New South Wales Board of Studies | Charles Sturt University Website |
Britannica On line | Google Search |
Try this exercise. Synthesising information from a number of sources requires several steps. Its purpose is to select information from various sources to include in your writing. You may get different details/viewpoints of the same material, or you may get different material.
• skim through each of the articles and choose the ones you intend to use for your research.
• Consider how old the material is and how credible the source is in making your choice.
• Copy the relevant articles.
• Skim the information again for an overview of the information.
• List the main categories for your notes and determine your system of note taking.
• Read each article carefully and annotate the information in the margin.
• Create a table for writing notes based on the chosen/expected information.
EXAMPLE
Sources on Mary Reibey.
Source 1
Mary Reiby (1772-1855) was transported to Australia for stealing a horse when she was only 13 years old. She married an officer and after his death took over the management of his properties and business interests to ensure a secure future for herself and her seven children. She increased the business including shipping, trade and commerce, and built a number of city buildings. Mary Reiby became a respected member of the community involved in church, education and charitable institutions.
(Quoted from E. Greenup, et al., History Is … Book 2 , Thomas Nelson Australia, 1990.)
Source 2
Mary Reibey (born Mary Haydock)
CRIME: Stealing the favourite horse of the local squire.
SENTENCE: Transportation for seven years.
ARRIVED NSW: 1792, aged fifteen years.
EMPLOYED AS: Nursemaid in the household of Major Francis Grose.
REMARKS: Mary married Thomas Reibey in 1794 and bore three sons and four daughters. She helped her husband establish a trading business and managed this business when Tom was away at sea.
After Reibey's death, Mary continued to control and expand the family business interests, which included farming and a wine and spirits business.
Mary Reibey became a highly respected member of the colony and she took a keen interest in church work, charities, education and town planning.
Died 30 May 1855 at Newtown, NSW, aged seventy-eight. Her grandson, Thomas Reibey, became Premier of Tasmania .
(In J. Johnson and R. Johnson, (1978) Pioneers All, pp. 13-14)
Source 3
In Stafford, England, an adventurous girl named Mary Haydock lived with her grandparents. For a dare, she dressed as a boy and ‘borrowed' a horse from a peppery-tempered neighbour, the local squire. Only thirteen years of age, she was accused and convicted of horse stealing, and sentenced to transportation.
On board the Royal Admiral which brought her to Sydney was Thomas Reiby, a young officer of the British East India Company, who befriended and protected Mary. Arriving in Sydney, she was assigned as a nursemaid to the household of Major Grose. Thomas was able to set himself up as a farmer on the Hawkesbury and also acted as a grain merchant.
In 1794, Mary married Thomas and together they farmed their land. They then set up house in the Rocks area and Mary ran a bakery business. Thomas operated a fleet of three small ships to the Hawkesbury for grain and the Hunter River for coal and timber. In 1803 he advertised in the Sydney Gazette that he had cedar beams for sale. Two years later he was dealing in seal skins and oil from Bass Strait.
In the same year a newspaper report stated that Thomas Reiby ‘intends to begin the building of a capital stone house near the Dry Store'. The front was was '50 feet long, 30 feet high, with an attic. Behind were two granaries and outhouses'. The Reibys built their home near the waterside in Macquarie Place, naming it Entally after a suburb in Calcutta, India, where Thomas had lived for a time. In 1809 he was appointed as a harbour pilot and later in the year left for India on business. Weak and ill from the effects of sunstroke, he died in 1811. Mary was a clever business woman and she continued to manage the general store so that she could support her six children. She moved to a house in George Street, turning the old house into a goods store and leasing it.
(In The Making of Australia - Prison Port and Market Town, (Sydney, 1982).)
Question |
Source 1 |
Source 2 |
Source 3 |
When was Mary Reiby born?
|
|
|
|
When was she transported to Australia?
|
|
|
|
Why was she transported to Australia?
|
|
|
|
What did she do when she arrived in Sydney?
|
|
|
|
When did she marry Thomas Reibey?
|
|
|
|
What was her husband Thomas Reibey's occupation when they met?
|
|
|
|
What did Mary and Thomas Reibey do to earn a living?
|
|
|
|
How many children did they have?
|
|
|
|
What happened to Mary after Thomas Reibey died?
|
|
|
|
When did she die?
|
|
|
|
Why was she important?
|
|
|
|
After you have completed the information in the boxes you can use the information in the table to write your synthesise you work and write a combined biography.
Another way of completing this work is shown in the page on Mapping Information. In that case it shows how DIFFERENT information can be taken from sources to make a COMPLETE picture.
(Extract from 1996 Metropolitan East Disadvantaged School Program)