What is the relationship of the individual to the community?
How can an individual maintain integrity and pursue
personal dreams while contributing to the overall society?
For your culminating assignment on
craft a synthesis
community, you will be working in your already-established groups of 3-4 to
question about community.
What, you might ask, is a synthesis question?
In most college courses that require substantial writing, you will be called upon to write researched arguments
in which you take a stand on a topic or an issue and then enter into a conversation with what has already been
written. You advocate a position about an issue, using other people’s ideas about that issue to advance your
own. The synthesis question on the AP Lang exam asks you to do just that, in a controlled, timed setting.
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A successful synthesis depends on your ability to infer relationships and patterns among sources essays, articles, fiction, and also sources such as lectures, interviews, observations.
Your ability to infer relationships depends on a clear understanding of what those sources are actually
saying, and how they are saying it.
And after you understand what they are saying, you must make a judgment about each of them, and
determine whether or not you agree.
Finally, you figure out how you can use those ideas, and their relationships, to advance your opinion.
Here is a sample of the synthesis question from 2010:
Question 1
Directions: The following prompt is based on the accompanying six sources.
This question requires you to synthesize a variety of sources into a coherent, well-written essay. When you
synthesize sources, you refer to them to develop your position and cite them accurately. Your argument should be
central; the sources should support your argument. Avoid merely summarizing the sources.
Remember to attribute both direct and indirect references.
Introduction Much attention has been given lately to the ubiquitous presence of information technologies. Our daily lives
seem to be saturated with television, computers, cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and MP3 players, to name
just a few of the most common technologies.
Many people extol the ability of such technologies to provide easy access to information and facilitate research and
learning. At the same time, however, some critics worry that the widespread use of information technologies forces
our lives to move too quickly. We encounter images and information from the Internet and other sources faster than
we can process or evaluate them, and even though electronic communication has been enhanced, both the quality
and quantity of face-to-face interaction is changing.
Assignment Read the following sources (including the introductory information) carefully. Then, in an essay that synthesizes
at least three of the sources for support, evaluate the most important factors that a school should consider
before using particular technologies in curriculum and instruction.
You may refer to the sources by their titles (Source A, Source B, etc.) or by the descriptions in parentheses.
Source A (Rotstein)
Source B (Delaney)
Source C (Dyson)
Source D (Johnson)
Source E (Gelernter)
Source F (cartoon)
To successfully tackle the synthesis prompt on the AP exam, it is beneficial first to craft one of your own.
So, for this synthesis assignment, you will work in your group to craft a mock synthesis prompt about
community.
You must include the following four sections:
1. General directions:
The following question is based on the accompanying eight sources. This question requires you to
synthesize a variety of sources into a coherent, well-written essay. When you synthesize sources you refer
to them to develop your position and cite them accurately. Your argument should be central; the sources
should support this argument. Avoid merely summarizing sources. Remember to attribute both direct and
indirect citations.
****This will be the same for all groups.
2. A neutrally-worded introduction to the topic, such as:
Invasive species are nonnative plants and animals that thrive outside of their natural range and may harm or
endanger native plants and animals. As producers and consumers in our global society, we affect and are affected
by species introduced accidentally or intentionally to a region. Currently, some people argue for stricter
regulations of imported species to avoid the possibility of unintended negative consequences. Others, however,
claim that the economies and basic resources of poorer nations could be improved by selective importation of
nonnative species.
****This will be different for each group.
3. The assignment, which focuses the argument students will be asked to articulate, such as:
Read the following sources (including any introductory information) carefully. Then write an essay in which
you evaluate what a business or government agency would need to consider before transferring a nonindigenous species to another country. Synthesize at least three of the sources for support.
Refer to the sources by their titles (Source A, Source B, etc.) or by the descriptions in the parentheses.
****This will be different for each group.
4. The seven sources that will be used to answer the prompt. Sources will include:
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Three excerpts from the essays in the Community chapter of our textbook. These excerpts should be
between 300 and 500 words in length.
Two self-selected excerpts from other essays of merit you find about community. (These shall come from
scholarly journals or reputable sources.)
One image (photo, painting, advertisement, cartoon, etc)
One graphic (chart, graph, map, etc)
As you choose your sources, be careful to cover all sides of the issue. You must include articles that provide
background, arguments in support of your topic, arguments opposed to your topic, arguments that balance the
pros and cons, or articles that analyze the significance of your topic to society. The articles may be factual or
opinion-based.
****These will be different for each group.
The readings in the textbook ask you to consider the “double-edged sword” that makes up the
relationship between the individual and society; this double-edged sword should be the basis for
your thinking about and approach to this assignment. As your starting point, consider the following
quote from President Obama’s 2004 speech at the Democratic National Convention:
For alongside our famous individualism, there's another ingredient in the American saga, a belief that
we are all connected as one people.
If there's a child on the south side of Chicago who can't read, that matters to me, even if it's not my
child.
If there's a senior citizen somewhere who can't pay for their prescription drugs, and has to choose
between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it's not my grandparent.
If there's an Arab-American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that
threatens my civil liberties.
It is that fundamental belief -- it is that fundamental belief -- I am my brother's keeper, I am my sisters'
keeper -- that makes this country work.
It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American
family: "E pluribus unum," out of many, one.
Introduction
Television has been influential in United States presidential elections since the 1960’s. But just what is this influence, and
how has it affected who is elected? Has it made elections fairer and more accessible, or has it moved candidates from
pursuing issues to pursuing image?
Assignment
Read the following sources (including any introductory information) carefully. Then, in an essay that synthesizes at least
three of the sources for support, take a position that defends, challenges, or qualifies the claim that television has had
a positive impact on presidential elections.