative synthesis explores what the authors think; it is not the time to present your own opinion. Save that for your argumentative research paper.