As you already know from your own reading, multiple authors can write about the same themes from different points of view. One may write about the benefits of exercise, while another may focus on the dangers of excessive exercise. Both, however, are writing about exercise. Similarly, one author may write a poem on wildflowers while another writes a treatise on the conservation of natural flora. Again, both are writing on the same theme: native plants. On the TEAS, you may be given two stimuli, such as two passages or a passage and a graphic, and asked to compare and contrast their themes and their authors’ points of view.
A theme is the subject or central idea of a piece of work. A visual representation and a text may concern the same theme. For example, Mathew Brady’s graphic Civil War photos could be paired with a soldier’s letter home about casualties at the Battle of Antietam.
In some cases, the shared theme is obvious, as it would be with the photos and letter above. Other times the shared theme is more subtle. A newspaper account of the maiden voyage of a new supertanker might be paired with a fictional story about fishing in a local pond. Despite their disparate settings, both passages concern how people interact with water.
Even when two sources have the same or similar themes, the authors may disagree with each other. For example, one author may write about the benefits of video games for hand-eye coordination, reaction time, and stress management, while the other draws a cartoon about how video games waste a student’s valuable time. The theme is the same, but the conclusions are quite different. On the TEAS, you may be asked to identify points on which the two authors both agree and disagree, so note which author has what point of view.
A primary source is written by a person who actually witnessed the event. Examples include a journalist writing about a battle for a newspaper or a soldier describing that battle in a letter home, a film critic reviewing a movie, or a scientist documenting an experiment. Primary sources can be written in the first person (using the pronoun I) or in the more neutral third person.
A secondary source is at least one step removed from a primary source. Often it is an interpretation of the primary source, a commentary on it, or a quote from it. Examples of secondary sources are a history textbook, a paper for school that analyzes President Franklin Roosevelt’s speeches, or a government publication that analyzes data on housing starts and home ownership patterns.
Follow along as a TEAS expert answers two questions about a pair of passages.
Passage 1: The new high school exit exam is unfair. It assumes a higher level of science knowledge than is taught in our local public high schools. In order for high school students to pass the exit exam, high schools must upgrade their science education.
Passage 2: In this technological world, it is imperative that high school students receive a thorough education in science. This will not only allow them to enter a science career but also enable this country to compete with other countries that excel in the sciences and technology.
| Question | Analysis |
| Step 1: The first passage starts with a problem, then offers the solution of better science education. The second passage is also about science education, focusing on its importance for careers and international competition. Note the author’s topic, scope, and purpose for each passage. | |
| Which of the following best captures the two paragraphs’ shared theme? | Step 2: This question asks you to identify a theme shared by both passages. |
| Step 3: If you had read the passages without taking notes, different details might stand out in your memory, making it difficult to identify the main topic they have in common. Because you jotted down a passage map, however, you can easily identify the authors’ shared interest. | |
| Step 4: Predict that the answer will concern the value of a good high school science education. | |
| (A) The new high school exit exam is unfair. | Step 5: This answer refers to passage 1 only. |
| (B) Science education is important in today’s world. | Correct. This is a stated theme in both passages, so it matches the prediction. |
| (C) Public school science teachers are not well trained. | Neither passage refers to teacher training. |
| (D) Private schools provide excellent science education. | Private schools are not mentioned in either passage. |
| Question | Analysis |
| Identify the primary difference between the content in passage 1 and that in passage 2. | Step 2: This question asks how the passages differ. |
| Step 3: Again, check your passage map to confirm your understanding of the difference in the passages’ scope. Both passages deal with the importance of science education. However, the author of passage 1 is concerned with helping students pass the high school exit exam, while the author of passage 2 cares about individuals’ future career opportunities and the nation’s competitiveness. | |
| Step 4: Predict that the major difference is the reasons the authors give for providing strong science education. |
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| (A) The passages express different opinions about how important science is today. | Step 5: This answer is the opposite of the prediction. Both authors agree on the importance of a good science education. |
| (B) The first passage is concerned with a biased test, while the second assumes that the test is fair. | The test—the high school exit exam—is only mentioned in the first passage. There is no way to know the second author’s opinion of the exam. |
| (C) The second passage refutes the claim that science education is more important than technology education. | Neither passage claims that technology education is more important than science education. |
| (D) The passages differ in the support they provide for the importance of science education. | Correct. As predicted, the authors support their claims with different reasons. |
Now practice answering two questions on your own. After reading and mapping the passage and answering the questions, check your work against the explanations that follow.
Passage 1: When we were kids, Teresa was the bane of my life. She
tormented me in school with nasty comments about my clothes, hair, attitude,
and, most especially, the fact that I was smart. Today I make an excellent
living as an architect, and my buildings are landmarks all over the world. Teresa, on the other hand, lives in
obscurity in the same little town in which we grew up. Is it any wonder that it
gave me great pleasure to greet her at our 20th high school reunion?
Proverb: Revenge is a dish best served cold.
The author of the passage and someone who quoted the proverb would agree that
Step 1:
Topic: revenge
Scope: pleasure gained after a long time
Purpose: to support delayed revenge
Passage 1: description of bullying and the victim’s revenge 20 years later
Proverb: highlights the satisfaction from delayed vengeance
Step 2: This question asks you to select the statement supported by both parts of the stimulus.
Step 3: Research your passage map, looking for a common theme.
Step 4: Both the passage and the proverb speak of the pleasure derived from delayed vengeance.
Step 5: The only answer that reflects the shared theme is choice (B). Though it uses the word "retaliation" instead of "revenge," the meaning is the same. "Bullying" in choice (A) is discussed in the first passage only, and it does not say that bullying should be prohibited. Choice (C) incorrectly focuses on food rather than on revenge; passage 1 does not mention food, and the proverb uses food as a metaphor. Choice (D) is extreme ("always"), and "punishment" is not discussed by either stimulus.
Which of the two sources is/are a primary source?
Step 2: This question asks which of the two statements, or conceivably both, is a primary source, meaning it was written by a person who experienced the event described.
Step 3: Note who authored passage 1 and the proverb and their relationship to any event discussed.
Step 4: Only the passage is a primary source. It is a first-person account written by the individual who was bullied and went on to become a successful architect. A proverb has no known author and is simply a widely quoted piece of wisdom. The correct answer will include only the passage.
Step 5: Only the first statement, choice (A), is a primary source.