Prescription for Pushing Up Your Score on the Synthesis Question

Prescription for Pushing Up Your Score on the Synthesis Question

2014 Student Performance Q & A

Intent of the Question

"To elicit students' performance of several skills in combination: critical reading of the six sources, synthesis of information and perspectives drawn from three or more of the sources, construction and articulation of a source-informed argument evaluating the worth of college, and accurate citation of the sources."

Synthesis: Rhetorical Analysis: Argument:

Student Performance 4.65 out of 9 possible points 3.76 out of 9 possible points 4.59 out of 9 possible points

Common Student Errors or Omissions

"failure to synthesize the sources" "long-winded source tour[s]. . . often lengthened by extensive quotations and

paraphrase" "source reports rather than source-based arguments" (in which students tended to "offer

[a] summary [of each source] as a separate piece of evidence

Advice to AP Teachers

"Students should practice reading rhetorically ? asking what intentions motivate the writer or speaker to produce the text, and reflectively ? asking how they themselves respond to the text and why they respond as they do."

"They need to read synthetically, seeking connections and disconnections across a growing number and variety of sources."

Beth Priem: Prescription for Pushing Up Your Score on the Synthesis Question (01/2015) Page 1

Prescription Do's and Don'ts

1. Follow the guidelines for Prompt Deconstruction in order to avoid misunderstanding or oversimplifying the prompt.

Prompt Deconstruction (a) Box the issue. (b) Underline the exigence. (Why has this issue arisen at this time?) (c) Bracket your task beginning with a "command" verb. (d) Circle key terms which must be understood or defined in order to respond

appropriately.

2. Because you are striving to write a position-driven (rather than source-driven) response, think about the issue before looking at the sources.

Kelly Gallagher, author of Teaching Adolescent Writers, advises his students to consider the "stakeholders" with regard to an issue when building an argument. He cites the example of a local debate over building a new airport in Orange County, California where he lives and teaches. He asked students to "consider the issue from various points of view (e.g., a land developer, a homeowner, or the mayor)."

Stakeholder (Who cares?)

Investment or Stake (Why?)

A homeowner On the one hand, potential for increased noise, traffic, pollution, taxes ? on the other hand, convenience, economic opportunities for members of the community

Beth Priem: Prescription for Pushing Up Your Score on the Synthesis Question (01/2015) Page 2

 Students may find it helpful to identify stakeholders and to examine implications of an issue by using this acronym developed by AP English teacher and College Board Consultant Eva Arce:

$SEEITT

$

reminds students to consider economic issues such as costs, jobs, and

other financial issues

S

represents SAFETY (health and medical issues)

E

stands for ETHICS (values, morals, beliefs)

E

symbolizes the ENVIRONMENT (natural, political, or social)

I

equals INTERNATIONAL IMPACT

T

stands for TECHNOLOGICAL ISSUES

T

represents TIME

(with permission of Eva Arce, Bowie High School, Austin, Tx.)

3. Formulate a preliminary thesis before looking at the sources. Think of yourself as a policy maker, proposing an initial recommendation to a panel for discussion. See "Policy Vocabulary."

4. Read the sources with pen or pencil in hand. What is the source saying? What perspective does it bring to the conversation?

Underline and make marginal notes on how you might use the sources given the preliminary position you have taken: o in support of your position o as a concession to another point of view

Beth Priem: Prescription for Pushing Up Your Score on the Synthesis Question (01/2015) Page 3

o in anticipation and refutation of counterargument Relate each source to at least one other source in order to create a "conversation." Ask

yourself with what other source would Source A agree? Disagree?

5. Revise your preliminary thesis taking into consideration the perspectives you've heard from the sources. See "Policy Vocabulary."

6. Compose an upper-half introduction.

Establish context. Why has the issue arisen at this time? What are some of the important issues in the ongoing conversation or debate? To whom is this issue important (stakeholders)?

Consider the advice of University of Illinois at Chicago professors Gerald Graff and Cathy Berkenstein to "map some of the voices" in the controversy.

State your position clearly.

7. Choose sources in service of the claims you will make.

8. Develop body paragraphs. Each body paragraph should include the following: A topic sentence asserting a claim in support of your position. Beware: Paragraphs that begin (or

end) with a source rather than an original assertion often result in source-driven essays. The student writer and the sources in conversation with each other as if they were sitting around a

conference table. Correctly attributed evidence from the sources to bolster your assertion accompanied by

explanation of how the evidence does that (evidence and explanation sandwiches).

Beth Priem: Prescription for Pushing Up Your Score on the Synthesis Question (01/2015) Page 4

TOP SLICE > FILLING > BOTTOM SLICE > Conclusion

introduction of evidence from the source evidence explanation

Attributing Direct and Indirect Citations from the Sources( examples from the 2008 "Penny" Question) (1) Embedded reference to the source or author within the text of your essay DIRECT CITATION ? AUTHOR'S ACTUAL WORDS ARE QUOTED: According to William Safire, the penny is "outdated" and "wasteful" because "it takes nearly a dime today to buy what a penny bought back in 1950." INDIRECT CITATION ? PARAPHRASE: According to William Safire, pennies are worthless today due to inflation.

(2) Parenthetical attribution at the end, using a "source" citation or bibliographic information DIRECT CITATION ? AUTHOR'S ACTUAL WORDS ARE QUOTED: Arizona Congressman Jim Kolbe's "proposed Legal Tender Modernization Act" would "discourage" the use of pennies by "establishing a system under which cash transactions would be rounded up or down." Tennessee representatives have countered with "a resolution" to celebrate the "20th anniversary" of the "zinc-based penny" (Source A). INDIRECT CITATION ? PARAPHRASE: Arizona Congressman Jim Kolbe advocates phasing out the current penny which is composed almost exclusively of zinc while Tennessee representatives assert that its long history should be celebrated (Source A). EITHER OF THE ABOVE WITH BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Arizona Congressman Jim Kolbe advocates phasing out the current penny which is composed almost exclusively of zinc while Tennessee representatives assert that its long history should be celebrated (Lewis). Avoid "Source A says . . ." Your goal is to capture the nature and force of the argument.

Beth Priem: Prescription for Pushing Up Your Score on the Synthesis Question (01/2015) Page 5

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