AP® English Language and Composition review sheet from Aim for Five (aimforfive.com/lang/units/3/3-2)
Unit 3 · Topic 3.2
3.2 Bringing sources into your argument and citing them
When you use sources, introduce each one with commentary that places it in your line of reasoning, put sources in conversation with each other, and always credit them. Your argument leads; the sources support it, complicate it or push back against it.
Key terms
- source
- citation
- synthesis
- quotation
- paraphrase
- plagiarism
Introduce sources, don't drop them
A source that appears without introduction leaves readers asking who said it and why it's there. Bring each source in with a phrase that tells the reader whose idea it is and how it relates to your claim, such as "A city librarian who saw fines drive families away argues that..." or "Source D's survey complicates this." Then follow it with commentary.
Synthesis: putting sources in conversation
Synthesis means weighing other people's arguments, explaining them and working them into an argument of your own. It is not a tour of the sources one at a time. The strongest synthesis paragraphs show how sources relate to each other: where they agree, where they disagree, and where one fills a gap in another.
Think of yourself as the host of a discussion. You decide the topic of each paragraph, then call on the sources whose ideas help you make that paragraph's point.
- "Source A and Source D approach the issue from different angles but reach the same conclusion: ..."
- "While Source B focuses on cost, it ignores who pays, a gap Source E addresses directly."
- "Source C's data seems to cut against this claim, but a closer look shows ..."
Giving credit
Any time you use someone else's words, ideas, images, data or other work, you credit them through attribution (naming them), a citation or a reference. That applies to paraphrases and summaries too, not just quotations. Using someone's ideas without credit is plagiarism, even if you changed the wording.
On the synthesis essay, a parenthetical label such as (Source A) or the author's name is enough. Put exact words in quotation marks, and cite the source of a chart or table just like a written source.
Crediting sources also helps your argument. Naming who said something lets you use their authority ("a city librarian," "a federal report") and shows readers you're dealing honestly with the evidence.
Keeping your own voice in charge
A common trap is letting the sources write the essay. If each paragraph begins with "Source B says," the sources are leading. Begin with your own claim, then bring in sources as support. Readers should be able to read your topic sentences alone and follow your argument.
Worked examples
Try each one yourself first, then open the solution.
- Example 1
A synthesis paragraph from practice sources
Practice sources (all written for this page; they are not real publications). Source A: a city budget summary showing that overdue fines brought in about 1 percent of the library's yearly budget. Source B: an opinion piece by a librarian who writes that "the families who owe us a few dollars are the families who stop coming back." Source C: a report noting that after one town ended fines, more borrowed books were returned on time, though a few branches saw longer waits for popular titles. Write one body paragraph supporting this thesis: "Libraries should end overdue fines."
Show the solutionHide the solution
- Step 1: Write a topic sentence that states your own claim, not a source's.
- Step 2: Bring in Source A to show that fines barely help the budget, and cite it.
- Step 3: Pair Source B with Source A: the cost of fines falls on families, while the gain is small. This is where the sources start talking to each other.
- Step 4: Use Source C to answer the worry that people will stop returning books, and acknowledge its limit honestly.
- Step 5: End with commentary that connects the paragraph back to the thesis.
Answer: Model paragraph: Overdue fines cost libraries far more in trust than they earn in money. Fines make up only about 1 percent of the library's budget (Source A), so dropping them would barely dent its finances. Yet that small sum comes at a steep price: as one librarian observes, "the families who owe us a few dollars are the families who stop coming back" (Source B). Together, these sources suggest that fines collect pocket change while pushing away the readers a public library exists to serve. The usual worry, that without fines no one will return books, isn't borne out in at least one test case: one town found that more books came back on time after it ended fines, even if a few branches saw longer waits for popular titles (Source C). That trade-off, a slightly longer hold list in exchange for families who keep coming through the door, is one a public library should take.
Common mistakes
- Summarizing sources one per paragraph instead of combining them around your own claims.
- Forgetting to cite paraphrases and summaries; only citing direct quotations.
- Starting every paragraph with "Source X says," which lets the sources run your argument.
- Quoting a source correctly but using it to prove something it doesn't actually say.
On the exam
- On Question 1, top Row B scores require specific evidence from at least three of the provided sources, with commentary that explains how each supports your line of reasoning.
- Writing questions may ask how best to introduce a quotation or which sentence best connects two sources. Choose the option that shows the relationship between ideas.
Connected topics
Videos
Check yourself
5 questions on 3.2 Bringing sources into your argument and citing them. Pick an answer to see if you got it, and why.
Written for this practice set: two body paragraphs from a student's draft of a rhetorical analysis essay on Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (1865).
In sentence 2, the writer puts quotation marks around "little that is new could be presented." Why is this choice correct?
Written for this practice set: a student's draft of two paragraphs from a synthesis essay. Source A is a town water report, Source B is a magazine article and Source C is a letter from a homeowners' association; all are invented.
Sentence 6 presents an idea from Source C but does not cite it. Which revision best fixes this problem?
Sentence 3 paraphrases Source B. Which statement about this sentence is accurate?
Sentence 8 is effective mainly because it
In sentence 7, the writer introduces Brooks as a "landscape designer." This choice is effective mainly because it
0 of 5 answered