Summarising and synthesising

Summary and synthesis are the AO1 hinge of Paper 2. The early "list four" question rewards picking out distinct points; the "synthesise" question (typically 6 marks) rewards integrating across two non-fiction sources.

Summary — three rules

1. Compress, don't paraphrase line-by-line. A good summary is shorter than the original and reflects priorities, not order.
2. Lead with what's most important. Examiners reward students who identify the central idea, not just facts.
3. Strip evaluation. A summary names what the text says, not what you think of it.

Synthesis — the integrated paragraph

Synthesis means combining evidence from two texts in service of a single point. The Edexcel mark scheme rewards:

• A clear similarity OR contrast.
• Brief evidence from BOTH sources (a quotation each).
• A connecting word that does logical work: similarly, in contrast, however, whereas, by comparison.

Bad: "Source A says X. Source B says Y." Good: "Both sources present childhood as central to community memory; however, while Source A (l. 12) emphasises the supervised playgrounds of the modern suburb, Source B (l. 7) reveals an unsupervised street culture at the urban edge."

Distinct points across sources

A frequent slip: making one synthesis point and stopping. Strong answers hit two distinct ideas, e.g. one similarity and one contrast.

How long should a summary be?

The AQA and Edexcel mark schemes don't fix length, but a 6-mark synthesis is about half a page of clearly structured prose: 2–3 paragraphs, each integrating both sources.

Common slips

1. Listing instead of integrating — alternating quotations like a tennis match without connecting them.
2. Quoting too much — examiners want short, embedded quotations (3–6 words).
3. Drifting into AO2 — summary doesn't analyse language; resist the pull to talk about word choice.
4. Missing the question's focus — re-read the focus (e.g. "what both writers think about childhood") and stay on it.

Synthesis is summary plus argument-shape: tell the reader what the two texts together say about the focus, with both texts as evidence.