Chapter 8 Introduction to SAT Writing and Language Strategy

The Writing and Language section of the SAT takes 35 minutes and consists of 44 questions. In this chapter, we will talk about the unique format of some of these questions and a strategy that will help you to tackle any Writing and Language question you see.

CAN YOU REALLY TEST WRITING ON A MULTIPLE-CHOICE TEST?

We’d say no, but the SAT (and a heck of a lot of other tests) seems to think the answer is yes. To that end, the SAT is giving you 35 minutes to answer 44 multiple-choice questions that ask about a variety of grammatical and stylistic topics. If you like to read and/or write, this test may frustrate you a bit because it may seem to boil writing down to a couple of dull rules. But as you will see, we will use the next few chapters to suggest a method that keeps things simple for pro- and anti-grammarians alike.

WHERE DID ALL THE QUESTIONS GO?

One thing that can seem a little strange about the Writing and Language section of the SAT is that many of the questions don’t have, well, questions. Instead, most look something like this:

The history of language although it may sound like a boring subject, is a treasure trove of historical, cultural, and psychological insights.

A) NO CHANGE

B) language, although it may sound like a boring subject

C) language, although it may sound, like a boring subject,

D) language, although it may sound like a boring subject,

This may seem a little odd. How are you supposed to pick an answer when there’s no question? It might seem as if the SAT is not giving you enough information.

Well, actually, as we’ll discuss throughout the next few chapters, the SAT gives you a lot of information—it’s just hidden in the answer choices.

Look at these pairs, and you’ll see just what we mean. As you read through these pairs of answer choices, think about what each question is probably testing.

i.	A) could of
	B) could have
ii.	A) tall, dark, and handsome
	B) tall, dark and handsome
iii.	A) let them in
	B) let Sister Susie and Brother John in
iv.	A) We arrived in Paris on a Sunday. Then we took the train to Nantes. Then we took the train to Bordeaux.
	B) We arrived in Paris on a Sunday. Then we took the train to Bordeaux. Then we took the train to Nantes.

If you were able to see the differences in these answer choices, you’re already more than halfway there. Now, notice how the differences in these answers can reveal the question that is lurking in the heart of each list of answer choices.

The difference between the word “of” and “have” means that this question is asking, Is the correct form “could of” or “could have”?
The difference between having a comma after the word “dark” and not having one there means that this question is asking, How many commas does this sentence need, and where do they belong?
The difference between “them” and “Sister and Susie and Brother John” means that this question is asking, Is “them” adequately specific, or do you need to refer to people by name?
The difference between the order of these sentences asks, What order should the sentences be in?

Therefore, what we have noticed in these pairs of answer choices is something that may seem fairly simple but is essential to success on the SAT.

THE ANSWER CHOICES ASK THE QUESTIONS

At some point, you’ve almost certainly had to do the English-class exercise called “peer editing.” In this exercise, you are tasked with “editing” the work of one of your fellow students. But this can be really tough, because what exactly does it mean to “edit” an entire essay or paper when you aren’t given any directions? It’s especially tough when you start getting into the subtleties between whether things are wrong or whether they could merely be improved.

Look, for example, at these two sentences:

It was a beautiful day outside birds were singing cheerful songs.

It was a beautiful day outside; birds were singing cheerful songs.

You’d have to pick the second one in this case because the first has a grammatical error: it’s a run-on sentence.

Now, look at these two sentences:

The weather was just right, so I decided to play soccer.

Just right was how I would describe the weather, so a decision of soccer-playing was made by me.

In this case, the first sentence is obviously better than the second, but the second technically doesn’t have any grammatical errors in it. The first may be better, but the second isn’t exactly wrong.

What made each of these pairs of sentences relatively easy to deal with, though, was the fact that you could compare the sentences to one another. In doing so, you noted the differences between those sentences, and you picked the better answer accordingly.

Let’s see how this looks in a real SAT situation.

Language is a living document shows how people think and communicate.

A) NO CHANGE

B) document it shows

C) document that shows

D) document, which showing

Here’s How to Crack It

First, look at what’s changing in the answer choices. The word “document” remains the same in each, but the subsequent word or words change each time. This question, then, seems to be asking, Which words will best link the two ideas in the sentence?

Choices (A) and (D) create sentence fragments, so those should be eliminated. Choice (B) creates a run-on sentence, so that should also be eliminated. It looks like only (C) appropriately links the ideas without adding new errors.

Notice how that entire process started by asking, “What’s changing in the answer choices?” With that question, we figured out what was being tested, and we used POE to do the rest.

Let’s try another.

A community’s very soul, we might say, is communicated through their language.

A) NO CHANGE

B) they’re language.

C) their languages.

D) its language.

Here’s How to Crack It

As always, start with what is changing in the answer choices. It looks like the main change is between the words “their,” “they’re,” and “its,” with a minor change between the words “language” and “languages.” As such, this question seems to be asking, What is the appropriate pronoun to use in this context, and just how many “languages” are we talking about?

Start wherever is easiest. In this case, it can be a bit difficult to say for sure whether we are talking about one language or about a bunch of languages. Instead, let’s work with the pronoun. What does it refer back to? In this sentence, it seems that the pronoun refers back to “a community,” which is a singular noun (even though it describes a lot of people). Therefore, the only possible answer that could work is (D), which contains the singular pronoun “its.”

Notice that the ambiguity between one language and many languages became irrelevant. Sometimes fixing one problem takes care of others!

LEARN FROM THE ANSWER CHOICES

Let’s think about the previous question a bit more. If someone said to you, A community’s very soul, we might say, is communicated through their language, you might not necessarily hear that as wrong. That’s because the way we speak is often very different from the way we write. Bear in mind that you are taking the SAT Writing and Language test: in this section, the SAT is therefore more concerned with how we write and with the stricter set of rules that go along with writing.

As such, the answer choices can not only tell us what a particular question is testing, they can also reveal mistakes that we might not have otherwise seen (in the original sentence) or heard (in our heads). In the previous question, we might not have noted the mistake at all if we hadn’t looked at what was changing in the answer choices.

Let’s look at another.

For all intensive purposes, any social, cultural, or historical study must start with an analysis of language.

A) NO CHANGE

B) For all intents and purposes,

C) For all intent’s and purpose’s,

D) For all intensive purpose’s,

Here’s How to Crack It

First, as always, check what’s changing in the answer choices. In this case, that step is especially important because you can’t really hear the error. People misuse this idiom all the time because they so rarely see it written, and all four of the answer choices sound basically the same. So, having checked the answer choices in this case reveals an error that you might not have otherwise seen or heard.

Then, start the process of elimination. There’s no good reason to have apostrophes anywhere (there are neither contractions nor possessions), so eliminate (C) and (D). Then, if you’re not sure, take a guess. The correct form of the saying here is (B).

Notice, though, that looking at the answer choices revealed the problem that you might not have otherwise been able to see or hear. POE got you the rest of the way.

POE DOES THE BIG WORK

Once you have a sense of what the question is testing, POE can get you closer and closer to the answer. POE is especially helpful when you’re dealing with sentences that have lots of issues, like the following one:

It may seem that how people speak is distinct from how they are acting; however, there’s something that most historians will tell you is wrong.

A) NO CHANGE

B) they act, however, there’s something

C) they are acting, however, that’s something

D) they act; however, that’s something

Here’s How to Crack It

First, as always, check what’s changing in the answer choices. In this case, there are three things changing: the difference between act and are acting, the difference between that’s and there’s, and the difference between a period and a semicolon. While this may seem like a lot, this is actually a huge POE opportunity! Start with the one you find easiest, and work backward from there.

Because the semicolon is not commonly used, let’s save the punctuation part for last. Hopefully we can get the right answer without having to deal with the punctuation at all. Let’s start with the difference between that’s and there’s. The sentence doesn’t contain any mention of place, so the sentence can’t contain there’s, eliminating (A) and (B). Then, to choose between the last two, they act is more concise and more consistent with the rest of the sentence than is they are acting, which makes (D) better than (C). In this instance, we got to the correct answer without having to deal with all the messiness in the question!

ALL OF THE QUESTIONS CAN’T BE WRONG ALL OF THE TIME

Now that our strategy is basically set, let’s look at one more tough one.

Your knowledge of grammar and vocabulary may be shaky, but you can learn a lot from some basic tenets of linguistics.

A) NO CHANGE

B) You’re knowledge of grammar or vocabulary might be shaky,

C) Your knowledge of grammar and vocabulary might be shakily,

D) You’re knowledge of grammar and vocabulary might be shaky,

Here’s How to Crack It

As always, check the answers first. In this case, here’s what’s changing: the answers are switching between your and you’re, between and and or, and between shaky and shakily. Let’s do the easy parts first!

First of all, there’s no reason to insert the word shakily here. You can’t say that someone has shakily knowledge of something, so eliminate (C). Then, the knowledge belongs to you, so it is your knowledge, not you are knowledge, thus eliminating (B) and (D). This leaves us with (A).

Remember, NO CHANGE is right sometimes! Some people pick it too often. Some people don’t pick it enough, but if you’ve done the other steps in the process and have eliminated all the other choices, go ahead and pick (A)!

How to Ace the Writing and Language Section: A Strategy

Check what’s changing in the answer choices.
Figure out what the question is testing and let the differences reveal potential errors.
Use Process of Elimination.
If you haven’t eliminated three answers, pick the shortest one that is most consistent with the rest of the sentence.

A Note for the High-Scorer

Whatever your scoring level, the strategy we’ve outlined in this chapter will help you. In fact, it may help you more the higher you score. If you do well in your English classes, or if you’ve got a pretty good grasp of grammar, you might rely a little too much on your ability to intuit mistakes. The SAT’s got some tricks up its sleeve, however, and they know that even the best grammarians out there will make some mistakes by going with some vaguely defined intuition.

If you check what’s changing in the answer choices, you don’t have to go on sense alone. You can use your knowledge of grammar in conjunction with a good strategy. For instance, we recently saw this sentence in an e-mail subject line.

Can you score more points than us?

Sounds fine, right? How about if we ask you to choose between these sentences?

Can you score more points than us?

Can you score more points than we?

It still seems like the first sounds better, but now at least you know that there might be a problem because you see the two sentences next to each other. Now you might see that, in fact, the better choice is the second one because the sentence could be extended to say, Can you score more points than we can?

This is a pretty simple example, but it shows that you can’t always trust your ear even if you do speak (for the most part) correctly. The changes in the answer choices reveal mistakes that you might not have been able to see or hear initially.

In the next few chapters, we’ll get into some of the more technical issues in Writing and Language, but we’ll be using this strategy throughout. Try the exercises on the next page to get some of the basics down.

Quick Quiz: Answer Choices

Instructions: The object of this drill is to get a basic idea of what each question is testing from only the answer choices. Check your answers here.

A) NO CHANGE

B) babies’ favorite bottles

C) baby’s favorite bottle’s

D) babies’ favorite bottles’

What’s changing in the answer choices?