The Down and Dirty Reading and Writing Guide to SAT Prep*

1. The Down and Dirty Reading and Writing Guide to SAT Prep* AP English/LA II 2009-2010 Susan Davis *Based on the Princeton Review’s Crash Course for the New SAT and Cracking the SAT

2. The Essay • Address the prompt • Show you understand what you are being asked to do. • Take a stand. • Focus on one good idea. • Think of good examples to illustrate your position/idea.

3. Introduction • Plan your essay (don’t just jump in). • Decide on the examples you will use to illustrate your point(s). • Connect prompt, position, and examples in a THESIS STATEMENT. • Give a roadmap for your essay in your introduction. • Use a natural and engaging voice. (Establish this in your opener!)

4. Body • Be specific. • Use detail to clarify your idea. • Make sure your examples work together to connect to your over-arching idea. • But use separate paragraphs to show different approaches to the same point. • Make connections to the thesis statement absolutely clear. • Use transitions to connect ideas from one paragraph to the next.

5. Wrap-up • Gather your thoughts together (this is different from merely restating what you have already said). • End with a strong statement that will drive your points home. • Budget time to look over your work and make corrections – better wording, BWEs, smoother transitions (this can make or break you)!

6. 25 minutes! • 5 minutes to read the prompt, think, and plan • 15 minutes to write • 5 minutes to review and improve your work • Done! • (Good handwriting doesn’t hurt…)

7. Sentence Completion • Cover the answer choices… and try to fill in the blank on your own. • Look for clues and key words that tell you what kind of word is needed. • Find relationships between different phrases of the sentence, different words in the sentence. • Look for negative trigger words (but, though, although) and positive trigger words (and, because).

8. Sentence Completion • Don’t worry about “clunky” phrases; fill in the blank with what makes sense. • If you can’t think of anything else, decide if the word has a positive(+) or negative (-) charge. • Use process of elimination – guess if you can eliminate 2 or more answers. • Take on two-fers one blank at a time. Look for RELATIONSHIPS! * Never eliminate a choice unless you are sure of its meaning. (On the other hand, don’t choose it just because you don’t know what it means.)

9. Sentence Completion • Avoid traps! (Don’t choose simply based on subject matter.) * Remember, the questions get harder as you go. But if you can’t eliminate any answers, skip to the next one.

10. Reading Comprehension • 70 % (or two-thirds) of Critical Reading Section • Roughly chronological order • Answers to the questions are in the passages • Translate and answer in your own words • Use line references, lead words, and chronology to find answers (read above and below line refs. – about 10-15 lines) • Use POE (Process of Elimination)

11. Types of Questions • detail questions – focus on the specifics, not the broader purpose • purpose questions – determine the big picture, rather than be distracted by the details • suggest/infer/imply/agree questions – don’t infer too much (beyond the page) • vocabulary-in-context questions – common usage vs. usage in passage • tone/attitude questions – know the vocabulary used to describe emotion, opinion, or voice

12. Don’t fall for “tricks” • topic not mentioned in passage at all • “recycled” words • half-right, half-wrong = all wrong • extreme language • goes too far in interpretation or inference • opposite of passage • too literal (fiction)

13. Special Circumstances • treat short passages as you would long passages • answer questions about dual passages in this order: first, questions about first passage; second, passages about second passage; third, questions about both passages (don’t mix them up) • don’t dwell on short passages (sometimes harder, only 4 questions)

14. Minor Question Types • analogy: generalize the situation to make a match • except/least/not: don’t get confused and look for answers that support • primary purpose: save for last • strengthen-weaken: understand position taken in passage

15. Review Vocabulary aesthetic, allusion, ambivalent, anecdote, assert,assess, belied, characterize, compare, concur, contempt, contrast, conventional, convey, debunk, digression, discern, discredit, disengaged, disinterested, dismissive, disparage, disparity, dispassionate, dubious, elicit, endorse, equivocate, exemplify, hyperbole, hypothesis, illustrate, indifferent, interpret, ironic, justify, metaphor, nostalgia, objective, partisan, personification, phenomenon, plausible, pragmatic, prove, provoke, qualified, reconcile, refute, relevant, repudiate, resigned, reverent, rhetoric, satire, scornful, scrutinize, simile, speculate, subjective, substantiate, undermine, underscore, yield

16. Grammar • Types of Questions: • Error ID • The group of students, in addition to studying for the test, gave its all to the project. No error. • Improving Sentences • The group of students, in addition to studying for the test, gave its all to the project. • (a) gave its all to the project. • (b) gave their all to the project. • (c) gave its all in the project. • (d) gave everything it had to the project. • (e) gave all they had to the project. • Improving Paragraphs

17. Tricks • Don’t necessarily go with what sounds right • Do all the easy questions first… • Improving paragraphs are all easy or medium • Don’t be afraid to choose “e” answers • “Trim the fat!” • Go for it! (“Be agresssive!) • Shorter (and more concise) is usually better!

18. Kinds of Errors: Clauses, Verbs Clauses • Independent (Main) Clause • Comma splice • Run-on Sentence • Subordinate (Dependent) Clauses • Sentence Fragments Verbs • Parallel • Correct tense

19. Kinds of Errors: Nouns, Pronouns, Prepositions Nouns • Agreement (Is it illogical?) Pronouns • Agreement (number) • Reference (unclear? logic?) • Case (Subject or Object, him or me) Prepositions • Know when to use which!