AP English Language · Lesson 1

Synthesis: arguing with sources

Know Know it

In the synthesis essay you argue your own position on an issue using a provided set of sources. On the exam the set has six texts, including visual and quantitative ones, and you must cite at least three. The sources are your evidence; your position is the point of the essay.

Use a source by making a claim and then bringing the source in to support it, with a citation such as (Source B). A sentence that only reports what a source says is summary, not use.

Put sources in conversation. Strong essays show how sources relate: one confirms another, one limits another, or one raises a cost the others ignore. A source that cuts against your position is useful too: concede what it gets right, then explain why your position still holds.

For a quantitative source, cite a specific number and say what it shows. Read the labels and units first, and claim only what the data show: a table of three blocks cannot prove what happens across a whole city.

Reporting a source versus using it
Reports the source (summary)Uses the source (synthesis)
Source A is a survey of 200 bus riders.Riders want later service: most of the 200 surveyed asked for buses after 9 p.m. (Source A).
Source D is a chart about fares.Lower fares may bring riders back: ridership in Source D rose by a third after the fare cut.
Source E disagrees with Source A.Source E’s cost estimate is a real limit, but Source A’s survey shows demand strong enough to justify the cost.

Trap One paragraph per source is a summary in disguise

An essay that walks through Source A, then Source B, then Source C is organized by the sources, not by your reasons. Build each paragraph around one of your claims, and bring in whichever sources support it, two in one paragraph if they fit.

Three citations is the floor, not the goal. Three sources well used beat six sources mentioned.

Worked example Easy

A student is arguing that a fictional town should add bike lanes. Source B is a survey of local cyclists. Which sentence uses Source B as evidence for the student’s own claim?

  1. Source B is a survey of local cyclists that the town’s transportation office carried out in the spring of last year.
  2. Bike lanes would get more people riding, since most cyclists surveyed said they would ride more with protected lanes (Source B).Answer
  3. Source B says that most cyclists would ride more with protected lanes, while Source C talks mostly about the cost of building the lanes.
  4. Many people have strong opinions about bike lanes, and the sources in this set show that those opinions cover a wide range.

How to solve it

  1. Look for a sentence that states the student’s own claim.
  2. Then check that a source result is brought in to support it, with a citation.

Why each choice is right or wrong

  • A. Incorrect. This only describes what Source B is; it makes no claim of the student’s own and uses no result from the survey.
  • B. Correct. The sentence makes the student’s claim first (lanes would increase riding) and then uses the survey result, with a citation, to support it.
  • C. Incorrect. This reports what two sources say without making the student’s own claim, so it is summary, not use.
  • D. Incorrect. This sentence is vague: it cites no specific source, gives no result and takes no position.

Explain Explain it

Task verbs: explain, evaluate

To bring a source in, use a three-step pattern: your claim, the source’s specific detail with a citation, and a sentence of commentary that says how the detail proves the claim. When two sources pull in different directions, say which matters more for your position and why.

Worked example Medium

The following sources are original, written for Peakscor practice. The people quoted are fictional, and the data are illustrative.

Source A (a city forester): “A mature street tree shades the sidewalk and the parked cars beneath it. On a July afternoon, walking under a full canopy can feel like stepping into a different, cooler city.”

Source C (a homeowner’s letter): “The maple the city planted by my curb is lovely. It also lifted two slabs of my sidewalk, and the city told me the repair was my bill to pay.”

A student argues that the city should plant more street trees. Which sentence best puts Source A and Source C in conversation?

  1. Source A is a city forester who likes trees, and Source C is a homeowner who has a maple tree by the curb in front of the house.
  2. Sources A and C agree that street trees bring the city only benefits and should be planted on every block without exception.
  3. Source C proves that street trees do more harm than good and that the city should stop planting them altogether on any block in the city.
  4. Shade cools the city (Source A), but Source C shows homeowners pay for root damage, so a planting plan should fund sidewalk repairs.Answer

How to solve it

  1. Source A offers a benefit (shade, cooler sidewalks); Source C raises a cost (a lifted sidewalk the owner must fix).
  2. Conversation means relating them: grant the cost, weigh it against the benefit, and draw a conclusion.

Why each choice is right or wrong

  • A. Incorrect. This only identifies each writer; it does not relate the two sources or make a claim.
  • B. Incorrect. Source C describes a cost, lifted sidewalk slabs, so the two sources do not agree that trees bring only benefits.
  • C. Incorrect. Source C calls the maple “lovely” and describes one repair bill, so it does not prove trees do more harm than good, and this claim also opposes the student’s position.
  • D. Correct. The sentence joins the benefit in Source A with the cost in Source C and draws a conclusion from both: plant trees, but fund the repairs.

Evaluate Your turn

A student writing about whether a fictional town should build a skate park finds Source F, a table showing that in two nearby towns, police calls about skateboarding downtown fell in the year after each town opened a skate park. Explain how the student could use Source F to support building the park, and name one limit of what the table shows.

Write it, then compare. Nothing you type here is saved or graded.

Compare with a model answer

A full answer does this

  • Explains that the drop in police calls could support a claim that a park draws skating away from downtown or reduces conflicts there
  • Names one limit of what the table shows

Model answer

The student could argue that a skate park would give skaters a place to go, pulling them off downtown streets, and cite the drop in police calls in both towns after their parks opened (Source F). One limit is that the table shows only that calls fell afterward, not that the parks caused the drop; something else, such as a new downtown rule, could explain it.

Apply Apply it

Practice this topic. AP Practice questions on exactly what this lesson covers, with an explanation for every answer.