Wondering how to cite sources in a synthesis essay? Well, you’ve come to the right place.
When writing a synthesis essay for AP® Lang, you must cite at least 3 of the provided sources. (There are typically 6-8 provided sources that come with each prompt.)
I typically recommend that students cite at least 4 sources just in case they forget a citation.
This actually happened to one of my tutoring students recently. He included 4 sources but only cited 3 of them. Even though he accidentally forgot a citation, he was still eligible for a higher score on the rubric because he met the minimum citation requirement.
Avoid Writing According to Source A
While it’s not “wrong” to introduce evidence this way, this method comes across as rather simplistic.
Try This Instead
Embed a short quote into a sentence of your own, including a parenthetical citation at the end.
Refer to the credentials provided in the original source. If the source references a person, the writer typically includes the person’s credentials. You can use that info too. Also, double check the box above at the top of the source and the italicized sentence to see where the source came from. You can use this information to lead into your quote rather than saying “According to Source A.”
In Text Citations Defintion
A synthesis essay is like a mini research paper. Therefore, you should include in-text citations, also called parenthetical citations, like you would in an MLA or APA paper.
In-text citations come at the end of the sentence. For a synthesis essay, put the name of the source in parenthesis and put the period outside the second parenthesis.
Do not put the period inside the quotation marks.
The sentence is not over until after you have included your citation, so the period goes after the parenthesis.
Visual Texts
Each synthesis prompt includes a visual text. Some synthesis prompts contain two visual texts.
A visual text is a source that is not a passage. This can include photos, cartoons, graphs, and charts.
For cartoons, you may be able to include the dialogue as a direct quote. Dialogue can often be embedded into a sentence rather easily. Don’t mention the cartoon. Just embed the quote into a sentence of your own. (In the picture above that cites Source G, the quote is actually from a cartoon.)
For graphs and charts, if you can determine concrete numerical data, you can include those numbers into a sentence of your own.
For more information about how to analyze a visual text, check out this video.
Regardless of the type of visual text, ask yourself “what conclusions can I draw from this source?”
Right down 2-3 observations or conclusions on your paper. Bullet points are fine.
These bullet points can often be turned into a paraphrase.
Paraphrased evidence is perfectly fine on the AP® Lang exam. For a synthesis essay, though, you still need to include a citation.
Here’s an example:
