What Is Tested on the SAT Writing?

When you write in academic settings and in your future career, you will need to use correct grammar, proper wording, logical organization, and
persuasive evidence. The SAT Writing tests your skill in determining which choices lead to the highest quality essays. In addition to your knowledge of
specific grammar rules, a broad understanding of written English will ensure you do your very best on this section. When in doubt about your approach
to the SAT Writing, keep in mind that if you are using the same skills that would be effective in editing a paper, you are likely doing things the right
way.
How Is the SAT Writing Structured?

Part of the Reading and Writing Section (two modules of 27 questions each, 32 minutes each)
The first Reading and Writing module will be of standard difficulty, and the second module will be more or less difficult depending on your
performance on the first module.

 Approximately 25 of the 54 total Reading and Writing questions are Writing ones.
 Out of these 25 questions, about 14 relate to Standard English Conventions and about 11 relate to the Expression of Ideas.
 The writing questions come after the reading questions in a module.

Domain: Expression of Ideas (Writing)

Rhetorical Synthesis
 Rhetorical Synthesis questions are really all about relevance. These question types require the test taker to effectively use relevant
information from the notes to accomplish a specific goal. The key here is identifying the goal first and then determining which
information is relevant to that goal.

 Relevance questions
o The passage is a set of bulleted notes pertaining to a specific topic.
o The bulleted list is introduced by: “While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:”

Example: “The student wants to emphasize [specific information from the notes]. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information
from the notes to accomplish this goal?”

What are "rhetorical synthesis" questions?

On the Reading and Writing section of your SAT, some questions will provide you with a series of bulleted notes that contain related information
about an unfamiliar topic. The question will then ask you to effectively use relevant information from the notes to accomplish a particular goal.

Rhetorical synthesis questions will look like this:

RHETORIAL SYNTHESIS: EXAMPLE

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

 Maika’i Tubbs is a Native Hawaiian sculptor and installation artist.

  His work has been shown in the United States, Canada, Japan, and Germany, among other places.
 Many of his sculptures feature discarded objects.
 His work Erasure (2008) includes discarded audiocassette tapes and magnets.
 His work Home Grown (2009) includes discarded pushpins, plastic plates and forks, and wood.

The student wants to emphasize a similarity between the two works. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to
accomplish this goal?

Correct answer
How should we think about rhetorical synthesis questions?

Rhetorical synthesis questions throw a lot of information at us. If we focus too much on that information, we can easily lose track of what the question
is actually asking us to do.

The key to success on these questions is to ignore all the details at first and to focus in on the goal identified in the question prompt.

If we understand how rhetorical synthesis questions are structured, finding this goal should be easy.

Question structure

Every rhetorical synthesis question has the same parts:

 an introduction
 a series of bulleted facts
 a question prompt
  the choices
Many test-takers will instinctively be drawn to the bulleted information first. However, we should instead focus on the question prompt.

The question prompt will identify a goal for our solution sentence. For example, we might be asked to emphasize a similarity or difference, or
to introduce a study and its findings, or to provide an explanation and example of some particular idea.

Only one of the choices will accomplish this goal. In fact, if we’re short on time but are focused on the identified goal and explore the choices, we can
often answer rhetorical synthesis questions without ever reading the bulleted information.

How to approach rhetorical synthesis questions

If we actually had to compose the answer to a rhetorical synthesis question, our job would be much harder and more open-ended. We'd need to
examine the presented information closely, decide which information is most relevant, and write a clear and concise sentence of our own making.

But since rhetorical synthesis questions are multiple choice, we can avoid all that complexity and be much more systematic.

To solve a rhetorical synthesis question, follow these three steps:

Step 1: Identify the goal

Start by reading the question prompt. What does the correct choice need to accomplish?
This goal will be plainly stated. For instance, in the example item at the start of this lesson, the goal is "to emphasize a similarity between the two
works".

If you find yourself confused by the stated goal, you can get some more context by reading the bulleted information. But you won't need to understand
all those details to be able to complete the next step.

Step 2: Test the choices

All of the choices will present a grammatical sentence that accurately represents information from the bullets. This means we don't need to determine
whether or not the sentences contain errors. We only need to focus on the goal.

Read through each choice. As you do, ask yourself, "does this sentence accomplish the identified goal?"

If the answer is no, eliminate that option.

Step 3: Select the choice that matches

Once you've tested each answer choice, you should find that only one choice successfully accomplishes the goal defined in the question. You can select
that choice with confidence!

Top tips

Simplify the goal

The simpler you can make the goal, the easier it will be to test the choices. For example, if the question wants to "emphasize a difference
between thing X and thing Y", we can simplify our test to just "difference".

Does each choice describe "difference"? If not, we can eliminate it.

Simplifying the goal can help us eliminate a few choices very quickly. But we may have to reexamine the complete goal to distinguish between the
remaining choices.

Be strict!

Don't be generous with choices that "kind of" or "almost" accomplish the goal. If a choice doesn't completely address all parts of the goal, we can
eliminate it. Details matter!

Ignore the grammar

All of the choices will be well-written and grammatically correct. Make your choice based on the information the choices contain, not how good they
sound in the sentence.

Practice

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

· Maika'i Tubbs is a Native Hawaiian sculptor and installation artist.

· His work has been shown in the United States, Canada, Japan, and Germany, among other places.
· Many of his sculptures feature discarded objects.
· His work Erasure (2008) includes discarded audiocassette tapes and magnets.
· His work Home Grown (2009) includes discarded pushpins, plastic plates and forks, and wood.

The student wants to emphasize a similarity between the two works. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to
accomplish this goal?

A. Erasure (2008) uses discarded objects such as audiocassette tapes and magnets; Home Grown (2009), however, includes pushpins, plastic plates and
forks, and wood.
B. Like many of Tubbs's sculptures, both Erasure and Home Grown include discarded objects: Erasure uses audiocassette tapes, and Home Grown uses
plastic forks.
C. Tubbs's work, which often features discarded objects, has been shown both within the United States and abroad.
D. Tubbs completed Erasure in 2008 and Home Grown in 2009.
2

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

· Marine biologist Camille Jazmin Gaynus studies coral reefs.

· Coral reefs are vital underwater ecosystems that provide habitats to 25% of all marine species.
· Reefs can include up to 8,000 species of fish, such as toadfish, seahorses, and clown triggerfish.
· The Amazon Reef is a coral reef in Brazil.
· It is one of the largest known reefs in the world.

The student wants to introduce the scientist and her field of study to a new audience. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the
notes to accomplish this goal?

A. Located in Brazil, the Amazon Reef is one of the largest known coral reefs in the world.
B. Marine biologist Camille Jazmin Gaynus studies coral reefs, vital underwater ecosystems that provide homes to 25% of all marine species.
C. Providing homes to 25% of all marine species, including up to 8,000 species of fish, coral reefs are vital underwater ecosystems and thus of great
interest to marine biologists.
D. As Camille Jazmin Gaynus knows well, coral reefs are vital underwater ecosystems, providing homes to thousands of species of fish.
3

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

· A thermal inversion is a phenomenon where a layer of atmosphere is warmer than the layer beneath it.
· In 2022, a team of researchers studied the presence of thermal inversions in twenty-five gas giants.
· Gas giants are planets largely composed of helium and hydrogen.
· The team found that gas giants featuring a thermal inversion were also likely to contain heat-absorbing metals.
· One explanation for this relationship is that these metals may reside in a planet's upper atmosphere, where their absorbed heat causes an increase in
temperature.

The student wants to present the study's findings to an audience already familiar with thermal inversions. Which choice most effectively uses relevant
information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

A. Gas giants were likely to contain heat-absorbing metals when they featured a layer of atmosphere warmer than the layer beneath it, researchers
found; this phenomenon is known as a thermal inversion.
B. The team studied thermal inversions in twenty-five gas giants, which are largely composed of helium and hydrogen.
C. Researchers found that gas giants featuring a thermal inversion were likely to contain heat-absorbing metals, which may reside in the planets' upper
atmospheres.
D. Heat-absorbing metals may reside in a planet's upper atmosphere.
4

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

· Muslins are woven cotton fabrics with a variety of uses.

· Dhaka muslin is a handmade fabric produced in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
· It has an extremely fine weave and is primarily used to make luxury clothing.
· Sheeting muslin is a machine-made fabric produced in factories.
· It has a coarse weave and is primarily used to upholster furniture and create backdrops for theater sets.

The student wants to emphasize a difference between the two muslins. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to
accomplish this goal?

A. Muslins can be used in a variety of ways, from making luxury clothing to upholstering furniture and creating backdrops for theater sets.
B. Sheeting muslin is machine-made, has a coarse weave, and is used for furniture and theater sets.
C. Dhaka muslin is a handmade fabric with an extremely fine weave, while sheeting muslin is machine made with a coarse weave.
D. Dhaka muslin and sheeting muslin are two different types of woven cotton fabrics.
5

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

· The painter Frida Kahlo is one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century.
· She was born in Coyoacán, Mexico, in 1907.
· She is best known for her vivid and richly symbolic self-portraits.
· The Two Fridas (1939) features two versions of Kahlo sitting together.
· One version wears a European-style dress and the other a traditional Tehuana dress.

The student wants to introduce Kahlo to an audience unfamiliar with the artist. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes
to accomplish this goal?

A. The 1939 painting The Two Fridas is one example of a self-portrait by Frida Kahlo.
B. One painting by Frida Kahlo features two versions of herself, with one version wearing a European-style dress and the other a traditional Tehuana
dress.
C. Known for being vivid and richly symbolic, Frida Kahlo's self-portraits include The Two Fridas (1939).
D. One of the most influential artists of the twentieth century, Mexican painter Frida Kahlo is best known for her self-portraits, which are vivid and
richly symbolic.
6

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

· As engineered structures, many bird nests are uniquely flexible yet cohesive.
· A research team led by Yashraj Bhosale wanted to better understand the mechanics behind these structural properties.
· Bhosale's team used laboratory models that simulated the arrangement of flexible sticks into nest-like structures.
· The researchers analyzed the points where sticks touched one another.
· When pressure was applied to the model nests, the number of contact points between the sticks increased, making the structures stiffer.

The student wants to present the primary aim of the research study. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to
accomplish this goal?
A. The researchers used laboratory models that simulated the arrangement of flexible sticks and analyzed the points where sticks touched one another.
B. As analyzed by Bhosale's team, bird nests are uniquely flexible yet cohesive engineered structures.
C. Bhosale's team wanted to better understand the mechanics behind bird nests' uniquely flexible yet cohesive structural properties.
D. After analyzing the points where sticks touched, the researchers found that the structures became stiffer when pressure was applied.
7

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

· Muckrakers were journalists who sought to expose corruption in US institutions during the Progressive Era (1897–1920).
· Ida Tarbell was a muckraker who investigated the Standard Oil Company.
· She interviewed Standard Oil Company executives, oil industry workers, and public officials.
· She examined thousands of pages of the company's internal communications, including letters and financial records.
· Her book The History of the Standard Oil Company (1904) exposed the company's unfair business practices.

The student wants to emphasize the thoroughness of Ida Tarbell's investigation of the Standard Oil Company. Which choice most effectively uses
relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

A. Ida Tarbell not only interviewed Standard Oil executives, oil industry workers, and public officials but also examined thousands of pages of the
company's internal communications.
B. As part of her investigation of the Standard Oil Company, muckraker Ida Tarbell conducted interviews.
C. Published in 1904, muckraker Ida Tarbell's book The History of the Standard Oil Company exposed the company's unfair business practices.
D. Ida Tarbell, who investigated the Standard Oil Company, was a muckraker (a journalist who sought to expose corruption in US institutions during
the Progressive Era, 1897–1920).

8.

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

· In 1897, African American inventor Andrew Beard invented an automatic coupler.

· It improved on the existing design of train car couplers.
· It made the job of connecting train cars safer.
· In 1938, African American inventor Frederick Jones invented a mobile refrigeration system.
· It improved on the existing design of food transport trucks.
· It enabled trucks to carry perishable foods farther.

The student wants to emphasize a similarity between Beard's invention and Jones's invention. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information
from the notes to accomplish this goal?

A. Jones's mobile refrigeration system, which he invented in 1938, made it possible for food transport trucks to carry perishable foods farther.
B. In 1897, Beard invented an automatic coupler, which made the job of connecting train cars safer.
C. Beard's automatic coupler and Jones's mobile refrigeration system both improved on existing designs.
D. Beard's invention made the job of connecting train cars safer, whereas Jones's invention enabled food transport trucks to carry perishables farther.

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

· In 1971, experimental musician Pauline Oliveros created Sonic Meditations.

· Sonic Meditations is not music but rather a series of sound-based exercises called meditations.
· Each meditation consists of instructions for participants to make, imagine, listen to, or remember sounds.
· The instructions for Meditation V state, "walk so silently that the bottoms of your feet become ears."
· Those for Meditation XVIII state, "listen to a sound until you no longer recognize it."

The student wants to provide an explanation and an example of Oliveros's Sonic Meditations. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information
from the notes to accomplish this goal?

A. Sonic Meditations is not music but rather a series of sound-based meditations that consist of instructions; Meditation XVIII, for instance, instructs
participants to "listen to a sound until you no longer recognize it."
B. While both meditations consist of instructions, Meditation XVIII instructs participants to "listen," whereas Meditation V instructs participants to
"walk."
C. In 1971, Oliveros created Sonic Meditations, a series of meditations that consist of instructions for participants to make, imagine, listen to, or
remember sounds.
D. Walk so silently that the bottoms of your feet become ears is one example of the instructions found in Oliveros's Sonic Meditations.
10.

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

· Platinum is a rare and expensive metal.

· It is used as a catalyst for chemical reactions.
· Platinum catalysts typically require a large amount of platinum to be effective.
· Researcher Jianbo Tang and his colleagues created a platinum catalyst that combines platinum with liquid gallium.
· Their catalyst was highly effective and required only trace amounts of platinum (0.0001% of the atoms in the mixture).

The student wants to explain an advantage of the new platinum catalyst developed by Jianbo Tang and his colleagues. Which choice most effectively
uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

A. Like other platinum catalysts, the new platinum catalyst requires a particular amount of the metal to be effective.
B. Platinum is a rare and expensive metal that is used as a catalyst for chemical reactions; however, platinum catalysts typically require a large amount
of platinum to be effective.
C. While still highly effective, the new platinum catalyst requires far less of the rare and expensive metal than do other platinum catalysts.
D. Researcher Jianbo Tang and his colleagues created a platinum catalyst that combines platinum, a rare and expensive metal, with liquid gallium.
11.

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

· Annie Wu is a prominent American flutist who graduated from the New England Conservatory.
· She has won multiple national flute competitions.
· She is best known for a 2011 YouTube video that has been viewed over two million times.
· The video shows her performing Three Beats for Beatbox Flute, an original work by composer Greg Pattillo.
· Wu combines flute playing and beatboxing in the video.

The student wants to emphasize Wu's most well-known achievement. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to
accomplish this goal?

A. Among her many achievements, prominent American flutist Annie Wu graduated from the New England Conservatory and has won multiple
national flute competitions.
B. Composer Greg Pattillo's original work Three Beats for Beatbox Flute combines flute playing and beatboxing.
C. Annie Wu is best known for a 2011 YouTube video performance of Three Beats for Beatbox Flute that has been viewed over two million times.
D. Annie Wu, who has won multiple national flute competitions, has also combined flute playing and beatboxing.
12.

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

· In 1978, Sámi activists staged protests to block the construction of a dam on the Alta River in Norway.
· The dam would disrupt Sámi fishing and reindeer herding.
· The dam was ultimately built, but the Alta conflict had a lasting impact.
· It brought international attention to the issue of Sámi rights.
· It led to a set of 2005 legal protections establishing Sámi rights to lands, waters, and resources.

The student wants to make and support a generalization about the Alta conflict. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes
to accomplish this goal?

A. Sámi rights to lands, waters, and resources received international attention and legal protections as a result of the Alta conflict.
B. During the Alta conflict, Sámi activists staged protests to block the construction of a dam on the Alta River in Norway that would disrupt local
fishing and reindeer herding.
C. Although the dam that the Sámi activists had protested was ultimately built, the Alta conflict had a lasting impact.
D. The Alta conflict had a lasting impact, resulting in international attention and legal protections for Sámi rights to lands, waters, and resources.
13.
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

· A wok is a cooking pan that originated in China during the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE).
· The wok's round, wide base helps to cook food evenly.
· The wok's high, angled sides help to contain oil splatters.
· Grace Young is a cook and culinary historian.
· Her book The Breath of a Wok (2004) traces the history of the wok.

The student wants to describe the wok's shape. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

A. Grace Young's 2004 book, The Breath of a Wok, traces the history of the cooking pan.
B. A wok is a cooking pan with a round, wide base and high, angled sides.
C. The design of a wok, a type of cooking pan that originated in China during the Han dynasty, helps the pan cook food evenly and contain oil
splatters.
D. Able to cook food evenly and contain oil splatters, the wok is the subject of Grace Young's 2004 book.
14.

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

· In 2013, paleontology professor Hesham Sallam and his students from Mansoura University in Egypt made a discovery.
· The team found a partial dinosaur skeleton at a site in Egypt's Dakhla Oasis.
· The skeleton belonged to a dinosaur species that lived approximately 80 million years ago.
· The new species was named Mansourasaurus to recognize the team that discovered it.

The student wants to explain the origin of the species' name. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this
goal?

A. The new species was named Mansourasaurus to recognize the team that discovered it, a professor and students from Mansoura University.
B. Mansourasaurus, a species that lived approximately 80 million years ago, was discovered in 2013 by Egyptian paleontologist Hesham Sallam and a
team of university students.
C. Mansourasaurus, a new species discovered in Egypt in 2013, lived approximately 80 million years ago.
D. A partial dinosaur skeleton found in Egypt's Dakhla Oasis belonged to a species named Mansourasaurus.
15. 16.
17. 18
19. 20
21 22
23 24
25. 26
27. 28
29. 30
31. 32
33. 34
35. 36.