Overview
The Improving Sentences subtest of the SAT Writing test looks very similar to the Identifying Sentence Errors subtest. Students are expected to focus upon one phrase within a target sentence and follow directions to choose the same phrase or among four different alternatives. The goal is to produce a sentence that is clear, concise, and correct.
Methods to Approach Questions
Since the goal is to select possible sentence rewrites without writing them, follow directions and read each sentence quickly and carefully. Students may be tempted to read the alternative phrases without looking at the entire sentence, but that may lead to confusion. Choice A is always the same choice as the underlined phrase within the sentence. It may or may not be the correct answer. However, the correct answer is always contained in the alternatives. While the answer sheet in this section must be kept clean, with the answer bubbles carefully blackened, the test booklet can be marked as much as any individual student can desire. Therefore, mark any question that is not answered on the first pass, in order to find it more easily later.
Using Parallelism
One of the most common writing errors that is often tested on the SAT is parallelism. Structures in any series must be similar, so that words are the same parts of speech, phrases are the same construction, and clauses are the same type. Notice the pattern, and change any part that deviates from the rest. Within the sentence that begins with the word “structures”, each clause is similar, so that words, phrases, and clauses (all nouns) are followed by the parallel phrase “are the same.”
Rewriting Sentences
During test preparation and writing assignments, students are often asked to rewrite sentences that have errors in noun/verb agreement, parallelism, and appropriate use of adjectives, adverbs, and idioms. There won’t be time to rewrite during the SAT itself, so the “rewriting” is done through multiple-choice alternatives. During college, students will be expected to write and rewrite multiple essays and papers. The more errors they can recognize and edit in another’s writing, the more they will be able to edit their own.
More Strategies for Test Preparation
Whenever sample questions are presented, read the original sentence aloud, if possible. Then replace the underlined portion with each alternative. Reading aloud slows the entire process and trains the brain to recognize errors. Sometimes it is easier to hear the correct alternative than to see it. Continue to read literary fiction and well-written nonfiction, and write frequently.
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