Tips on Critical Reading and Writing

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>Hello all,</p>

<p>It's been approx. six months since I've joined CC, and I came across a lot of tips and strategies to tackle the SAT. I want to post this set of tips so that people who score, say in the 1800's, can boost their scores up to >2000 or at least expedite the process of increasing their scores. Although I see my shortcuts as inadequate at best--some phrases un-grammatical, some sentences unformatted, and some clauses unidiomatic--and although I score 2200's on my practice tests (quite low on CC standards), and although the tips below are all jumbled up thought processes that may be esoteric, I still intend to be helpful.</p>

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<p>Writing Section</p>

<p>Overview: The SAT Essay section is always the first section of the SAT. It is 25 minutes long. There is no such thing as an experimental essay.</p>

<p>Usually, BSing = high score. Research from Massachusetts Institute of Technology has shown that high scores are positively correlated to length. In fact, 90 percent of the score 12 essays have 400 words or more. You should realize that correlation does not prove causation. However, writing a lengthier essay may improve your chances of obtaining a higher score.</p>

<p>ALGORITHM: How to destroy the test systematically</p>

<p>There are two techniques:
1. Five-paragraph essay
A. Introduce a brief hook to the essay.
B. Make sure that you arrive at your thesis.
C. Body paragraphs
i. Follow the five paragraph format. Write down two to three examples; it is preferable that the examples belong to the same ilk. (Ex. Science – Science or History – History - History)
ii. On each of the body paragraphs, start with a topic sentence.
iii. Explain the example briefly.
iv. Show the importance of the example, and link it to the thesis.
v. Generate a transition sentence to the next example. (This is why examples of the same kind are preferable. They tend to have a nice segue to another example.)
vi. Repeat i. to v. two or three times, and the number of iterations depends on the number of supporting examples.
2. Narrative Essay – Show, don’t tell. Make your readers anticipate and project what will happen.
Juxtaposition of uninflected images
A. Introduce a lengthier, more elaborate hook in front of the essay.
B. You may choose not to include your thesis. But ensure that the implied thesis, located in either the introduction or the conclusion, is blatantly obvious.
C. Thesis is the culmination of the question to be answered throughout the essay. The conclusion in the end serves as the significance of the lesson learnt. The body elaborates on something learnt, and it may suggest the recurring thesis.
i. Lesson Learnt + Consequences or dangers of ignoring the thesis: basically shows the devastating/harmful result of not following what is explained in the thesis.
ii. Counterargument followed by debunking: the power of acknowledging counterargument is that doing so shows impartiality as well as intelligence. Think about the issue presented by the prompt. From what it says, is your notion always the case? It may be apparently wrong, but in fact…
iii. A call to action: suggests possible solution[s] to the question raised by your thesis.
iv. A new value which is unexpected: following this technique shows something more significant than what shows on the surface level</p>

<p>Real test-taking scenario
In reality, the College Board expects you to write a promising first-draft of your essay in 25 minutes. What you should do, however, is to elaborate a second-, or even third-draft and employ about 80 per cent of that draft in the real essay to better your chances of obtaining an 11 or a 12. As for the last 20 per cent of your essay, you are expected to improvise. You are not expected to copy the already written essay verbatim.</p>

<p>WRITING: Multiple-Choice</p>

<p>The golden rule of writing (as mentioned by the College Board)</p>

<p>Correct answer choices are: (in order of importance)
1. Syntactically sound. This is the key to all problems. The fitting answer choice must be using appropriate conventions.
2. Clear in delivery of meaning. While it is true that clarity is one of the top priorities, grammar must be checked before checking clarity. Also, it is indispensable that the improvement in clarity does not introduce a new problem, such as the change in original meaning or a new grammatical trouble.
3. Concise answers that cut out any redundancies. Some examples are omitting unnecessary pronouns, if any.</p>

<p>There are ONLY ~15 fundamental concepts that are shown in the Multiple-Choice section of the SAT writing section.
Pronoun disagreement (subject v. object, parallel use of pronouns, etc)
Singular-plural errors
Idiom errors (usu. preposition)
Comparison errors (usu. involves that of or those of or the use of possessives)
Parallelism (similar/same structure)
Wordiness/Redundancy (conciseness)
Misplaced modifier
Pronoun ambiguity
Diction errors (word choice)
Adjective-adverb errors (usu. the choice between –ly vs. no -ly)
Verb tense errors
Sentence fragments or run-on sentences
Transition, Punctuation or Coordinator errors
Logic errors (causal, simultaneous, independent, etc)
Passive Voice* - the answer choice using this kind of voice is sometimes grammatically sound, but within the context of the SAT, remove answer choices employing passage voice UNLESS the question is a misplaced/dangling modifier. "Being" was a common type of passive voice used in the past exams, although I saw a few exceptions in which "being" was nevertheless used for the sake of parallelism.</p>

2

<p>Sentence Completion</p>

<p>The golden rule:

  1. Pivotal/Key words (once, but, although, yet, so, and, etc)
  2. Cognates, and Greek/Latin word roots
  3. Suffixes and Prefixes (2. and 3. kinda go together)
  4. Sentence Structure
  5. Word Charge (Achtung! Only use this if you are a native speaker of English)</p>

<p>Four main approaches:

  1. Three-Word method (Use this on short passages.)
  2. Skim/Scan method
  3. Slowpoke method
  4. Grammatix’s method  This is what I mainly use.</p>

<p>Three-word method: Summarize each paragraph in three to five words. Then, look at the questions.</p>

<p>Skim/Scan method: only pick up the general idea of the passage and spend more time on the questions.</p>

<p>Slowpoke method: peruse the passage. Pick up details such as, but not limited to: symbolism, imagery, figurative language, emphasis, etc. Have a glimpse at the question and do not spend much time on the questions.</p>

<p>These are the types of questions that you will encounter in passage-based reading:

  1. Main Idea
  2. Line Reference
    A. Direct Comparison
    B. Inference
    C. Passage Comparison
  3. General Purpose
  4. Tone
  5. Vocabulary in Context
  6. Literary Terms (RARE)</p>

<p>Grammatix’s method (The one which I prefer)</p>

<p>Mark up the passage. Do not even read the passage and pick up details first. The marking of passage comes first. YOU DO NOT EVEN NEED TO READ THE ENTIRE PASSAGE.
Read and reword the question. You can do this after you pick up every word of the question asked. Understand the question first, and go over this process thoroughly! Only then you will be able to reword the question.</p>

<p>Re-visit the marked sections and make up an answer on your own.
Compare your own answer and choose the answer given in the choices. Only one will make any sense. Answers tend to be the paraphrased version of your answer or the passage[s].</p>

<p>Tone questions
The questions asking for tone asks you to figure out the GENERAL tone; hence you look at the articles holistically. Do not assess passages by parts; you will screw yourself big time. After skimming over the passage, come up with one or two words that best describe the tone. Then do the “matching game” again.</p>

<p>If this method does not work, then draw a spectrum, something like this:</p>

<p><(–)----------------------0----------------------(+)></p>

<p>Pick somewhere that best shows the mood of the passage. Evaluate the connotation of each of the answer choices given. Then, pick the choice that is the nearest to the suggested tone of the passage. Only one will come as close as your “first hunches” – your gut feelings. Many test-prep companies agree that the first choice that appeals the most to the test-taker is usually the right one.</p>

<p>SKIP general passage questions for later.</p>

<p>A quick tip: When you mark up the passages, you tend to have a kind of tunnel-visioning; that is, you tend to lock in to restricted parts of the passage. Don’t do that. Read the surrounding sentences (front and sometimes back) to make each question a fair game.</p>

<p>So this is kind of compromise: you mark up the passage after you glean at the line references. But mark the lines “ambiguously”; that is, mark two lines before and two lines after. Also, when you get to read other parts of the passage when you have AMPLE TIME, you should look for supporting details to see if your answer is true.</p>

<p>VOCAB IN CONTEXT questions: go to the designated line and cross out the word. Then, replace the missing space with the five answer choices. Only one choice will make any sense. </p>

<p>The tip above links us to some of the spurious shortcuts that TPR doles out.
The Princeton Review is responsible for telling us that the first, widely known meaning of an easy word is most likely NOT the answer. However, this tip is debatable, as every choice should be attempted to best represent the word in context. Also, TPR asserts that a combination of extreme words is not likely the answer; nevertheless, there are some cases in which extreme answers are actually true.</p>

<p>INFERENCE questions: pick the answer that we can least assume. Pick the one that is blatantly conspicuous to us. As Ethan puts it, the answer is above the surface… </p>

<p>The wrong answer choices: they have a recurring trend.</p>

<p>Remember VICE
Veers off topic although the choice starts off/ends with a true piece of information
Irrelevant to the passage (not mentioned anywhere)
Contradictory
Extreme language/An idea that appears Elsewhere but otherwise correct</p>

<p>Hint: Right answers tend to be the reworded restatement of the information in the passage! The restatement in one of the answer choices includes SAT words that are synonyms of the words that appear on the passage[s]. </p>

<p>I recommend that you do NOT read the passage in detail, although this idea is widely debated among SAT gurus. My personal opinion is that if you read slowly, then you start to lose your pace and waste valuable time that could be used to answer questions (the main objective!)</p>

3

<p>Thanks benhpark, very informative guide that condenses most of the best tips throughout CC and prep books.</p>

<p>Good luck going for that 2300+ score!</p>

4

<p>^Thank you for your encouragement. I hope to achieve a >2300, and then say goodbye to the SAT forever.
I am also looking for some suggestions/corrections from CC’ers. I think some may find my tips to be outmoded, perhaps, or not applicable to others.</p>

5

<p>You have done a very good job on your guide and I think it will be very helpful to other CCers. I only question #6 literary terms being rare. I have found that there are at least one if not two literary terms tested on each SAT through either the question or the answer choice.</p>

6

<p>Nice guide.
I’m stuck in the 1900’s stage and I can’t get out.
How long did it take you to hit 2200.</p>

7

<p>^Eh, about 2 months?
I studied like hell… and went up to 2360 once
but I am in 2240-2300 range right now. :/</p>

8

<p>thank you.</p>