synthesis essay rubric pdf

Synthesis Essay Materials

The two synthesis essay questions below are examples of the question type that has been one of the three free-response questions on the AP English Language and Composition Exam as of the May 2007 exam. The synthesis question asks students to synthesize information from a variety of sources to inform their own discussion of a topic. Students are given a 15-minute reading period to accommodate the additional reading required for the question.

Below is a sample synthesis essay question, sample scoring guidelines, comments from the Chief Reader about the sample student essays, seven sample student responses, and scoring commentary for each sample.

Approximately 300 AP English Language and Composition students from eight schools in New York, Maine, Texas, Tennessee, Washington, Florida, and New Mexico wrote responses to this synthesis topic. Students from these schools were given a 15-minute reading period followed by a 40-minute writing period in which to complete the sample synthesis assignment.

AP English Language and Composition Synthesis Essay #1 (.pdf/84KB)
Sample Scoring Guidelines (.pdf/43KB)
Comments from the Chief Reader (.pdf/47KB)
Sample Student Responses (.pdf/3.65MB)
Scoring Commentary (.pdf/50KB)

An additional sample synthesis essay question is provided here.

AP English Language and Composition Synthesis Essay #2 (.pdf/338KB)

ESL004: Advanced English as a Second Language

Synthesis essay example and rubric.

In the next section, you will write a synthesis essay in which you will include your ideas on a topic. Here, you will find a sample synthesis essay that will guide you and the rubric that will point out the elements considered in assessing your essay. Carefully examine the information on this page prior to writing your essay.

This essay example discusses the topic: "Is The Future Paperless?". It synthesizes a variety of viewpoints into a coherent, well-written essay. Notice how the author includes his/her own point of view in paragraph 2? Use this example as a guide to writing a good synthesis essay of your own. Remind yourself that a synthesis is NOT a summary.

Is going paperless the future? For schools, the answer is likely no, or not for some time. Paper documentation is still critical in the school environment, especially in administration. Student records contain sensitive information, and if online, in a paperless system, these records can be vulnerable to hacking. And while the idea of a school's records being hacked might seem alarmist, recall the recent hack of the United States Office of Personnel Management's hack. Schools might contain similar identifying information and might therefore be tempting to hackers.

Besides hacking, paper documents continue to have an advantage in established workplaces like schools. There, workflows already incorporate paper documents, and online systems operate only with significant investment in retraining. Students, too, rely on paper. For me, it is easier to get the full picture of an assignment from reading text written on a piece of paper rather than looking at a screen. True that some schools have initiatives in getting iPads and laptops for their students, but these expensive technologies are not as customizable by teachers as paper handouts, so their use is limited. Also, most people would like to have a paper backup in case something happens to their digital device. Paper and document technology are crucial to the current school environment, both in administration and students' own lives. As a company, H.G. Bissinger Office Technology is especially attuned to the significance of paper for education. They recently promoted one of their customer service managers to a new task force on meeting the document technology needs for education. That manager, Lyla Garrity, had created a uniquely strong collaborative relationship with Permian College. Through their work together, she realized that educational document services are an area that specialists could greatly improve, compared to unspecialized, general service that most schools suffer through. H.G. Bissinger Office Technology leases 10 copiers to the Northwest Local School District, along with technical support and copier supplies, excluding paper. For a school, the large investment in a machine is shadowed by the uncertainty of how far from obsolescence a machine might be. Also, purchasing a copier outright will leave the school or business to handle service on its own. Additionally, in these financially limited times, the initial investment of a large sum can be difficult to justify or approve. For schools, uncertainty over future budgets often makes a lease a more flexible option. Most copier leases deal with equipment costs by including provisions in which the client must purchase the machine at the end of the lease. More recently, lease companies like H.G. Bissinger Office Technology are offering leases that are more like rentals. After the monthly fee is paid, the company will take the machine back.

Each of the five items below is worth from 2 to 8 points. To calculate your composite score for your rough draft, add together your scores for all five rubric items below. The maximum score for your final draft is 40 points.

1. Evidential Support

Excellent (8 points): I have clearly synthesized the content from the article, paraphrasing the ideas and connecting them to opinions to demonstrate comprehension. All of the main claims in my essay are supported by reasons based on accurate factual evidence derived from the article or a properly-formatted quotation, paraphrase, and/or summary of the assigned text.
Proficient (6 points): I have clearly synthesized the content from the article, paraphrasing the ideas and related topics to demonstrate comprehension; however, my essay does not clearly reflect my opinion on the topic. The majority of the main claims in my essay are backed up by specific factual evidence, although a small number of my claims may be unsubstantiated statements or broad generalizations. When quoting or paraphrasing the assigned reading, I may occasionally misrepresent it or take it out of context.
Adequate (4 points): I have synthesized the content from the article, paraphrasing the ideas and related topics to demonstrate comprehension, but my essay does not mention my point of view on the topic. At least half of the main claims in my essay are based on factual evidence or properly cited passages from the assigned reading. The other half of my claims may be unreasonable, lack quoted or factual support, may be based on misinformation or misreading, may consist of broad generalizations, or may distort and incorrectly format the assigned text.
Not Yet Adequate (2 points): I have synthesized some of the content from the article, but my paraphrasing demonstrates limited comprehension of the topic, and my opinion on the topic is not addressed. On balance, most of the claims in my essay are unsubstantiated or based on distortions (or misreadings) of the assigned text.
No Points Awarded (0 points): I have demonstrated minimal synthesis of the topic. My essay does not support its claims with evidence of any kind; my essay does not make claims in response to the prompt.

2. Persuasive Appeals

Excellent (8 points): My essay uses a variety of persuasive appeals (emotion, logic, and credibility) to support its claims.
Proficient (6 points): My essay uses some of the strategies effectively (as above) some of the time.
Adequate (4 points): My essay uses at least one persuasive appeal correctly, but may sometimes use them unfairly or unconvincingly.
Not Yet Adequate (2 points): If my essay uses persuasive appeals at all, it does so unfairly or unconvincingly.
No Points Awarded (0 points): My essay uses none of the standard persuasive appeals discussed in this course.

3. Rhetorical Strategies

Comparison and Contrast
Definition of Terms
Cause and Effect Analysis
Proficient (6 points): My essay uses some of the rhetorical strategies employed by an excellent essay (above); my essay usually uses these strategies with a clear purpose, but may sometimes (for example) define a term without putting it to use, or draw a contrast without showing what it signifies.
Adequate (4 points): My essay makes little use of the rhetorical strategies employed by an excellent essay, and may often do so without clear purpose and without using these techniques to persuade my reader; my essay may sometimes use these techniques incorrectly (for example, by providing inaccurate definitions of terms, or by confusing cause and effect).
Not Yet Adequate (2 points): My essay incorporates few or no rhetorical appeals, and when it does, it does not use them correctly or persuasively.
No Score Awarded (0 points): My essay does not use any of the rhetorical appeals used by an excellent essay (listed above).
Excellent (8 points): The grammar errors on the list below, singly or in combination, occur no more than once per 250 words; no persistent patterns of grammar errors are present in the paper; errors do not distract the reader.
Proficient (6 points): The errors on the list below, singly or in combination, occur no more than two times per 250 words; single errors from the list below may begin to recur and form a pattern of error; grammar errors are occasionally distracting to the reader.
Close to Proficient (4 points): The errors on the list below, singly or in combination, occur on average three times per 250 words; single errors from the list below may recur and form a distinct pattern of error; errors of haste or lack of proofreading are present; grammar errors are persistently distracting to the reader.
Not Yet Adequate (2 points): Grammar errors are numerous and impede the reader's comprehension of my essay; my essay reflects a lack of proofreading.

Common Grammatical Errors:

Each error type you have studied is shown next to an example of the error.

Subject/verb disagreement	Rock and roll are here to stay.
Verb tense shift	When I got home, the dog is on the couch.
Sentence fragments	Just words sitting there.
Comma splices	I came home, I went to bed.
Fused sentences	I came home I went to bed.
Misplaced modifiers	Lying by the side of the road, I found a pile of money.
Pronoun-antecedent disagreement	When one is tired, he should go to sleep.

Inappropriate Punctuation
Faulty Parallel Structure
Excessive or Inappropriate Use of the Passive Voice
Use of weak "to be" verbs rather than strong, active verbs
Failure to maintain a formal, rational, objective, unbiased, and academic tone that is directed at an educated audience
Proficient (6 points): My essay reads clearly, but may occasionally exhibit one or two of the stylistic errors avoided by an excellent essay (above).
Adequate (4 points): Not always, but distractingly often, my essay does not read smoothly because it repeats singly or in combination with the stylistic errors listed above.
Not Yet Adequate (2 points): My essay exhibits the stylistic errors above so frequently that it is very difficult to read.

Use this checklist to review each of your sentences for errors:

Read each sentence out loud. Do they sound correct? Is anything missing? You can add to your sentences if you want to explain more about your topic.
Spelling – Is every word spelled correctly?
Correct words – Did you use the right word? Many words in English look similar but have different meanings (for example, like and lick). Check each word to make sure it's the right one.
Timeline order – Are your events in the correct order? Make sure your sentences don't jump around.
Past tense – Are the verbs in each sentence conjugated in past tense? Go back and review verb endings if you're not sure.
Describing words – Do each of your sentences include at least one adjective or one adverb?
Capitalization – The first word in every sentence should be capitalized. After the first word, only proper nouns (like people's names) should be capitalized. Everything else should be lower case.
Punctuation – Does each sentence end with a period? Questions may end with a question mark (?), and exclamations may end with an exclamation mark (!), but most of your sentences should end with a period (.).

The Practical English Teacher

Free Resources for Secondary English Teachers

May 29, 2023

Free AP Synthesis Essay Materials

Updated: May 30, 2023

This blog has materials that I used to teach the AP Lang & Comp synthesis essay. I always thought the synthesis essay would be the easiest essay for my kids to write (since the examples they needed to support their arguments were embedded in given texts), but this was never the case. The synthesis essay was hard for them in a few different ways. First, they had to learn how to read and annotate all of the documents purposefully. Then they need to learn how to choose the best and most concise pieces of evidence and then they needed to tie that information into an argument and develop it with their own commentary. Lastly, a lot of kids always wanted to include the visual (whichever one was included that year) into their argument, but they almost never did a good job analyzing the piece. There are some visual analysis materials at the bottom that I used to help with the visual analysis problems. Please enjoy these free AP synthesis essay materials. I hope some of this stuff is helpful to you!

Synthesis Essays Materials

How to Write an Synthesis Essay for the AP Lang & Comp Exam

Introduction to the Synthesis Essay PowerPoint

How to Write Strong Body Paragraphs for Your Synthesis Essay PowerPoint

Synthesis Essay Body Paragraph Checklist

Tiger Mom Synthesis Essay

Tiger Mom Cartoons-Visual Analysis Practice

Tiger Mom Synthesis Essay Body Paragraph Rubric

Argumentative Research Paper

Preliminary Research Assignment Sheet

Argument Proposal Sheet

How to Annotate Your Research Paper Sources

How to Annotate Your Sources for the Synthesis Essay

Rogerian Method of Argumentation Outline

Synthesis Essay Feedback (Things kids generally do wrong with the synthesis essay.)

Footnotes PowerPoint

Footnotes Notes Page

Footnotes & Citations Quiz

Whenever I had kids do a practice synthesis essay, they would always want to write about the source with the visual even though their visual analysis sucked. To remedy this, I started doing explicit lessons about visuals and how to analyze them. I have found these materials to be helpful in my IB Lang & Lit class, as well.

Visual Analysis Diagnostic

Introduction to Visual Analysis

Intro to Visual Analysis Note-Taking Guide

Visual Analysis Choices

Rewrite Directions

If you have any AP Lang & Comp synthesis essay materials that you'd like to share below, please feel free.

AP Language & Composition
Rhetorical Analysis