What's on the SAT?
Taking the SAT (formerly called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, or the Scholastic Achievement Test) is a hurdle many students need to jump in order to get into college. The test is administered in 4 parts: reading, writing/language, math, and essay. In this lesson, we will learn how to approach questions in the writing/language portion of the test.
The Writing and Language Test asks students to read a passage and then answer a series of multiple-choice questions. Reading passages are drawn from three types of subject matter: English/World Literature, History/Social Studies, and Science. The questions test your ability to analyze sentence structure and revise sentences to improve the grammar and syntax.
You might be asked to fix a run-on sentence or fragment, replace commas, colons, or semi-colons, or adjust verb tense and pronoun usage. For example, here is an example of a comma splice, a common type of run-on sentence:
''I will be taking an exam this morning, I have been studying all week.''
You can fix the grammatical error by replacing the comma with a period.
The questions are constructed to allow you to demonstrate your ability to read, identify mistakes and weaknesses in a passage, and fix problems in sentence structure, grammar, and punctuation.
This section of the SAT tests your editorial and proofreading skills, which involve close reading and revision. Whether you are reviewing the writing of a peer or revising a paper of your own, being able to edit and proof text passages is an important skill to master in order to be able to communicate effectively.
5 test measures assess your mastery of the English language:
- rhetoric (demonstrate your command of standard English conventions)
- words in context (identify poor word choice and find words that better fit the context)
- information and ideas (assess the clarity and organization of statements)
- command of evidence (improve the flow and development of ideas in a passage)
- and synthesis (analyze subject-specific data and edit statements to improve clarity)