Identifying Question Stems Strategy #2

What is a question Stem? A question stem is the core of the question. It is the direction, or the task that is asking you to do what you need to do.

Why do I need to Understand question stems? If you don’t understand the task that is being asked of you, how will understand what you need to do in order to complete it? For example, I need you to show me how to make a sandwich. But, if you don’t understand that I want you to show me how to specifically make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and you make me a turkey sandwich then, you have done the task incorrectly. Some of the SAT question stems are asking you to complete multiple tasks in order to answer the questions correctly. You must understand what those tasks are in order to get the question correct. It’s common sense!

The good thing is: The good thing is: So… Then: There are only 10 types of questions on the SAT. So… Once you have learned to identify the 6 question stems, you can more easily identify what the task is asking you to do. Then: Once you understand your task, the easier it will be to answer the question correctly.

Lets review the type of questions and their Stems: The types of questions can be broken down into 2 categories on the SAT: Information and Ideas Did you comprehend what you just read? Do you know what the text is about? Rhetoric Why did the author write the text in the way he/she did? What impact did those words have on the reader?

Information and Idea Questions Main Idea Close Reading (Inference and Supporting Detail Questions) Vocabulary in Context Best Evidence Summarizing Understanding Relationships The next few slides will not cover all of these. If you are interested in reading about how to best answer all of these different types of questions, see scafone.com and the test prep 11 site for a more thorough guide into these types of questions and their questions stems.

MAIn Idea Questions Main Idea Questions look like: When the question asks for the main idea, you’re looking for a big statement– it must cover over the entire passage (or paragraph) and not just a detail or two. The main idea may be directly stated or it may be implied. Questions look like: “The main idea of the passage…” “The central point of the passage” “The author’s primary point…” “The author is primarily concerned with…” “The passage primarily…” Steps to answering a Main Idea Question: First of all, don’t look at any of the answer choices until you’ve come up with your own idea of the main idea. Ask, “what is the topic of this passage?” Answer in a word or two. The topic will be repeated throughout the passage—either the same word or synonyms or pronouns for it. Then, ask yourself, “what is the author saying about this topic?”

Close Reading Questions Inference When the question asks you to make an inference, you won’t find the answer stated in the text. You’re going to have to make a little leap of logic by looking at the clues in the text that lead you to infer the correct answer to the question. Questions look like: “The passage (or the author) implies…” “The passage (or the author) suggests…” “The author might agree…” “The reader can infer that…” “The reader can conclude that…” “The reader can assume that…” Steps to answering an Inference Question Consider each of the answer choices and look for evidence to either support it or reject it in these areas: the text itself (most important, your own experience, and your own logic. Exclude any distractors that are not logical. (Process of elimination becomes very useful here.) Choose the response that requires the shortest leap of logic. (What is undeniably true?)

Understanding Relationships When the question asks you to determine the pattern of organization, you’re looking for the type of passage the author has written to communicate his or her point. Questions look like… “The author makes his point through… “Which choice reflects the overall sequence of events of the passage?” Steps to answer a relationship/pattern question Underline signal/relationship words as you read Learn these pattern and what words signal them: Description: figures of speech, sensory details Narration: dialogue, time words such as then, before, until Persuasion: an opinion, strong language (should, must) Comparison: alike, similar, both, in the same way

Vocabulary in context Vocabulary in context Question looks like: When the question asks for the meaning of the word according to how the author has used it. You need to use the context clues (the words around the word in question) to figure out the meaning– you can do this even if you have never seen the word before. Question looks like: “________ as used in line ___, can best be defined as…” Steps to answer a vocabulary in context question See if you can determine if the words has a positive or negative meaning from its context in the passage. Identifying the feeling of a word can help you eliminate some of the distractors. Look for a context clue. Example clue: You’re given an example that illustrates that meaning of the word. Synonym clue: You’re given a word that restates the meaning of the unknown word. Antonym Clue: You’re given a word that means the opposite of the unknown word. Draw a conclusion based on the sense of the sentence if you can’t find any clues.

Rhetoric Style Questions The SAT is not simply concerned whether if you simply understood the text or not, but also if you understood the author’s purpose and if you understand why an author would choose one word or phrase over another. These question stems fall into what is called “Rhetoric” style questions because they are asking you to analyze the way the author has chosen to write and speak. These questions consists of: Word Choice Text Structure Point of View Author’s Purpose Analyzing Arguments Again, this section will not discuss all of these questions, but I encourage you to see the class website to get more information on these type of questions as these questions are more difficult than Information and Idea questions.

Word choice Word Choice Questions may sound like: When the question asks you to determine the tone of the passage, or the impact of a word or phrase on the reader, your are looking for the feeling the author is conveying about the topic. If the question asks you to specifically look at one word or phrase, pay attention to the connotation of that word/phrase. What emotions does that phrase stir in the reader? Questions may sound like: “The tone of the passage is…” “The attitude of the author is…” “The writer’s overall feeling toward ______ is…” “The impact of the phrase _______ is…” “The author has chosen the phrase ____ in order to…” Steps to Answering a Word Choice Question: First of all, determine if the author is negative, positive or neutral about the topic. (For example, if the author is positive, then you can reject all distractors that are negative.) Look at the level of intensity of feeling in the passage. Is it strong (like passionate, bitterly critical, or revengeful)? Or is it mild (like ambiguous or uncertain or undecided?)

Author’s Purpose Author’s Purpose Questions look like: When the question asks you to determine the purpose of the passage or the attitude of the author, you are looking for the reason the article was written. Questions look like: “The purpose of the passage is…” “The author’s primary purpose is…” Steps to answering a purpose question: Determine the type of passage: factual passages inform, explain, describe and enlighten; opinion passage persuade, argue, condemn, and ridicule; and fiction passages entertain, narrate, describe and shock. Where do you think the article was originally published? Determine if the author is negative, positive or neutral about the topic. (For example, if the author is positive, then you can reject all distractors that are negative.) Also, look at the level of intensity of feeling. Is it simply a story that narrates or a story that shocks?