Adapted from Kaplan SAT Premier 2017 Chapter 21 Development Adapted from Kaplan SAT Premier 2017 Chapter 21

Three Types of Questions Proposition Support Focus

Proposition Questions How well does the author use language to express the central part of a passage or excerpt of a passage? Must revise or retain portions of the passage to communicate key ideas, claims, counterclaims, and topic sentences most clearly and effectively. To answer these questions you need to identify the topic and purpose of the passage and focus on the writer’s point of view. What is the central idea? Why did the author write this? What does the author think about this topic? What is the author’s tone?

Support Questions Test issues related to information and ideas presented by the writer. Must evaluate the effectiveness of the facts and details used by the writer to support his/her claims. To answer these, look around the underlined portion for a clue indicating what type of support is needed. If the example supports a central idea, ask if the example strengthens the author’s central idea. Eliminate answer choices that don’t fit the context or have a negative or minor effect on the central idea.

Focus Questions Require you to assess whether portions of the passage include only the information and ideas relevant to the author’s topic and purpose. May be asked to add, change, or omit text. Identify whether the text in question fits the topic, scope, and purpose of the entire passage. **Topic is what he passage is about; Scope is the aspect of the broader topic that is the center of the author’s focus; Purpose is the author’s reason for writing.

Go to pages 476-484 of the text. Review the techniques from this presentation to answer the questions. Discuss the process and answers with your teacher. Complete the exercises on pages 485-490 as if it is Test Day. Review the answers with your teacher.