McBride, The Color of Water: Synthesizing key concepts
Since Dr. Jerz asked, I decided I would provide an example of the comparison/contrast-->synthesis method using concepts from McBride's text.
Concept 1 - Black Family --- Concept 2 - Jewish Family
Black families and communities have long been considered to be more close-knit than white families and communities. Along the same line of thinking, the family is often considered to be the basic, primary unit of Jewish life. When one considers the fact that McBride's mother was raised Jewish and later married a black man, it's obvious that these factors played an important role in the development of her own family. The black and Jewish traditions mingled, creating a woman who loved her family with intensity and devoted her life to her children.
(One could go even further and include a third key concept, Harlem, which was a neighborhood heavily influenced by both black and Jewish families throughout its history. In the post-World War II era, the majority of blacks started to leave Harlem for other areas of NYC, such as Brooklyn, where McBride's family lived.)
This is much the same format that my history professor expects when we perform the same exercise on tests: a brief explanation (several sentences) that describes the connection between two (or more) concepts. It is a useful exercise for quickly and effectively summarizing information for mental reference; that is, it's typically easier to remember two different terms or concepts if you relate them somehow in your mind while studying.