Synthesis Paper Samples These are samples from student

Synthesis Paper Samples These are samples from student essays. Please remember: This is a *small* portion of an overall strong 40 -minute, first-draft essay.

Introduction The Founding Fathers built America on the pillars of progress —of breaking away from the norm and build a better life in search of the “American Dream. ” Yet so often, the people of America mindlessly hang on to the outdated vestiges of the past, practicing old traditions which make no sense to the modern, growing world. This tendency to remain stagnant holds true in the case of the penny, buried deeply into both the hearts of the American people and their couches. The penny, in light of the modern world, should be eliminated due to both its economic insufficiency and practical inconvenience.

Introduction In the late 1700 s, the U. S. government made the decision to switch from specie monetary system which included gold and silver to a fiat system with greenback money, which value was backed up by government word. This was a highly controversial decision back then; however, the U. S. economy has adapted to the system and now has a variety of paper bills and coins. The smallest unit of these coins is the penny, introduced around 1790. Recently the debate about whether or not to keep this penny has been sparked. While the penny may hold some sentimental value, ultimately the penny is unnecessary in today’s economy and should be eliminated.

Body Paragraph The drop in the value of the one dollar bill led to the subsequent downfall of the penny which now presents itself as not only useless, but also a hassle to deal with in economic changes. As proven with the replacement of the “five-and-dime” store with the “dollar store, ” even the cheapest commodities in modern society cannot be bought with the penny (source C). A person would need to carry a pouch filled with at least one-hundred of these small copper coins if they would wish to buy an item of very low value at a “dollar store. ” If the government placed these small coins into circulation due to their role as a way to “facilitate transactions” (source B), then their purpose in the United States economy has now failed because now due to their small size and the 27% of Americans who could not keep track of their small change (source B). These coins serve a true purpose of acting as a barrier in transactions. When consumers and shoppers use the coins in a store, it is shown on average that the person spends 30 seconds searching for the coin (source B), thus slowing down the transaction process for an unnecessary item. The difference in hundredths of a dollar, or a penny’s worth, between different products is insignificant costs and the government can eliminate them with the elimination of the penny. The worth of the coin proves to be insignificant if in 1950 a child could buy one piece of candy with a penny, and now it takes nearly a dime to buy what a penny bought in 1950 (source C), then practically no possible item of worth could be bought with the penny. The United States should deter the production of this coin due to its irrelevancy in today’s society and economy, for now it only serves as an annoyance to consumers. The overall worth of the penny is practically non-existent and a buyer cannot buy any items of worth with it currently, therefore it no longer serves a purpose.

Body Paragraph Although one penny may be relatively useless, pennies as a whole entity provide America with a way to set specific prices on goods, not rounded ones. Yes, many people all around the country dread the very idea of having these coins take up space in their wallets, because “you can’t buy anything with a penny anymore” (Safire). This may be true, but pennies also provide a means to escape the “systematic rounding of prices” that were to disappear from circulation (Weller). If legislation were to succeed in banning the use of pennies in money transactions, nickels and dimes would be the next smallest coin in regards to value. Most people enjoy saving their money, whether it be a few cents or a couple hundred dollars. If pennies were to be removed out of the equation, people would ultimately lose their money. It has also been proven that people with higher incomes are less opposed to ridding the country of pennies (Harris Poll). A penny, although it may be small in value, is still money. Over time, the cents that people save with pennies can far surpass ten thousand dollars (Khan)! With pennies in circulation, people are allowed the luxury of knowing they are getting every pennies worth out of any transaction.