As JP has not completed his literary essay, we first reviewed options for the thesis statement as well as how to use evidence and commentary in the literary essay. We then began to analyze how to form a synthesis essay from the 6 sources assigned for homework . During our first exercise, we isolated the writer's claims, evidence, and concessions to the counterargument in a textual passage. I discussed how bias can be discerned by noting the source and the writer's ability to address counterarguments. Next,we analyzed a graph and discussed the claims inherent in the graph as well as the limitations in the graph's data. I emphasized the need to use the source material to formulate an argument other than the argument of the sources' writers and discussed how the source material about celebrity activism could be used to argue issues other than the value of celebrity activism ,such as the need for individuals to analyze events and to formulate their own ideas rather than relying on the opinions of others.