Tips for Writing an AP Synthesis Essay
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Constructing your argument
1. Before you begin to write, make a list of all the arguments you can to
support your view. Remember: “Fools rush in….” The weaker essays usually
suffer from a problem with thinking, not writing.
2. Do not merely adopt the arguments you see in the sources. Consider
yourself as a writer who participates in a conversation with the sources. Your
case should indicate critical thinking on your part--going beyond what the
sources have said. Your own observations are important to you.
3. Do not mindlessly or carelessly blend a quotation from one of the
sources into your argument. Select carefully, remain faithful to the intent of
the speaker, and follow up with your own commentary. In other words, don’t
parrot the material you cite or quote. Rather, intelligently respond to it.
You might comment on its relevance or merit.
Incorporating and citing materials from your sources
Identify the speaker’s name and credentials in your sentence. After all,
who said something and what his or her motives may be is important information.
Do not “rip off” a point and drop it into your argument without additional
comment.
Rules for incorporating numbers
a. Write out numbers one through nine, use numerals for 10 and above.
b. Write out a number if it is the first word in a sentence.
c. Do not use the % sign. Use the word percent.
Examples
Faulty
Taken in moderation and with proper exercise, soft drinks have little to no
effect on youth. A body with a normal metabolism burns the equivalent of 140
calories from a serving of soda while sleeping. Therefore, it is unfair to
single out soda in explaining “the rise in obesity [that] result [s from] many
complex affecting eating and activity behaviors,” which include video-game
obsessed lifestyles (Source C).
Better
Therefore, it is unfair to blame the increase in childhood obesity on soft
drink consumption. As Kristen Powers of the Grocery Manufactures of America
points out, “The rise in obesity is the result of many complex factors
affecting eating and activity behaviors, and there are no simple solutions”
(Source C). Those who target soft drink consumption may divert attention from
the myriad of causes to a convenient scapegoat. The truth is, American culture
has changed dramatically in the past two decades. Children spend more time
commuting, they eat restaurant food several times a week, and they rarely get
together for unstructured neighborhood play. Clearly, the time children spend
playing video games is part of the problem.
Distortion of the Source Material
Even the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics concedes that
obesity is hardly the result of soft drink consumption: “only one in one
hundred children eat a balanced diet…[and] all children take in fats and sugars
far in excess of recommendations” (Source B). Soft drinks only make up a very
small part of this excess sugar and fat. Everything from sugary cereals to ice
cream with dinner contributes to obesity.
Better
Though sugar is a contributor to childhood obesity, so is fat. The Ohio
Chapter of the American Association of Pediatrics reports that children consume
both sugar and fat “far in excess of recommendations” (Source C). Perhaps
adapted from V. Stevenson/M. Lee, Patrick Henry H.S./Woodward Academy
ps for tls\2/12/2016
Tips for Writing an AP Synthesis Essay
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those concerned about what children eat should turn their attention to what
school cafeterias pile on the students’ plates rather than what schools make
available in vending machines. Two slices of pizza with French fries on the
side comprise the typical school lunch.
Faulty
A more fundamental point which I feel cannot be expressed enough is that
schools exist to educate our children, and a partnership with a large
corporations seems destined only to detract from that goal of learning. Just
as it makes perfect sense for companies to influence elementary school students
because of that crucial time when “children are still establishing their tastes
and habits,” it makes perfect sense for those concerned about education to keep
them out because the aforementioned crucial habits include studying, reading,
and paying attention to the teacher over the soda machine (Source F).
Better
Schools exist to educate out children, and partnerships with large corporations
seem destined to detract from learning. The fact that elementary school
students are easily molded is not lost on the soft drink companies. As a writer
for Beverage Industry noted, “Influencing elementary school students is very
important to the soft drink marketers because children are still establishing
their tastes and habits” (Source F). Just as it makes “perfect sense” for
companies to influence elementary school students because they are at a crucial
time in their development, it makes perfect sense for those concerned about
education to keep soft drink advertising and consumption out. Elementary school
should shape behaviors that contribute to a healthy, happy life. Students
should be studying, reading and paying attention to the teacher--not the soda
machine.
What needs to be changed here?
Childhood obesity is not the result of soda companies having contracts in
schools. Opponents of this practice use obesity as an excuse. Like most
excuses, it simply masks the whole truth. It is true that many children are
obese because they “take in fats and sugars…far in excess of recommendations,”
(Source B) but they do so of their own free will. Some may claim that having
advertisements in schools leads children to feel pressured to consume a certain
beverage; it does not lead children to feel pressured to drink that beverage in
such excess that would lead to obesity. Only by addressing the underlying
causes will obesity be eliminated. Also, when states pass such bills, “they
restrict the authority of local schools and school districts” to decide which
beverage they wish to make available to their students (Source C).
adapted from V. Stevenson/M. Lee, Patrick Henry H.S./Woodward Academy
ps for tls\2/12/2016