By Jessica B.—PhD English teacher.
So, you’ve taken the AP Language and Composition course (we’ll call it AP Lang), or maybe you’ve been studying on your own, and now the AP exam is looming.
You might be reading this blog because you just want some extra tips for how to prepare for all the reading and writing you’ll do (and yes, there will be a TON of reading and writing). Or maybe you have no idea what to expect and this is your first foray into the world of AP exams.
Either way, we’ve got you! And you’ve got this!
Below, we’ll dive deep into what you need to know to build a strong synthesis essay for your AP Lang exam.
Here we go.
What is the Synthesis essay?
The AP Lang exam requires you to write three essays—the argumentative essay, the rhetorical analysis essay, and the synthesis essay. These essays comprise 55% of your total score on the exam.
Argument essay
The argument essay asks you to craft a claim about a given topic that you must support with evidence. (For a full guide to the argument essay, head here.)
Rhetorical analysis essay
The rhetorical analysis essay is a different animal altogether. In this essay, you’ll be asked to analyze someone else’s argument by reading a non-fiction text, considering the strategies the writer uses, and then arguing about the effectiveness of those strategies. (For a full guide to the rhetorical analysis essay, head here.)
Synthesis essay
The synthesis essay also requires (you guessed it) a lot of reading, and also asks you craft an argument, but with this essay you’ll read six texts that are all relevant to a given topic and then you must write an argument in which you synthesize (or bring together) at least three of the six texts to help you formulate and support your thesis.
The idea is that you’ll pull together the ideas and perspectives you read in the provided sources and then use those sources to help you formulate your own perspective about the topic.
What does it mean to create a synthesis?
Good question! When we talk about “synthesizing,” all we really mean is combining parts of something into a whole. This could be mixing pasta, sauce, and cheese to make lasagna; or a musician might combine samples from different songs to create a new song; or an AP Lang student could read two articles and an excerpt of an essay, view three charts, and then write a new argument based on the combination of the information from these sources (see what we did there?).
When you’re writing a synthesis essay, the goal is not to summarize the three sources you choose.
You’re still making a claim and then supporting it, but you’re doing so by analyzing others’ arguments about the topic or by interpreting data (this might be in the form or graphs or charts, for example) and then pulling those threads together to form your own argument.
How is the AP Lang Synthesis essay scored?
AP Lang exam readers use a rubric as they read and assess student essays (in case: a rubric is just a chart that lists the criteria for the essay and then explains what constitutes strong work in a certain area and which areas need improvement).
The AP LANG rubric focuses on three key areas:
the thesis
the evidence and commentary,
and the overall sophistication of the writing/argument.
Each category is assigned a point value and all three categories equal a total of six points. Let’s dig a little deeper into the specific rubric for the synthesis essay.
Thesis
Your thesis counts for one point and is graded on a few things:
Does it relate to the prompt?
Does it make a claim instead of summarizing the prompt?
Is it actually “defensible?” (This is the term the College Board uses to describe whether or not you can support your thesis. Is it something that can actually be argued about?)
Does it take a position about the topic instead of simply paraphrasing the prompt or the source material?
Evidence and Commentary
This is the big one when it comes to points as it counts for 4 out of the 6 total points for the essay.
Essay readers will look at the support you’ve provided for your argument (the evidence) and your analysis of that support (the commentary). They’ll consider whether or not your evidence is relevant, specific, and supportive of all parts of your thesis.
Synthesis essays that receive strong marks in this area have a few things in common:
They incorporate at least three of the six provided sources
They display a clear understanding of the source material and use that material effectively
They create a “line of reasoning” instead of trying to make multiple arguments
And they support all parts of the thesis.
Sophistication
How does one judge the sophistication of an argument? It might seem purely subjective (and it is, to some degree), but the rubric offers some pretty clear criteria for this component of the essay.
Essay readers want to see that students have a thorough and nuanced understanding of the ideas raised in the sources and that they can make sense of both the ways in which sources complement each other AND the ways in which they challenge each other.
A sophisticated synthesis essay, according to the College Board, illustrates the writer’s ability to see both the impact of an argument and the ways in which it could be expanded.
And finally, writers of sophisticated synthesis essays contextualize their argument by situating it within the range of other arguments about the topic.
Example Synthesis Prompt
Still a little unclear about what a synthesis essay is? If so, no worries—in some ways, this type of essay is the hardest to explain because it’s really a combination (a synthesis, if you will) of all three types of required AP Lang essays, so looking at a prompt together will likely be helpful.
Here’s a synthesis prompt from the 2025 exam:
Mapping software and Global Positioning System (GPS) devices are used regularly by travelers and commuters. Since these devices and apps are updated in real time with user-supplied information, they have become associated with a number of problems. While commuters attempt to avoid traffic on highways, they often create traffic on smaller, local roads that are less able to handle this new burden. Users also lose a sense of their geographical surroundings as they rely more on mapping software or GPS devices for navigation. Carefully read the following six sources, including the introductory information for each source. Write an essay that synthesizes material from at least three of the sources and develops your position on the value, if any, of mapping software and devices.
Source A (Foderaro article)
Source B (National Research Council book)
Source C (graph from He)
Source D (Grabar article)
Source E (chart from BuildFire)
Source F (Paulas article)
In your response you should do the following:
• Respond to the prompt with a thesis that presents a defensible position.
• Select and use evidence from at least three of the provided sources to support your line
of reasoning. Indicate clearly the sources used through direct quotation, paraphrase, or
summary. Sources may be cited as Source A, Source B, etc., or by using the description in
parentheses.
• Explain how the evidence supports your line of reasoning.
• Use appropriate grammar and punctuation in communicating your argument
(The exam then provides the six sources for you to read before starting to craft your own argument).
How to write your synthesis essay
There are a lot of components to this prompt, but let’s start with some general guidelines about how you might approach writing synthesis essays and then we can get into the nitty gritty of responding to the specific example prompt above.
Please remember that these are only suggestions! You can take the bits that work for you and leave the ones that don’t. And if you already have a process that you’re comfortable with, by all means stick with it!
Timing
You’ll get a total of 2 hours and 15 minutes to write all three essays (with a 15-minute reading period included in that time). So, you’re really looking at 2 hours for three essays, which means you should spend roughly 40 minutes on each essay.
We recommend you spend the bulk of those 40 minutes doing the actual writing, so here’s a potential plan for you to follow:
*5 minutes to pre-write (outlining, brainstorming, planning)
*30 minutes to write the essay
*5 minutes to revise (go back and look for clarity, make sure your thesis is relevant and persuasive, check for sufficient textual evidence)
We totally get the temptation to use the full 40 minutes to just write the essay, but since you won’t have much time to go back and revise, a little planning on the front end can save you the trouble of having to organize as you go.
Understanding the prompt
Before you get to any reading or writing, make sure you have a clear understanding of the issue the prompt foregrounds.
The final sentence or two of the actual prompt often lets you know what question you should be considering or what issue you should formulate an argument about, so really pay attention to those directions!
Analyzing your sources
Remember that one of the required elements of this essay is your inclusion of at least three of the six sources, and in order to do that, you need to really read and understand the arguments being made and the information being provided.
We get that 15 minutes isn’t a lot of reading time, but it does allow you to do more than skim the articles.
As you’re reading or interpreting, do so with a critical eye. Once you understand the gist of the article, graph, or chart, consider how credible the argument is.
Does the evidence seem sound?
Does the writer consider all possible sides of the issue?
Is the data clearly skewed or does it account for important variables?
Can you actually figure out what position the writer takes?
A consideration of these elements can help you decide which sources to include in your essay.
Responding to the example synthesis prompt
In addition to allocating your given time and making sure you understand the topic and the provided sources, the example AP Lang synthesis question above about the value of mapping software and GPS devices suggests some more specific approaches to writing a synthesis essay that responds effectively:
What “sides” of this issue do the sources offer?
Are they clearly in favor of or against this software, or do they find some sort of middle ground?
Are there commonalities amongst the sources that merit your consideration?
On the flip side, what is significant about the differences?
What factors do the sources consider when pleading their case about whether or not navigation software is helpful?
What other sources do your sources rely on for their information?
What is your view based on? Do you rely on navigation software yourself? Has it ever let you down? Do any of the sources resonate with your own experience?
Example AP Lang synthesis essays with official scoring
One of the clearest ways to understand the approaches and scoring we’ve covered in this guide is to look at some sample essays, examine how they build their arguments, and understand how and why they are scored the way they are.
And rather than just taking our word for it, you can spend time examining 3 sample essays in response to an AP Lang synthesis prompt and their scores.
Here are 3 example AP Lang argument essays with score explanations from the College Board (from 2024).
Final Takeaway
The cool thing about writing a synthesis essay is you don’t have to go it alone. The exam provides you with all of the material you need to craft an educated argument about the topic. Through the sources, you’ll learn the multiple perspectives about the issue first and THEN you get to offer your own!
Jessica B. has a Ph.D in English from the University of Southern California and teaches English at a Los Angeles-area independent school, where she has also been English department chair and a class dean. Sandra Cisneros is her hero, and she loves books, her awesomely-sarcastic family, the beach, cozy sweaters, and more books. Oh, and her sweet pitbull/lab mix named Ruby.
Top values: Curiosity, equity, wonder
