SAT 7 Final SAT Review

CONTENT OVERVIEW Sentence Completion Passage-Based Strategies Short Long Paired-Passage Strategies The Essay Identifying Sentence Errors Improving Sentences/Paragraphs These are SAT 1-6 content areas

SENTENCE COMPLETION 2 types of questions Logic Based Questions Vocabulary in context Essentially given a definition and asked to find the appropriate word The sentence will act as a definition, example or a synonym of the correct answer Logic Based Questions Not just the definition, but the relationship of the word to the sentence Requires that you understand which word best fits according to it’s relationship to the other words in the sentence. Compare and contrast Cause and effect

SENTENCE COMPLETION STRATEGIES Context Clues (definition hint) Synonyms Antonyms Word “Charge” Word Parts These are strategies that are helpful for ALL sentence completion questions

WORD CHARGE Refers to a Positive (+) or a Negative (-) connotation Insidious- vivacious- Diabolical- effervescent- “Disconsolate” What DO you know about this word? Remember when we looked at these words a few weeks ago? Say the words out loud. Do they have a positive or a negative connotation?

WORD ROOTS, PREFIXES, AND SUFFIXES My neighbor is both ________ and ________; he keeps to himself and has great fear of anyone who isn't from our town. a) callous…predisposed b) misanthropic…tolerant c) insular…xenophobic d) ignorant…biased e) prejudiced…obstinate Notice the bolded prefixes, suffixes, and roots. They are often helpful in determining word charge or even word meaning. If you know that the prefix “Pre” means before, you can often use other context clues to determine if the word fits in the rest of the sentence. Example: If you sentence has the words ”before, prior, or first” perhaps a word with the prefix “pre” will be correct.

CONTEXT CLUES Type 1: Vocabulary in context Definition In other words Such as For example Type 2: Logic Based Questions Contrast Cause and Effect But Because Although As a results Rather than Since However Therefore These are context clues or Key words that help you identify what TYPE of sentence completion relationship to look for.

CONTRAST The student spent no time planning his essay, resulting in a ______ of a unconnected ideas, rather than _____ argument in support of a thesis. What is the relationship between “spent no time planning his essay” and the first blank? What is the relationship between “unconnected ideas” and the second blank Key words: “resulting in” and “rather than”

CAUSE AND EFFECT If/then relationship If A is true, B is true We will face the idea of old age with____ as long as we believe that it invariably brings poverty, isolation, and illness. Where is your context clue illustrates the cause and effect relationship in this sentence? Key words “as long as”

CONCLUSION You do not have to know the meaning/definition of all of the options. You have to know what strategies to use OR You have to be able to find clues hidden in the question or in the answers

PAIRED PASSAGES Include fiction and nonfiction Topics include Majority will be nonfiction Topics include Natural science: scientific discovery, theory, or controversy Social studies: history, politics, economics Humanities: artist, music, philosophy But don’t worry: You are not expected to draw from outside knowledge. Everything you need to know will be in the passages themselves.

TYPES OF QUESTIONS Vocabulary in context Extended Reasoning However: the vocabulary is going to fit in the context of the passage Extended Reasoning Ask you to draw conclusions from or evaluate info from passage Ask about overall theme, message, purpose, attitude, sometimes even “tone” of the writer Include words like “probably, apparently, seems, suggests, the author implies” Note: Vocab in context questions can include sentence completion. These are questions that ask you to determine the definition of a word in the context of the passage. They will often say “the word ____ in line 5, most clearly means…”

TYPES OF QUESTIONS Literal comprehension Information that is DIRECTLY presented from the text Example: Find the place in the text where a particular detail is discussed. “line 1, 2, or 3” Recognize different interpretations of the same fact or idea

FACTS, ASSUMPTIONS, AND INFERENCES Statements known to be true A foot has 12 inches Assumptions Suppositions or propositions that author makes to reach their conclusions Not proven fact “According to the author…” Inferences Conclusions you reach based on what has been said in a passage This requires you to read between the lines In order to answer passage based questions effectively, you must be familiar with the difference between facts assumptions and inference. Only facts will be directly referenced in the text. Assumptions and inferences are independent of the text. (use extended reasoning)

TYPES OF PASSAGES Short Long Paired Passages 100-150 words Approximately 2-3 questions Long 400-850 words Approximately 8-13 questions Paired Passages Two passages Require you to make connections (might not need this slide)

STRATEGIES Short Passages Long Passages Paired Passages Read the questions first Long Passages Take notes Paired Passages Read Passage 1, answer Passage 1 questions Read Passage 2, answer Passage 2 questions Lastly, answer questions about BOTH passages (these are always last) Reminder: It is important that these strategies are NOT interchangeable. You do not want to use the short strategy for long passages and vice versa.

THE ESSAY First part of the SAT Timed: 25 minutes Prompt topic will be “general” No specific academic knowledge is necessary Draw from what you have learned, read, observed Freedom of writing style Narrative Expository Persuasive Argumentative Emphasize the “freedom of writing style”

WRITING EXPECTATIONS Strong development of ideas Ability to connect to audience Language use Organization Evidence/Support Your Essay should illustrate your knowledge and skills of the following…

STRATEGIES How WELL you write is more important than how MUCH you write Writing more than a paragraph, but be concise Watch your handwriting If illegible, you may receive a zero Stay on topic Outline for 5 minutes

GRADING The essay is graded “Holistically” Two readers score the essay out of 6 Combine scores to a total of 12 points Essays that are off topic will receive a zero

IDENTIFYING SENTENCE ERRORS Tests your knowledge of Grammar: Parts of a sentence Usage: Agreement Word Choice “idioms” using the best word Sometimes includes the exceptions of our speech. E.g. “Go”, “Gone”, “Went”

MOST COMMON SENTENCE ERRORS Subject/Verb agreement Parallelism Placement of modifiers Use of relative clauses

GRAMMAR USAGE Now that we have identified the grammar, lets look at our grammar USAGE All of our grammar must Agree. Qualitatively and Quantitatively Same amount of subjects to verbs Same tense (past, present, progressive) “I go”…”I like to go to the movies” “She went”…..”She went to the movies last night” “They were”….”They were at the movies together”

PARALLELISM Parallelism: Puts the contents of a sentence into a recognizable patter. Makes your sentence easier to understand Balance a word with a word, phrase with a phrase, clause with a clause Similar types of words; adjectives, prepositional phrases, noun clauses,

IMPROVING PARAGRAPHS Utilize the information about improving individual sentences Wordiness: using unnecessary words and phrases OR adding empty expressions to a sentence. Empty Expressions: are redundant (repetitive) and do not add anything to your sentence “two in number”, “if you know what I mean” Adding Descriptive words

ADDING DESCRIPTIVE WORDS Be careful: You are not adding words just for the sake of making the sentence longer! Adding words to CLARIFY and/or DESCRIBE. Clarify: Making clear the context or the meaning of the sentence (who, what, where, when, why) Describe: Using meaningful adjectives that contribute to the sentences meaning/objective.

CONTENT OVERVIEW Reference Pages and Chapters Sentence Completion Passage-Based Strategies Short Long Paired-Passage Strategies The Essay Identifying Sentence Errors Improving Sentences/Paragraphs These are SAT 1-6 content areas 27