Beauty Synthesis Packet In preparation for the Synthesis free-response question on the AP English Language exam, you will be asked to read several selections on the topic of Beauty in order to develop a definition of Beauty. First, to remind you what synthesis is all about: “In most college courses that require substantial writing, students are called upon to write researched arguments in which they take a stand on a topic or an issue and then enter into conversation with what has already been written on it. The synthesis question provides students with a number of relatively brief sources on a topic or an issue -- texts of no longer than one page, plus at least one source that is a graphic, a visual, a picture, or a cartoon. The prompt calls upon students to write a composition that develops a position on the issue and that synthesizes and incorporates perspectives from at least three of the provided sources. Students may, of course, draw upon whatever they know about the issue as well, but they must make use of at least three of the provided sources to earn an upper-half score. What moves should a writer make to accomplish this task? Essentially, there are six: read, analyze, generalize, converse, finesse, and argue. In short, on the synthesis question the successful writer is going to be able to show readers how he or she has thought through the topic at hand by considering the sources critically and creating a composition that draws conversations with the sources into his or her own thinking. It is a task that the college-bound student should willingly take up.” from “Preparing for the Synthesis Question: Six Moves Toward Success” by David Jolliffe (http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/courses/teachers_corner/51307.html) Assignment and Task Due Dates – Attach this page to your work Assignments are due and will be graded on Date Due. If you are not in class for ANY reason, you are still held accountable for the assignments on the due date. Failure to turn in assignments on assigned dates will result in an Assignment Card as well as a 50% reduction in grade. Assigne Task Complete Date Due d d 4/14 Read p. 63-67 4/15 Answer First Reading p. 64 /5 Second Reading p. 65 /6 First Reading p.66 /3 Second Reading p.66-67 /3 Think about and consider Writing Argument p.67 (don’t write anything, but just read and think about the assignment) 4/15 Do Quickwrite in class (Analysis question p. 65) ~essay grade /25 4/15 4/15 Read p. 68 – 73 4/17 Answer First Reading p.69 /4 Second Reading p.69-70 /9 First Reading p.73 /5 Second Reading p.73 /6 Quickwrite response (not as long as an essay, Analysis Writing p.73 /5 but more than 3 sentences) 4/17 In class essay (20 min): Define beauty (Argument question p. 70) /30 4/17 ~essay grade 4/17 Read p. 74-83 4/22 Answer First Reading p.75 /6 Second Reading p.75-76 /6 First Reading p.82 /3 Second Reading p.82 /6 4/22 In class essay (20 min): Support, refute, or qualify Kuczynski’s claim /50 4/22 (Argument Writing p.76) ~essay grade 4/22 Read p. 84-86 4/23 Answer First Reading p. 86 /4 Second Reading p. 86 /6 4/24 In class essay (40 min): What is “the truth about beauty?” ~essay grade /100 4/24