Writing Section

Sec 1: Essay 25mins 1st section on the SAT

Sec 2: 35 mcq 25 mins : 11Q improving sentences
18Q Identifying sentence errors
6Q Improving paragraphs
Sec 3: 14 mcq 10 min Improving sentences

Sentence Errors
2 essential elements : subject and verb
Subject is always person or thing performing action
Always identify subject first
Object of a sentence is the person or thing towards whom the action is
being performed
Information between two commas can be bypassed

Pronouns are replacements for nouns

Pronoun Agreement: Can replace a singular noun with only a singular
pronoun and vice versa
When a sentence is made up of two sentences we call 1 a clause
( sentence that has its own subject and verb)
Clause- Part of a sentence that can be a sentence of its own
Dont confuse subject and verb of one clause with that of the
other
Pronoun case: The function a word performs in the sentence
Pronouns have two functions: 1- can replace subject ( subjective case
pronoun) or 2- can replace object ( objective case pronoun)
Cannot use subject in objective case and objective in subjective
case
You can be used subjectively or objectively
Who is subjective, Whom is objective
In _________ and _________ sentences when confused about when to use
objective and when subjective cut out the _________ and and see if the
pronoun works or not
Pronoun Shift: If you replace a noun with a particular pronoun you must
continue to use that pronoun for the remaining sentence.
Ambiguous Pronoun: this occurs when unable to see which noun has
been replaced by a pronoun ( usually when there are two names
performing the same action)
Comparisons Using Pronouns: sometimes you may have to add a verb
after a noun when the wrong case is used WHAT IS THIS?????????????

Subject Verb Agreement

Commonly confused verbs: Is, are, was, were

Ways the SAT can trick you with SVA:

Verb before the subject
Whenever there is a verb with an s at the end it is a singular verb
They might separate the subject and the verb ( rule about info between
two commas can be bypassed
Neither. Nor sentences have 2 subjects, if either one of the two
subjects are plural then the verb must be plural
Subject that is singular but appears plural ( LOOK at table in other notes)
In sentences like ____of______ (eg number of reasons) the first ______ is
always the subject of the sentence

Tenses
Anonymous verb: Simple past and past participle
50 years ago I swam across the Atlantic ocean
50 years ago I had swum across the Atlantic ocean
Whenever there is had or have before a verb, verb must be in the past
participle form
Illogical Tense Switch: When the author of a sentence has unintentionally
changed the tense of the sentence this is an error
The conditional: Any conditional sentence must take this structure: If
. were .. would. ( e.g If I were to play in the park
I would possibly get hurt). You cannot change any of these three words ( i.e say
may or was or anything like that)

Parallelism
Parallelism can occur in two different situations, when a comparison occurs
parallelism tells us that the comparison must be balanced
You cannot say: The value of bank A is greater than Bank B
You must say: The value of Bank A is greater than that of/ the value of Bank B
Or when you have a list of items parallelism tells us that each of these
items must start and end the same way
Gerund: this is a verb ending in the form .ing as oppose to the infinitive
form ( punching and to punch)
A gerund error occurs when the infinitive verb form and the gerund verb form are
present within a clause. This may or may not be an error. To test if this is an error
replace the underlined verb with its gerund or infinitive form and check whether
it flows more fluently.

Idioms: These cannot be taught, you have to know them naturally if not too
bad. E.g
While the principle of the high scool is relatively laid back the VP is often
accused to be too harsh with the students - incorrect
While the principle of the high school is relatively laid back the VP is often
accused of being too harsh with the students correct
Wrong words: look at table in other notes ( your youre)
Double negative: placing a not before barely hardly or merely creates a
double negative. There are other situations, look at table in notes.

Improving sentences
3 steps: 1 find error 2 find solution 3 choose answer
Must look for: simplicity, conciseness, clarity
Passive voice error: Convert this to the active voice by making the subject
appear before the verb
Run on sentence error: tow sentences joint by only a comma is a run on
sentence error
Solution 1: replace the comma with a semi colon
Solution 2: put a conjunction after the comma
1 is used when the subject matter of both the sentences is the same
2:
Can be used for any 2 types of sentences
Cannot use a conjunction after a semicolon
Conjunctions therefore and However do not behave like
conjunctions. By putting these after a comma you still must put another
conjunction and these can be placed after a semi colon
Misplaced Modifier: modifying phrase- used to describe or explain a noun
A sentence can be joined o a modifying phrase using only a comma
The subject must be placed directly before or after a modifier
Parallelism: Same as previous
Wordiness: If the same idea can be presented in a for with less words choose
the choice with fewer words.

4 Minor errors

Conjunctions: error is whether the conjunction should occur or not, or whether

the correct conjunction is being used or not
Fragment: Has a subject but not a verb
Coordination and Subordination: Using the right type of conjunction in
joining two clauses
A contrasting conjunction is used for two contrasting clauses while a noncontrasting conjunction is used for two supportive clauses
Pronouns: Same as before
Shortcuts (correct 50 percent of the time, only use these when
narrowed down to 3 or less choices):

Go with shortest option

Eliminate all choices that change the meaning of the sentence
Eliminate all choices that begin with words ending in ing
Go with option A
Choose option without Being or having been

Improving Paragraphs
Deals with :
Passage organization
Style
Syntax
4 types of questions:
Sentence revision Qs
Improving sentence Qs:
In contrast what is the best revision of the sentence
Reproduce sentence
Insert word or phrase in sentence usually in context
Sentence Combination Questions:
Join two sentences, may be two diff sentences may be a fragment and a
sentence
Sentence addition questions: Insert a sentence In the passage
In the beginning: Topic sentence, comments on previous paragraph,
gives idea of content in next paragraph, gives role of paragraph in
passage.

In middle of paragraph: Join two sentences with a sentence of mutual subject

matter
At the end: conclusion
Essay analysis Question: idea or purpose of passage
The idea or purpose if often contained in the first or last sentences of
the passage or paragraphs
Authors tone or viewpoint Questions: Keep an eye out for the types of
adjectives been used
Rhetorical devices questions: Personification, Similie . Why they have
been used or what has or has not been used.

The Essay

3 sections:
24 q 25 mins 24 q- 25 mins
19Q- 20 mins
In the beginning of each section there is a list of sentence completion in blocks of
5-6-8
The remaining qs on each passage are on comprehension
67 total question
19Q sentence completion
48Q comprehension

Sentence completion
All the info you need is in the sentence itself
Use the context of the sentence
Move from easy to difficult
Learn connectives
Step 1: spot the conjunction (aka the switch)
Could have a non contrasting conjunction one way switch
Could have a contrasting conjunction known as the two way switch
Could have no conjunction known as no switch
Step 2: Spot the flow of the sentence
i.e whether the conjunction is contrasting( clauses flowing in opposite directions)
whether the conjunction is non contrasting (causes a flow of both clauses in
the same direction
when there is no conjunction, assume it is one way flow except when the
sentence describes a
change over time, then the sentence becomes a two
way flow.
Step 3: Come up with your own word for the blank
Step 4: Pick out the right option
For vocab:
Look at word charge: either positive or neg word
Four diff types of sc qs

One blank/one way

One blank two way
Two blank one way
Two blank two way

For two blanks the blanks could be far apart or close together
Critical reading passages short and long
Long: 500-800 words
Short: 80-100
Long:

Kamikaze approach
Orthodox approach skim read the whole passage and make notes so
that you remember
Mixed approach: Read first and Last sentence of passage

7 types of Questions:
Main Idea Question: 1st and Last sentence of each paragraph to see if you can
pick out the main idea
Attitude or Tone Q: 3 possible answers to this:
negative tone, Neutral tone or positive tone: by looking at types of adjectives he
uses
once decided tone, cancel out all opposing options, then think about degree of
tone
Specific information question: Direct you to particular part of passage, look
for information thats explicitly stated in the passage, which option is or is not
mentioned there. Can answer this question straight away-.
Implied information question: Suggesting question, look at hints that have
been provided and infer an answer from that, will point you out to a particular
line or part in the passage. Answer will always be buried in the context
sentences(sentences above or below). Can employ kamikaze strat
Themes and argument question: Will refer you to particular paragraph or part
in the passage, will ask for particular theme or argument in the passage.
Technique question: deals with metaphors similes, look at bigger picture
(context sentences), -leave question to the endWords in context: treat like a sentence completion question
Short reading dual passage q:
First 2 question abt passage 1 3rd about 2, 4th about both question together
Find answers for question 1, 2 and 3 using kamikaze and then answer q 4

Long reading Dual passages:

Later test 2-5 2nd and 3rd tests in the folder