SAT READING AND WRITING

Command of evidence: textual | Lesson

What are "textual evidence" questions?

On the Reading and Writing section of your SAT, some questions will
introduce a claim about an unfamiliar subject. The question will then ask
you to identify the piece of evidence that most strongly supports that
claim.

How should we think about textual evidence questions?

There are two types of textual evidence questions, and we need to think
about each type a little differently.

Scientific evidence

In these textual evidence questions, a hypothesis will be presented about

a subject in science or social science, usually in the context of new
research or experimentation.

We won't need to rely on any previous science knowledge: everything we

need will be contained in the short passage. Our task is to interpret the
researchers' hypothesis, identify the research outcome that would support
that hypothesis, and then select the choice that offers that outcome.

This task should remind you of your science classes, in which you've likely
needed to confirm or refute a hypothesis based on the outcomes of an
experiment.

Literary evidence

In these textual evidence questions, the passage will make an argument

concerning a particular literary work, like a poem or novel. The choices
will then offer a set of quotations from that literary work.

We don't need any previous knowledge of the literary work under

discussion. What we will need is the ability to evaluate whether the
content of each quotation serves as direct evidence for the argument
identified in the question.

This task should remind you of your English classes, in which you've likely
needed to pull quotations from a text to support your arguments in an
analytical essay.

While these two types of questions might seem quite different, the skills
we need to succeed on them, and our approach to finding the answer,
should be quite similar for both.
How to approach textual evidence questions

To solve a textual evidence question, consider following these steps:

Step 1: Identify the argument

Every textual evidence question, whether scientific or literary, will

introduce a central argument for the question. It might be a research
hypothesis, or it might be an interpretation of a literary text, but either
way it will be clearly stated. Your first job is to identify that argument and
draw it out from the text.

For instance, in the example question at the start of this article, you can
identify the following hypothesis: "the sail-like structure running down the
back of the dinosaur Spinosaurus aegyptiacus improved the animal’s
success in underwater pursuits of prey species capable of making quick,
evasive movements".

Step 2: Create a test phrase

Once you've identified the argument you want to support, you should
rephrase that argument in the simplest terms possible.

For example, consider that hypothesis about Spinosaurus aegyptiacus.

The claim is that a sail would help the dinosaur hunt quick prey while
underwater. You could simplify that as follows:

Sail on back = quicker underwater movement

The best choice will make this same argument.

Step 3: Test the choices

Read each choice while keeping your test phrase in mind. Does the choice
say something different than the test phrase? If so, eliminate that choice.

Once you find a choice that makes the same argument as your test
phrase, you've found the answer. You can select that choice with
confidence.

Textual evidence: Example

Jan Gimsa, Robert Sleigh, and Ulrike Gimsa have hypothesized that the
sail-like structure running down the back of the dinosaur Spinosaurus
aegyptiacus improved the animal’s success in underwater pursuits of prey
species capable of making quick, evasive movements. To evaluate their
hypothesis, a second team of researchers constructed two battery-
powered mechanical models of S. aegyptiacus, one with a sail and one
without, and subjected the models to a series of identical tests in a water-
filled tank.

Which finding from the model tests, if true, would most strongly support
Gimsa and colleagues’ hypothesis?

(Choice A) The model with a sail took significantly longer to travel a

specified distance while submerged than the model without a sail did.

The model with a sail took significantly longer to travel a specified

distance while submerged than the model without a sail did.

(Choice B) The model with a sail displaced significantly more water while
submerged than the model without a sail did.

The model with a sail displaced significantly more water while submerged
than the model without a sail did.

(Choice C) The model with a sail had significantly less battery power
remaining after completing the tests than the model without a sail did.

The model with a sail had significantly less battery power remaining after
completing the tests than the model without a sail did.

(Choice D) The model with a sail took significantly less time to complete
a sharp turn while submerged than the model without a sail did.

The model with a sail took significantly less time to complete a sharp turn
while submerged than the model without a sail did.

First we need to focus in on the hypothesis our evidence needs to support:

"the sail-like structure running down the back of the dinosaur Spinosaurus
aegyptiacus improved the animal’s success in underwater pursuits of prey
species capable of making quick, evasive movements"

We can simplify this hypothesis to make our lives a bit easier:

Sail on back = quicker movements

Which choice strengthens this idea?

Choice A does focus on speed of movement, but finds that a sail on the
back = slower movement. This is the opposite of what we want to support.
We can eliminate this choice.

Choice B focuses on water displacement, not the speed of movement. We

can eliminate this choice.

Choice C focuses on the "power" needed to move, not the speed of

movement. We can eliminate this choice.
Choice D focuses on speed of movement, and finds that having a sail
made sharp turns take "significantly less time". In other words: sail on
back = quicker movements. This supports the hypothesis made by the
scientists. Choice D is the answer.

Command of textual evidence: top tips

Be strict!

If a choice almost or kind of feels like evidence, you can likely eliminate it.
If you need to connect too many dots to make the evidence match the
argument, then it’s probably not strong evidence. This type of reasoning
isn’t what we want when we’re looking for strong support.

Stay specific!

Don't stray beyond the focus of the passage. Eliminate choices that
broaden or blur the ideas discussed in the text. And look out for small
twists and turns that make a choice seem relevant when it actually
expresses something unsupported by the passage.

Read the question carefully!

Most command of textual evidence questions will ask you which choice
best “supports” the claim in the text. However, some will ask you which
choice best “undermines” or “challenges” the claim. In these cases, you
must find the evidence that disagrees with the claim. It’s important to
read command of textual evidence questions carefully to make sure you
understand how you should be connecting the evidence in the choices to
the claim in the text.

General SAT Reading and Writing top tips

Ditch the details!

Simplifying and summarizing a text down to its “bare bones” can help you
get to the correct answer on many SAT Reading and Writing questions.
Details like the title of a book or an author’s or researcher’s name usually
don’t help us arrive at the answer. By summarizing the text in your own
words and removing these unnecessary details, you can more easily
identify the key concepts and ideas.

Don’t get hung up on unfamiliar words!

Even though some words in the text may be unfamiliar to you, we can still
usually summarize the text and get to the gist of it without trying to
define these words. When you encounter unfamiliar words, try to guess at
their meanings based on the context, but don’t waste time trying to figure
out their exact definitions. It’s more important to focus on the big picture
of what’s happening in the text. In fact, by focusing on the big picture,
you’ll probably get a better sense of what the unfamiliar words mean
anyway!

Abbreviate the jargon!

“Jargon” refers to special words that are used by a particular profession or

group and are difficult for others to understand. On the SAT Reading &
Writing test, it’s normal to see scientific and technical jargon, such as the
latin name of an animal species or the technical name of a substance.
Instead of trying to read these terms fully and perfectly, abbreviate them!
For instance, if the species is Dermochelys coriacea, abbreviate this to
“D.C.” in your mind as you read. SAT Reading and Writing questions will
never ask you to define or decode jargon. By mentally abbreviating, you
can better focus on the bigger picture: what the passage is actually saying
about those things.

Use the process of elimination and guess!

Eliminate the choices that you know are wrong and narrow it down. Once
you’ve eliminated all the choices you know are wrong, go ahead and
guess one of the remaining choices—there’s no penalty for guessing.
 Central ideas and details
What are "central ideas and details" questions?

On the Reading and Writing section of your SAT, some questions will
present a short passage for you to read. The passage may be excerpted
from a work of literature or from a scholarly essay.

Once you read the passage, you'll be asked either to identify the main
idea of the text or to answer a specific question based on the text.

How should we think about central ideas and details questions?

Central ideas and details questions focus on reading comprehension, and

they do so in a fairly straightforward way.

We won't need any outside knowledge. We won't need to analyze the text
too deeply or do any complex reasoning. We'll simply need to read the
passage carefully.

Central ideas

Central ideas questions ask us to identify "the main idea" of the passage.
Since the passages for these questions are fairly short, finding this main
idea shouldn't be too tricky.

The main idea should

 cover a majority of the details introduced in the text.

 mention any particular points of emphasis from the text.

The main idea should not

 focus too intently on just one detail from the text.

 introduce new ideas not addressed within the text.
 contradict information from the text.

Details
Details questions ask us to answer a specific question about an idea
contained in the passage. Details questions can usually be answered
using information from one particular sentence in the text.

These questions will contain words, phrases, or ideas that direct us to the
appropriate part of the text. Once there, we simply need to find the
correct detail needed to answer the question.

How to approach central ideas and details questions

To solve a central ideas and details question, consider following these
steps:

Step 1: Summarize the text in your own words

Don't just skim the passage. Read it closely, and try to summarize the
ideas you encounter in your own words. By the time you finish reading,
you should have a strong understanding of the information contained in
the passage.

Step 2: Determine the task

The question that follows the passage will reveal your task. Does it ask
about the "main idea"? Or does it ask about a particular piece of
information?

Step 3: Revisit the text

If the question is about the main idea, then revisit your summary of the
text to find the overarching theme.

If the question asks about something specific, then head to that section of
the passage to search out the correct detail.

Step 4: Predict and eliminate

Based on your understanding of the passage, you should be able to

answer to the question fairly accurately without even looking at the
choices. If someone asked you to summarize the text, what would you
say?

For instance, in the example question , we might predict that the main
idea is something like
"Ashley D. Farmer has improved the study of the Black Power movement
by exploring the roles of women."

Once you predict the answer in your own words, it should be pretty easy
to find a match among the choices. If you're still not sure, you can
eliminate your way to the answer by getting rid of choices that contradict
the passage or introduce new ideas.

Central ideas and details: Example

Many intellectual histories of the Black Power movement of the 1960s and
1970s rely heavily on essays and other explicitly ideological works as
primary sources, a tendency that can overrepresent the perspectives of a
small number of thinkers, most of whom were male. Historian Ashley D.
Farmer has shown that expanding the array of primary sources to
encompass more types of print material—including political cartoons,
advertisements, and artwork—leads to a much better understanding of
the movement and the crucial and diverse roles that Black women played
in shaping it.

Which choice best describes the main idea of the text?

Choose 1 answer:

(A) Before Farmer’s research, historians had largely ignored the

intellectual dimensions of the Black Power movement.

(B) Farmer’s methods and research have enriched the historical

understanding of the Black Power movement and Black women’s
contributions to it..

(C) Other historians of the Black Power movement have criticized

Farmer’s use of unconventional primary sources.

(D) The figures in the Black Power movement whom historians tend to
cite would have agreed with Farmer’s conclusions about women’s roles in
the movement.

We should start by paraphrasing the passage in our own words:

 Histories of the Black Power movement tend to focus on men.

 Ashley D. Farmer studies a wider variety of sources.
 Farmer's work increases understanding of Black Power movement,
especially women's roles.
In order to describe "the main idea of the text", the best choice will need
to accurately capture these ideas. It will also need to avoid introducing
information that's not covered in the passage.

If we were to make a prediction, the main idea might be something

like

"Farmer has improved the study of the Black Power movement by

exploring the roles of women."

Now let's look at the choices. Do any of them match our prediction?

Choice A actually says the opposite of what we learned in the passage.

We're told that there were "many intellectual histories" of the Black Power
movement before Farmer's. We can eliminate this choice.

Choice C introduces information not included in the passage. The text

doesn't mention what other historians think of Farmer's research. If it's not
mentioned, then it can't be a "main idea". We can eliminate this choice.

Choice D introduces information not included in the passage. We're not

told about the beliefs of "figures in the Black Power movement." If the text
doesn't mention this information, then it can't be a "main idea". We can
eliminate this choice.

Only choice B accurately captures the central ideas we identified in the

text, including a specific mention of "Black women's contributions" to the
Black Power movement. Choice B also avoids introducing any ideas that
can't be found in the passage. Choice B is the answer.

Central ideas and details: top tips

Stay specific!
Don't stray beyond the focus of the passage. Eliminate choices that
broaden or blur the ideas discussed in the text. And look out for small
twists and turns that make a choice seem relevant when it actually
expresses something unsupported by the passage. If you happen to have
outside knowledge of the topic being discussed, don’t call on this outside
knowledge! Stick only to what is being discussed in the text.

Keep your predictions as short and simple as possible!

If your prediction is just as long as the passage itself, it’s not simple
enough! Keep simplifying it until you can sum it up in one brief idea, then
use that prediction as a test. The more concise your prediction, the
quicker and easier it will be to check it against the choices.

Details: use keywords as a map!

When a question asks about a detail from the passage, it will often do so
by referencing key words and phrases from the text. Look for those words
in the passage: they'll direct you towards the answer you seek!