GCSE · English Language · AQA · Spec 8700

Synthesising information from more than one text

Two campers, one hillside, two completely different nights. Can you turn them into one story?

Two sources, one focus

Find the pair

Two short illustrative sources, written for this lesson: two campers, the same ridge, a week apart.

Source A: We pitched the tent on the ridge just as the light went. By nine the wind was bending the poles almost flat. The stove refused to light, so supper was cold beans eaten straight from the tin. My brother had forgotten the torch, and there wasn't a single star. I spent the night curled in a puddle, and at first light we packed up and trudged back down to the car.

Source B: I pitched my tent on the same ridge a week later. Not a breath of wind moved the grass. Sausages spat in the pan as the sun slid behind the hills, and far below, the lights of the village went out one by one. The sky was so crowded with stars that I left the door unzipped to watch them. I slept until the sun warmed the canvas, then lay there for an hour, in no hurry to go anywhere.

Question 1 of 3

Focus: the wind. Select the detail about it in Source A and the detail about it in Source B.

Tap the words in the passage that prove your answer.

Similar or different?

Sort the points

Where does each point belong: Source A, Source B, both, or neither? If both sources share a point, put it in the middle, even when the details differ.

  • A Source A
  • B Source B
  1. Camps on the ridge
  2. Tries to cook supper
  3. Describes the night sky
  4. The torch is left behind
  5. Watches the village lights go out
  6. Sleeps until the sun is up
  7. Packs up at first light
  8. Sits round a campfire

What is the task?

What does the question want?

You have the two camping sources and this question: 'Write a summary of the differences between the two nights on the ridge.'

Which is closest to what you'd do right now?
How sure are you?
UK note

In the June 2023 AQA paper, comments on the writers' perspectives could not be rewarded at the top two levels of the summary question, because they belong to a different question.

English Lit · Paragraph craft

Build one synthesis paragraph

You found the supper pair. Now turn it into writing. Tap a slot to see its job, or switch to the worked example to read the finished paragraph.

Focus: supper · Sources A and B

Tap a slot to fill or empty it.

Selected slot

Tap a slot above

Same question, four answers

Why paraphrase stays low

Decide which features each answer shows, then tap each row to check. The score counts features of synthesis. It isn't an official mark.

Question

Write a summary of the differences between the two nights on the ridge.

Student answer

In Source A the night is a disaster. The wind nearly flattens the tent and supper is cold beans from a tin, which suggests the campers are at the mercy of the weather.

Features shown0/5
UK note

In AQA's summary question, an answer must cover both texts and keep to the exact focus the question sets, or it cannot reach the upper levels of the mark scheme. Top-level answers show perceptive or detailed synthesis, with insightful inferences drawn from each text and well-judged references that suit the focus.

Your turn, on new sources

Write the synthesis

Two short illustrative sources, written for this lesson. Source A: My first morning at Hollis Bakery began at four. The ovens were already roaring, and Mr Hollis shouted orders over the radio. By six my arms ached from lifting trays, and I had burned my thumb twice. Nobody told me where the aprons were. Source B: My first morning at Hollis Bakery began at nine, when the ovens had cooled. Mrs Hollis made me a mug of tea and showed me round slowly. I spent the morning icing buns at my own pace, and at lunchtime she told me I was a natural.

Using both sources, write a summary of the differences between the two writers' first mornings at the bakery. [5 marks]

0 words · your answer stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

UK note

This is the form of question AQA set in June 2023: Paper 2, Question 2 asked for an 8-mark summary, built from details in both sources, of how two things the sources described were different.

In AQA GCSE English Language, selecting and synthesising evidence from different texts is the second strand of AO1, the first reading assessment objective.

WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED

A quick recap of today's lesson.

Two texts, one account: find the matching details, say what they suggest, and set them side by side.

What you need to know

  • Synthesising means drawing information and ideas from more than one text into a single account that offers an interpretation or conclusion.
  • Summarising gives a brief, clear account of a text's main ideas, so the aim is a succinct overview rather than detailed analysis.
  • Differences can be subtle: two texts can share a clear similarity but vary in the detail.
  • Inference means using clues or evidence in a text to reach an interpretation: what a detail suggests, not just what it states.

The big picture

To synthesise is to draw details from more than one text into a single account that offers an interpretation or conclusion. Start from the question's focus and find the matching detail in each text, comparing like with like. Say what each detail suggests rather than just repeating it, then set the two side by side with a linking word so the differences and any similarities come out. Keep quotations short and embedded, because a summary is a brief overview, not a close analysis of language.

Key points

1Synthesis is one account built from two texts, not two summaries side by side.
2Start from the focus: take the matching detail from each source, like with like.
3Say what each detail suggests; answers that mostly paraphrase stay weak.
4Join the sources with a comparative conjunction ('whereas', 'while') or a correlative pair ('both … and').
5Keep quotations short and built into your own sentences, and leave detailed language analysis for another question.

Worked example

Problem

Two illustrative extracts. Source A: 'The library opened at eight, and by ten past every table was taken. A queue waited for the two computers.' Source B: 'The library was silent. A single boy sat by the window, and dust lay on the returns trolley.' Write one sentence of synthesis about how busy the two libraries are.

⚠ Watch out

Writing one paragraph about Source A and another about Source B. That's two summaries side by side, and the comparing is left to the reader.

🧠

Memory hook

Think of a zip. Each tooth on one side locks into the matching tooth on the other: a detail from Source A meets its partner from Source B, on the same aspect, and the link word pulls them together into one piece.

✓

Check yourself

Both sources describe the same football pitch: one calls it 'a sea of mud', the other says it was 'freshly cut'. Why is that still a difference, and what might each detail suggest?

Flashcards

(15)
What does it mean to synthesise information from more than one text?
To draw information and ideas together from the texts and combine them into a single account that offers an interpretation or conclusion.
What does summarising give you?
A brief, clear account of a text's main ideas.
In AQA GCSE English Language, which assessment objective strand covers selecting and synthesising evidence from different texts?
The second strand of AO1, the first reading assessment objective.
What did Question 2 of the June 2023 AQA Paper 2 ask for?
An 8-mark summary, built from details in both sources, of how two things the sources described were different.
What are the three moves of the synthesis method?
Pick details relevant to the focus from each text; interpret them and infer what they suggest; set them side by side to bring out differences and any similarities.
What is a subtle difference between two texts?
When the texts share a clear similarity but vary in the detail.
What happens to an answer that uses one text only, or drifts from the exact focus?
It cannot reach the upper levels of the mark scheme.
What does comparing 'like with like' mean?
Comparing the same aspect in each text, which keeps the synthesis clear.
What does a comparative conjunction such as 'whereas' do in a comparative sentence?
It makes the link between the two texts clear.
Why use correlative conjunctions as well as comparative ones?
Correlative conjunctions create close comparisons, and using both kinds adds nuance and keeps comparisons succinct.
What is embedded evidence?
Short quotations built into your own sentences: an efficient, precise way to support each point.
What is inference?
Looking at a text and coming up with interpretations using clues or evidence.
What separates stronger synthesis answers from weaker ones?
Stronger answers move from what a detail states to what can be inferred from it; weaker answers mostly paraphrase.
Give three verbs you could use instead of 'suggests' or 'shows'.
For example: implies, hints, reveals (also conveys, indicates).
Why is a summary not the place for detailed language analysis?
Analysis zooms in on language choices in detail, whereas a summary aims to be succinct and give a brief overview.

Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.

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