Synthesis Essay Description

Writing Topic: Read the College Board's description of the synthesis essay below. Then explain in your notebook, using your own words, the purpose of the synthesis essay and what it entails. Incorporate specific and relevant evidence from the College Board's description to support your ideas.

FREE-RESPONSE QUESTION 1: SYNTHESIS

Plan A: Before reading the sources, read the prompt and brainstorm important factors, considerations, arguments, and construct a thesis.

Free-response question 1 presents students with six to seven sources organized around a specific topic. Two of the provided sources are visual, including at least one quantitative source. The remaining sources are text-based excerpts containing about 500 words per source. Students are asked to write an essay that synthesizes material from at least three of the provided sources and develops their own position on the topic.

This question assesses students' ability to do the following:

• Respond to the prompt with a thesis that presents a defensible position.

• Select and use evidence from at least 3 of the provided sources to support your line of reasoning.

• Indicate clearly the sources used through direct quotation, paraphrase. or summary.

Sources may be cited as Source A, Source B, etc., or by using the description in parentheses.

• Explain how the evidence supports your line of reasoning.

• Use appropriate grammar and punctuation in communicating your argument

> Review the prompt from yesterday.

The synthesis essay is a SOURCE INFORMED ARGUMENT. In your essay, you must be

sure to:

• stick to the specific task that the prompt asks for.

use short quotes to support claims. You can either cite by author name or source letters.

Just be consistent. Do NOT switch your citing method. I recommend citing this way:

(Source A), (Source B), (Source F), etc.

• You can sometimes paraphrase (like if source is a graph) or summarize (larger idea. But the sophistication of being able to smoothly integrate short quotes helps your score.

• Typically when you look at higher scoring essays, they use the evidence in a variety of ways (sometime longer, sometimes short quotes, and sometimes paraphrase). It really is about USING the sources and making them a part of YOUR argument.

• It's good practice to use two of the sources to support your argument. and use one of the sources to refute your counterclaim/concession.

• Embed your quotes within your own arguments. The reader should not be able to tell where your words stop and the source starts. When you achieve this, you usually are successful at using the sources as your support instead of simply announcing them.

The SYNTHESIS ESSAY for the AP Exam:

Synthesizing means combining, putting together the ideas and findings of multiple sources in order to make an overall point. For the synthesis essay on the AP exam, you will be asked to consider an issue. You will read what THEY SAY (writers of 6 to 7 different sources) on this issue in order to determine what YOU SAY on the issue. You will write an essay establishing your position and synthesizing information from the sources to support your position.

Synthesis writing is argumentative in nature. You should try to come up with a tentative thesis (like a scientific hypothesis) before reading the sources.

In order to score at least a 4 on the AP rubric, you MUST cite from at least 3 different sources in your argument essay.

You are given background information on an issue. The issue may be something you are unfamiliar with-but that is the point of research, isn't it? To help you out, the synthesis prompt will give you background information that introduces the topic and the different positions that you might take. Read the prompt carefully to get started. Your essay must show an awareness of different sides of the issue. You are given from 6 to 7 sources, each reflecting a particular point of view. Some sources may take similar positions but support their position with different evidence. Some may be more convincing than others. One of the sources will be visual: a graph, a cartoon, a photograph, etc. Reading these sources will help you see the complexities of the topic and help you refine your position.

You are given 15 minutes to read the sources. Use this time to annotate the sources and plan your essay. You will have 40 minutes to write the essay.

You MUST synthesize, or integrate, material (quotes or paraphrased) from at least 3 different sources and you MUST CITE the sources. It is important to demonstrate that you fully understand the argument of the sources from which you quote- don't ever just choose a sentence from a source without understanding the argument of the entire source.

The essay is "position driven". You organize the essay to develop and support your thesis position. Remember that you must look at more than one side- you will select sources which reflect differing sides and show an understanding of how these sources "talk" to each other.

What is most impressive is your scholarly understanding of the arguments in the sources, and your ability to organize an essay which synthesizes these arguments into a position-driven paper. As with every essay, a strong analytic focus is important- clear position statement (thesis), focused topic sentences, transitional words/phrases, unity and coherence.

What the Prompt Tells You

It can help you understand the topic, see both sides of this issue and recognize factors/implications. Then, you can figure out how you MIGHT organize your paper BEFORE you begin to read the sources.