Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Author Technique Questions in SAT Reading Strategies

Author Technique Questions in SAT Reading Strategies SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Author technique questions are some of the rarer questions you will see on the SAT Reading section. In this article, I’ll go through what these questions look like and how to solve them step by step. Note: The advice in this article is still relevant for the current SAT (March 2016 and beyond); however, some of the examples have not yet been updated for the new test. What is an Author Technique Question? Author technique questions will ask about the author’s tone or the passage's mood in a Reading passage.These types of questions are relatively rare on the SAT, but they do come up at least a couple of times per test. Here’s an example: The author mentions "sharpener shavings" (line 10) in order to portray a mood of A. unrestrained joyB. sentimental reminiscenceC. bitter disappointmentD. cautious optimismE. dark foreboding Author technique questions are a subset of inference questions. This is because you have to understand the information in the passage and then take it a step further to make an inference about what feelings the author has toward the subject (tone) or what feelings she is trying to instill in the reader through her writing (mood). However, as with all other SAT Reading questions, you should still be able to find clear evidence for your answer in the passage. How Do I Solve These Types of Questions? Step 1: Carefully Read the Question First, read the question and figure out what it’s asking.If it asks for tone, it wants the answer that best describes the feelings the author has toward her subject.If it asks for mood, it wants the answer that best describes the feeling the specified part of the passage conveys to the reader. Step 2: Read the Lines Referenced in the Question Go back to the passage and look over the lines the question is referencing.I would recommend reading the whole paragraph around whichever line is referenced in the question so you get a full picture of the tone or mood in that section of the passage. Step 3: Think about the Tone or Mood Before you read the answer choices, think for yourself about what the general tone or mood of that section of the passage is.For questions like the example question above, look at where and how the phrase mentioned in the question is used and to what effect. Try to find key descriptive words that indicate the tone or mood and imply connotation. It's often helpful to identify positive or negative connotation for the tone or mood first in order to eliminate a couple of answers that definitely don't fit. Step 4: Go Through the Answer Choices, and Eliminate 4 Once you have a preliminary idea of the tone or mood in the passage, look at the answer choices.Eliminate any that obviously don’t fit based on your judgments about connotation.Then, look at the remaining choices and get more specific with your assessment so you can get rid of four choices.Try to find approximate synonyms for the answer choices in the passage - you should be able to come up with direct evidence for your answer. Now that we know the steps, let’s try and solve a question for real! SO PUMPED. Author Technique in Action Ready? Ok, here’s the question: The author's overall tone in this passage is best described as one of A. jubilationB. frustrationC. curiosityD. appreciationE. uncertainty First, we'll read the question over carefully. This is a tone question, and it’s going to be asking about the passage as a whole.We need to look for the author’s treatment of the subject of the passage and how she feels about it. Now let’s read over the passage: In between school days, we gathered hazelnuts, fished, had long deer-hunting weekends, went to powwows, beaded on looms, and made quilts. I did not question the necessity or value of our school education, but somehow I grew up knowing it wasn't the only education I would need. I'm thankful for those experiences of my Anishinaabe heritage, because now I now by heart not only the national anthem, but the ancient song of the loon. I recognize not only the alphabet and the parts of an English sentence, but the intricate language of a beaver's teeth and tail. The author is talking about her experiences growing up and learning skills relevant to her heritage that she wouldn’t otherwise have learned in school or anywhere else.What might the tone of the passage be? Well, the author definitely seems to have a positive impression of these experiences. We see direct evidence for this when she says â€Å"I’m thankful for those experiences of my Anishinaabe heritage.† It sounds likeshe is grateful for the opportunity she had to learn the skills described in the passage and proud of her heritage.Now that we have our basic idea of the tone, let’s see which answer choices we can eliminate. Choice A: jubilation The author is pleased with her learning experiences, but saying she has a tone of jubilation seems a little extreme.Do we see any words in the passage that indicate jubilation or uncontrolled joy? No, the tone is definitely more measured (calm) than that. Eliminate this one! Choice B: frustration This seems wrong right away because frustration has a negative connotation.The author is not frustrated with the learning experiences she had as a result of her heritage - she says herself that she is thankful for them. There's nothing in the passage that indicates frustration on the part of the author. Cross it out! Choice C: curiosity This could be a tricky one.The author does betray a curious personality because she is interested in learning about a variety of different things.However, even if curiosity might describe the author accurately, it doesn’t describe the tone of the passage. The feelings she presents toward the subject of the passage are nostalgia and gratefulness, not curiosity about her experiences. Get rid of this one too! Choice D: appreciation This choice matches with what we originally thought about the tone.The author even says â€Å"I’m thankful for those experiences† when referring to the descriptions of her childhood in the passage.She clearly appreciates having learned about her heritage and the skills that go along with it in tandem with her standard education. Keep this one! Choice E: uncertainty This answer doesn’t fit with the tone. It has a slightly negative connotation, and there's no evidence for any uncertainty in the passage. The author's feelings about her experiences are clearly stated. This one's wrong! Looks like Choice D is our answer! Did you know loons have red eyes? As if the sound of their "ancient song" wasn't creepy enough. You’ll notice that the key here was to look for direct evidence of tone in the passage.Tone and mood questions trip people up because they seem like they are ambiguous and subjective.Remember that SAT Reading can’t ask you any questions where the answers aren’t concretely supported in the text. For tone and mood questions, always look for keywords in the passage that point to the author’s feelings or the feelings she is trying to instill in the audience.Often you will find close synonyms for the correct answer choice like we did above with â€Å"thankful† and â€Å"appreciation†. You should at the very least be able to determine positive or negative connotation in the tone or mood, which usually helps to eliminate two or three incorrect answer choices. Summary Author Technique questions ask about tone and mood in an SAT Reading passage. To answer an author technique question, you should: 1. Read the question carefully2. Read the lines referenced in the question3. Make a preliminary judgment about the tone or mood4. Read the answer choices, and eliminate four based on the evidence in the passage Remember, even though tone and mood may seem like subjective things, on the SAT there is no ambiguity in answers.Look for direct evidence that points to your answer choice - if you can find it, you will get these questions right every time! What's Next? Want more skills-focused SAT Reading articles? Start with these articles on inference questions and big picture questions, or jump right into our ultimate guide to SAT Reading! What's the best way to get information out of a passage on SAT Reading? Find out the best way to read the passage and what's actually on SAT Reading. 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Sunday, March 1, 2020

That Confusion

5 Cases of Which/That Confusion 5 Cases of â€Å"Which†/â€Å"That† Confusion 5 Cases of â€Å"Which†/â€Å"That† Confusion By Mark Nichol Perhaps you are confused by grammatical discussions of restrictive and nonrestrictive or essential or nonessential clauses. (I know I can never keep those terms straight.) Never mind the nomenclature; when you’re editing your own writing, or someone else’s, simply read the phrase that follows a which (or who) or a that and determine whether the phrase that follows is parenthetical (it can be removed with no change of meaning to the sentence) or it is integral to the sentence. Here are five sample sentences followed by explanation of the problem and a revision. 1. â€Å"The inventor of the Etch A Sketch toy that generations of children drew on, shook up, and started over, has died in France, the toy’s maker said.† The use of that to serve as a grammatical bridge between the name of the product and the phrase describing how it was used implies that more than one type of product called the Etch A Sketch exists; the one that children used as described is, according to this sentence construction, one of two or more types. When that is replaced with which, and which is preceded by a comma, the sentence structure makes clear that the existence of other Etch A Sketch products is not implied: â€Å"The inventor of the Etch A Sketch toy, which generations of children have drawn on and shaken up before starting over, has died in France, the toy’s maker said.† (Note, too, that I have altered the wording explaining how the toy is used and have changed the tense to indicate that the product is extant.) 2. â€Å"It was a time when tensions were growing between the black and Jewish communities that had previously been aligned in efforts to affect social change.† The point of this sentence is not what had occurred between certain communities of black and Jewish people, but what the entire black and Jewish communities had experienced. The restrictive force of that must be replaced by the parenthetical purpose of a comma followed by which: â€Å"It was a time when tensions were growing between the black and Jewish communities, which had previously been aligned in efforts to affect social change.† 3. â€Å"Police are probing allegations of incidents involving the renowned astrophysicist who is paralyzed.† The phrase â€Å"the renowned astrophysicist who is paralyzed† distractingly refers to the concept of astrophysicists who are not paralyzed. However, â€Å"who is paralyzed† is merely additional information appended to the factual statement, and should be attached with a comma followed by who (the equivalent of which): â€Å"Police are probing allegations of incidents involving the renowned astrophysicist, who is paralyzed.† 4. â€Å"The company’s incident-response team can quickly and reliably identify events, which threaten an organization’s security posture.† Here and in the example below, the problem in the previous sentence is reversed: This statement implies that all events are threatening. Replacing the comma and which with that corrects that impression by restricting the meaning to refer specifically to threatening events: â€Å"The company’s incident-response team can quickly and reliably identify events that threaten an organization’s security posture.† 5. â€Å"The court ruled this week that a law passed last summer, which gave five top government-office holders immunity from prosecution, was illegal and must be revoked.† This sentence construction suggests that the summer, rather than the law, granted immunity. Removal of the bracketing commas and replacement of which with that integrates the central point into the framing sentence: â€Å"The court ruled this week that a law passed last summer that gave five top government-office holders immunity from prosecution is illegal and must be revoked.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:75 Synonyms for â€Å"Angry†Used To vs. Use Toâ€Å"Least,† â€Å"Less,† â€Å"More,† and â€Å"Most†