What is a synthesis?

We explain what a synthesis is and what it is for. Why is it so useful in the educational field? Advantages and functions of a synthesis.

1. What is a synthesis?

The word synthesis refers to the concept of summary, synopsis, summary . These words express the description of the content of a text in abbreviated form.

The synthesis, in the field of teaching , is taken as the action of identifying the main ideas of a text . The term comes from the Greek word synthesis , which means arrangement or composition. A synthesis is a composition product of the analysis of the parts within a whole from which a unit is obtained.

Synthesis, in the field of chemistry , refers to the formation of compounds from the simplest elements . You can talk about organic synthesis (for the construction of organic molecules in a planned way) and chemical synthesis ( process that is responsible for generating chemical compounds).

Protein synthesis, on the other hand, is an intracellular phenomenon in which proteins are formed through the addition of amino acids. This process consists of three stages: transcription, then amino acid activation and finally translation.

2. Synthesis of a text

Let’s consider some characteristics that a synthesis of a text provokes:

• First of all, it should be remembered that it is a set of important and more relevant ideas or concepts about a given topic or text. That is why a synthesis should be planned from the careful reading of the text.
• A synthesis is very useful when studying a topic, since it allows you to eliminate unnecessary information and study the most important.
• The most important notions that are taken into account must be logically related, that is, connected from a transversal idea. It is essential to rely on lexical connectors to maintain textual cohesion.
• The main ideas should be general and if possible few, from which secondary ideas will be detached. It is not necessary that secondary ideas are abundant, since the main thing is to point to the main ideas of the topic or text.
• Among them there must be coherence, that is, that the text can be fully understood.
• The structure of the synthesis must maintain an order.
• It is necessary to read the text or subject in question in an exhaustive manner to be able to organize the synthesis well and not abound in unnecessary details.
• It is necessary to be able to differentiate the main ideas from those not necessary. This method of selecting ideas should be taught to children from an early age, in order to create study tools for their future.