SAT Writing section techniques, strategies & approaches: Difference between revisions

'''SAT Writing Section Techniques, Strategies & Approaches'''

* Note on abbreviations

** DC = "dependent clause"

** SV = "subject + verb"

** SVO = "subject + verb + object"

== Quick start guides for punctuation & grammar rules ==

== BIG IDEAS ==

* use the test to answer itself

* read punctuation "out loud" to yourself" so as not to miss it

=== Passage titles ===

** titles express author intent

** titles are frequently a thesis statements (no other details are provided)  

** titles generally answer the last question on each passage (not always)

* difficulty level is based on the passage and not the questions

** there can be difficult questions on easy passages, but the bulk of "hard" questions will coincide with difficult passages

* '''the correct answer B) was matches or is "parallel" to the verb "were" from "Children were entertained"'''

</div>

* subjects and verbs match singular vs. plural forms

** = a form of "parallel" structure (i.e, matching singular or plural subjects and verbs)

* rules for logic & chronology

=== adverbs used to combine independent clauses ===

* especially "however," which cannot combine independent clauses

* misplaced or dangling modifier

=== object preposition mistaken for subject ===

=== parallelism mistakes ===

* comparison mismatch

* lists mismatch or inconsistency

== Parts of speech & rules ==

=== pronoun forms chart ===

{| class="wikitable"  

|+ Pronoun Forms

|themselves

|}

== Verb ==

** “He went to the store, bought food, and returned home.”

=== subject-verb agreement ===

* for SAT Writing, maintain subject-verb agreement  

** i.e. singular subject = singular verb form

* identify the correct noun as subject, as test will try to confuse subject nouns from relative nouns

=== transitive v. intransitive verbs ===

* transitive verbs require an object:  

**** i.e., IC <=> , + <=> IC

=== Semicolon ===  

* eliminate semicolons if there are not ICs on both sides of the semicolon

=== comma ===

* commas create a pause

* SAT Writing test generally does not test for gerunds, although they will appear in the text

* = verb phrases that act as an adjective

* participle = a verb that functions as an adjective, usually in the past tense or -ing form

** which thereby matches to the singular, past tense A) was teeming

</div>

* see:  

** [https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/mechanics/dangling_modifiers_and_how_to_correct_them.htm dangling modifiers (owl.purdue.edu)]

** idiomatic is different from "informal" or colloquial (local, common) language

* By definition idiomatic words have no set rule

* HOWEVER, on the SAT Writing section, students can use elimination techniques to eliminate down to the correct idiomatic expression

* see this video for demonstration of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV7QK_ex0jQ&list=PLyC6Fj2OdXlpDypu0__dsv5y6EZS5NpmH&index=1&t=4s on elimination techniques with idiomatic & vocabulary questions (by Michael Bromley)]]

Click EXPAND for an example from CB Test 6, Writing question no. 21, on how to eliminate idiomatic possible answers using grammar rules:

** then decide between "yes" or "no"

* Writing section vocabulary questions are never antonyms  

*** any adverbs?  

** is it part of the main clause or a subordinate clause?  

== Grammar and punctuation rules ==

* avoid repetition and unnecessary pronouns

* avoid [[#Emphasis shift]] errors