FRQ 1: The Synthesis Essay Example (College Board AP® English Language & Composition): Study Guide

Example synthesis prompt

This example uses Question 1 from the 2025 AP English Language and Composition Exam, Set 2.

The prompt provides an introduction to mapping software and Global Positioning System (GPS) devices.

It then instructs:

• 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

Read the complete College Board prompt and source packet before using this model answer.

Understand the task

• The broad topic is mapping software and GPS devices

• The task is to develop a position on their value, if any

Consider:

• What makes the technology valuable?

• What may limit that value?

• Who benefits?

• What consequences should affect one’s judgment?

Remember to develop a working position at this point:

• Mapping software and GPS devices have value, but not just because they are a convenience

Evaluate the sources

The goal is to identify the information or perspective that may help you develop an argument:

For more on evaluating sources, see Unit 6: How to Evaluate Source Credibility & Bias.

Look for relationships between the sources

Sources B and D:

• Both establish genuine benefits of mapping technology

• The National Research Council emphasizes the broad use of digital geographic information, while Grabar shows how GPS can make wayfinding easier and potentially reduce driver stress

• However, Grabar also complicates those benefits by suggesting that easier navigation may reduce users’ spatial awareness

Sources A and F:

• Both show that routing algorithms can help individual drivers avoid congestion while creating problems for surrounding communities

• Paulas extends that problem by showing that attempts to correct algorithm-driven congestion can simply move traffic elsewhere

Sources C and E:

• Both show how widespread mapping and smartphone-based navigation have become

• These sources can help demonstrate that the issue affects a large number of users

Sources A,B,D and F:

• These sources help to establish that mapping technology itself may be valuable even when dependence on it or particular uses of it create harmful consequences

Develop a defensible thesis and line of reasoning

Example synthesis essay

Few drivers who have missed an exit, become lost in an unfamiliar place or sat in unexpected traffic would deny the usefulness of a navigation app. Mapping software can make travel easier, reduce uncertainty and provide people with geographic information almost instantly. Mapping software, therefore, has substantial value because it makes navigation more efficient and provides useful geographical information, but that value decreases when dependence on technology weakens users’ awareness of their surroundings or shifts traffic problems onto other communities. 

One important value of mapping technology is the amount of useful information it makes available. Source B explains that digital mapping can contribute not only to navigation, but also to tourism, community planning, disaster response, humanitarian aid and public-health monitoring (Source B). These uses show that mapping technology does much more than save a driver a few minutes. Access to geographic information can help people make faster and better-informed decisions. Source D also notes that GPS navigation can make drivers calmer, which may contribute to safer driving (Source D). In these situations, mapping technology does not replace good judgment; it provides information that helps people make decisions more efficiently. 

However, technology that makes a task easier can also reduce the need to practice the skills that made the task possible. Source D describes research showing that GPS users performed worse than paper-map users when asked to recall aspects of their surroundings (Source D). This does not mean people should abandon navigation apps and return to paper maps. It does suggest that complete dependence on GPS can cause users to stop paying attention to where they are. A person may arrive at a destination more efficiently while understanding less of the route that brought them there. Mapping software is therefore most valuable when it assists navigation rather than completely replacing a user’s awareness of direction and surroundings. 

The effects of mapping technology also extend beyond the person following the directions. Source A describes Leonia, New Jersey, where navigation apps sent so many drivers onto residential streets that some residents struggled to leave their own driveways (Source A). Source F shows that similar problems can occur when routing and ride-share apps direct traffic onto streets that were not designed to handle large numbers of commuters (Source F). Cities may respond with restrictions or infrastructure changes, but those efforts can simply shift congestion somewhere else. An app can therefore find a faster route for one driver while making transportation less efficient for the larger community. If thousands of users receive similar shortcuts, the technology’s individual benefit can become a collective problem. 

Mapping software clearly has value, and its problems are not reasons to abandon it. Digital maps can improve travel, provide important information and serve purposes far beyond everyday navigation. Still, convenience should not be the only measure of a technology’s worth. Mapping software is most valuable when it helps people navigate the world without making them less aware of that world or forcing other people to absorb the cost of the convenience.

Why this response works

• It addresses the task:

  • Mapping software has substantial value, but that value has meaningful limits

• It is organized around reasons:

  • The writer’s reasoning controls the organization

  • The response develops practical value, individual dependence and community consequences

• It uses sources purposefully:

  • Source B establishes broad practical and social usefulness of digital geographic information

  • Source D helps develop genuine tension: GPS can make navigation easier and potentially safer while also reducing users' engagement with their surroundings

  • Sources A and F work together to demonstrate how routing decisions that benefit individuals can create larger problems

• It synthesizes rather than summarizes:

  • Sources A and F lead to a larger claim: an app can find a faster route for one driver while making transportation less efficient for the larger community

• It develops commentary:

  • One example is that after the Grabar evidence, the writer explains: “A person may arrive at a destination more efficiently while understanding less of the route that brought them there”

• It develops complexity:

  • Two meaningful tensions shape the argument from the thesis through the conclusion: convenience versus dependence and individual benefit versus collective consequence

How this response would likely score

For more on the sophistication point, see Unit 9: Earning the Sophistication Point.