OAHS Scholastic Aptitude Test Developing Writing Skills

1. OAHS Scholastic Aptitude TestDeveloping Writing Skills Doc Holley

2. S.A.T. Writing Section Facts

3. The Essay • The essay is always the first question on the SAT. Students are given 25 minutes to respond to the question by writing an essay in longhand on the answer sheet, using a No. 2 pencil. The essay measures a student's ability to: • Develop a point of view on an issue presented in an excerpt • Support a point of view using reasoning and examples from their reading, studies, experience, or observations • Follow the conventions of Standard Written English • Students are given a prompt or assignment, which is a short (no more than 80 words long) quotation or statement on an issue that is carefully selected to: • Enable students to react and respond quickly in a variety of ways • Be easily accessible to the general test-taking population, including students for whom English is a second language (ESL) • Be free of figurative, technical, or specific literary references

4. THE ESSAY • Need to show effectively you can develop and express ideas • Take care to develop your point of view, present your ideas logically and clearly, and use language precisely • Must be written on the lines provided in the answer book • Avoid wide margins and keep your handwriting to a reasonable size • Write or print so that the writing is legible to scorers • Must use a pencil – • An off-topic essay will receive a score of zero • If your essay does not reflect your original and individual work, your test scores may be canceled

5. Tackling the Essay • Decide if you agree or disagree with the essay prompt and write your thesis. • Take 5 minutes to outline your essay response. • Essay should consist of 5 paragraphs • An introduction • One paragraph each detailing 3 different examples that support your thesis • A conclusion • Try to use one example from literature/history/current events and your own personal experience Make sure you allow time for proofreading. The Essay counts 30% of your total score in the writing section.

6. THE ESSAY – sample prompt • Prompt 1 • Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below. • Most people think that contentment—being happy with the way things are—is the perfect state of affairs. After all, what could be better than being so satisfied with how things are that you don't want anything else? But contentment has disadvantages: if we are content with the way things are, we are not motivated to change things, to improve ourselves, or to do better. We must therefore always choose between being content and pushing ourselves to do better. • Assignment: Does being content with the way things are prevent people from improving themselves and doing better? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

7. THE ESSAY – sample prompt • Prompt 2 • Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below. • Privacy was once valued and protected. Diaries came with locks to keep the writer’s privately recorded thoughts from being read by others. Public telephones were enclosed in booths so that conversations would not be overheard. But now people feel free to post information about themselves on social networking Web sites and carry on cell phone conversations in public places. We would be much better off if we valued privacy—our own and that of others—far more highly than we do. • Assignment: Do we place too little value on privacy? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

8. THE ESSAY – sample prompt • Prompt 3 • Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below. • Nobody wants to be called old-fashioned or be considered out of touch with current trends and thinking. But there's something to be said for holding on to old ideas and customs even if they may not be in fashion at the moment. People are too easily impressed by anything new and trendy—the latest television show, or music group, or technological gadget. They place too much emphasis on newness without bothering to look at something's real value. • Assignment: Do people place too much value on newness? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

9. THE ESSAY – sample prompt • Prompt 4 • Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below. • Everything a public figure or celebrity says or does is likely to turn up on an internet site or a television show. The great appeal of these sites and shows is that they help us learn as much as possible about public figures. The more we know about political candidates, for example, the more informed we are as voters. Much of the information, however, is irrelevant and actually prevents us from focusing on the issues that matter. • Assignment: Does having too much information about public figures distract us from the important issues? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

10. Multiple-choice Writing Questions The multiple-choice questions assess students' ability to: • Communicate ideas clearly and effectively • Improve a piece of writing through revision and editing • Recognize and identify sentence-level errors • Understand grammatical elements and structures and how they relate to each other in a sentence • Recognize correctly formed grammatical structures • Clearly express ideas through sentence-combining and use of transitional words and phrases • Improve coherence of ideas within and among paragraphs

11. Mastering “The Big 3” Writing Skills Improving Sentences (25 questions) Identifying Sentence Errors (18 questions) Improving Paragraphs (6 questions)

12. Improving Sentences Each Improving Sentence question provides a sentence and asks to you to change the underlined portion if necessary. Once in a while, the underlined portion may include the whole sentence, but usually only a part of the sentence is underlined.

13. Improving Sentences • This type of question presents a sentence in which part, or all, of the sentence is underlined, followed by five choices of phrasing to replace the underlined section. • The questions assess the ability to: • Recognize and correct faults in grammar and sentence structure • Recognize effective sentences that follow the conventions of Standard Written English

14. Answer choice (A) is always ‘no error’. Answer choice (A) simply repeats the underlined portion of the sentence as it appears in the question prompt. If there is no error in the sentence, (A) is the correct answer.

15. Improving Sentences Tips 1 Improving Sentence questions appear in order of difficulty. The easiest questions appear at the beginning of the section and become progressively harder as the section moves along.

16. Improving Sentences Tips 2 Read the sentence carefully and try to figure out what the issue is before looking at the answers. When you know what improvement to look for, you can often eliminate incorrect answers with just a single word. Rewrite the sentence in your head the way you think it should appear and then look for your rewrite in the answers.

17. Improving Sentences Tips 3 Start with the shortest answer first and work toward the longest. Correct answers tend to be shorter.

18. Improving Sentences Tips 4 Watch out for extra pronouns (it, they, that, this, etc.) and strange uses of the verb ‘to be’ (being, had been, were being, etc.). These are usually sure signs of an INCORRECT answer.

19. Improving Sentences Tips 5 Trust your gut. The best sounding answer is usually the right one. Especially among the easier questions at the beginning of the section, choose the answer that you would most likely use if you were writing the sentence.

20. Improving Sentences Tips 6 Don’t be afraid to pick (A). Statistically, each answer choice appears approximately the same number of times (one out of five). So there will almost always be a number of Sentence Improvement questions where (A) is the correct answer.

21. Run-On Sentences Since the only thing you need to know about Run-On Sentences on the SAT is that you can’t tie two independent clauses (translation: an independent clause could stand alone as a sentence) together with only a comma, you might sometimes see these called “comma splices.” There are basically 3 ways to fix them!

22. Fix Run-On Sentences # 1 Conjunctions. And, but, or, nor, yet, so, for. NOT therefore, however, or because. • Bad: I went to the beach yesterday, Peter came with me. • Fixed: I went to the beach yesterday, and Peter came with me.

23. Fix Run-On Sentences # 2 Semicolon ( ; ) Unlike a comma, a semicolon requires an independent clause on both sides to be grammatically correct. • Bad: I went to the beach yesterday, the water was freezing. • Fixed: I went to the beach yesterday;the water was freezing.

24. Fix Run-On Sentences # 3 Make a clause dependent. If neither of these are an option, you might just have to change the wording of whatever part of the sentence is underlined in order to fix a run-on. • Bad: I went to the beach yesterday, a lifeguard punched a shark in the nose! • Fixed: At the beach yesterday, a lifeguard punched a shark in the nose!

25. Dangling Modifiers A modifier begins a sentence by describing the subject without naming it, and ends with a comma. It will often (but not always) contain an “-ed” or “-ing” word. Basically, if the thing being described in the modifier doesn’t follow directly after the comma, the modifier is left “dangling,” and that’s grammatically unsound. You have to fix it.

26. Fix Dangling Modifiers # 1 • Bad: Because he had bet on the race, the horse disappointed Mr. Johnson a great deal. • Fixed: Because he had bet on the race, Mr. Johnson was greatly disappointed in the horse’s performance.

27. Fix Dangling Modifiers # 2 • Bad: Excited for the concert, the auditorium shook with the noise from the crowd. • Fixed: Excited for the concert, the crowd made so much noise that the auditorium shook.

28. Fix Dangling Modifiers # 3 • Bad: Fleeing the zombies, a safe-looking building appeared to the survivors. • Fixed: Fleeing the zombies, the survivors spotted a safe-looking building in the distance.

29. Concise Expression • 80% of the time, the correct answer in the Sentence Improvement section is either the shortest answer, or the second shortest. Longer answers can be wrong for any number of reasons, from improper use of the passive voice to redundant word choice, but the point is that if there’s nothing grammatically wrong with the shortest answer, it’s probably the right one. • If you’re really stumped, then, it’s not a bad idea to Back-solve a Sentence Improvement question: start with the shortest choice, and move to the next shortest if that one doesn’t look good.

30. Oh, and One More Thing... • The word “being” is wrong something like 98% of the time. • Again, it’s wrong for a number of different reasons (sometimes it’s a bad conjugation, sometimes it’s creating passive voice), but for whatever reason, I’ve only ever seen it in a correct choice like...once. • When you see it, it’s almost definitely wrong. If you pick it, you're cruisin' for a bruisin'. Don't believe me? I'm not alone in saying so.

31. Improving Sentences and Paragraphs 1. Sometimes sentences are complex while having amounts of words that are too large – • A.k.a. Simpler is better. Always go for the most straightforward, least wordy answer (assuming that it’s grammatically correct). Avoid sentences that are redundant or unnecessarily wordy.

32. Improving Sentences and Paragraphs 2. Parallelism– When a sentence includes phrases in a series that are separated by commas, all of the phrases must have the same grammatical form. • Example: She loved to cook, riding her bike, and painting landscapes. • All 3 phrases must have the same form, so it should be “cooking” instead of “to cook.”

33. Improving Sentences and Paragraphs 3. Passive Voice – Never ever use passive voice! • In an active sentence, the subject is doing the action to the object. In a passive sentence, the object is in the place of the subject, without a clear subject doing the action. Which of the following sentences follows rule #1 and is easier to understand? • Active Voice: Steve ate the cookies • Passive Voice: The cookies were eaten by Steve.

34. Improving Sentences and Paragraphs 4. Dangling Modifiers – Despite the silly name, this is a serious grammatical problem. When a phrase is placed too far from the word it is modifying, the sentence becomes confusing and misleading. Remember that when a sentence begins with a dependent clause describing the subject of the sentence, the subject must follow immediately after the clause. • Example: While contemplating a complex math problem, the dog startled Sarah. • This sentence makes it sound like the dog was contemplating a complex math problem. It should be rewritten: While contemplating a complex math problem, Sarah was startled by the dog.

35. Improving Sentences and Paragraphs 5. Vague Pronouns – Whether in sentences or paragraphs, the SAT hates when vague pronouns like “it” and “they” are used without a clear subject.

36. Improving Sentences Question 1 / 12 1. Can you please tone down your argument just a little bit? A. Can you please tone down your argument just a little bit? B. Can one please tone down your argument just a little bit? C. Can you please tone down your argument just a bit? D. Can you please at least tone down your argument for a while? E. Are you able to tone it down?

37. Improving Sentences Question 1 / 12 1. Can you please tone down your argument just a little bit? A. Can you please tone down your argument just a little bit? B. Can one please tone down your argument just a little bit? C. Can you please tone down your argument just a bit? D. Can you please at least tone down your argument for a while? E. Are you able to tone it down?

38. Improving Sentences Question 2 / 12 • I wish you would cover your ideas with a respective authority on the subject. A. I wish you would cover your ideas with a respective authority on the subject. B. I wish you would cover those ideas with a respective authority on the subject. C. I wish you would cover ideas with respective authorities on the subjects. D. You should cover ideas with respected authorities on subjects. E. I wish you would cover your ideas with a respected authority on the subject.

39. Improving Sentences Question 2 / 12 • I wish you would cover your ideas with a respective authority on the subject. • I wish you would cover your ideas with a respective authority on the subject. • I wish you would cover those ideas with a respective authority on the subject. C. I wish you would cover ideas with respective authorities on the subjects. D. You should cover ideas with respected authorities on subjects. E. I wish you would cover your ideas with a respected authority on the subject. • Explanation "Respective" pertains to ordering while "respected" pertains to the idea of respect

40. Improving Sentences Question 3 / 12 • In chemistry, a dative bond is one in which a whole electron pair is donated to the central atom, making it quite noteworthy. A. In chemistry, a dative bond is one in which a whole electron pair is donated to the central atom, making it quite noteworthy. B. In chemistry, a dative bond is one in which a whole electron pair is donated to the central atom, making the bond quite noteworthy. C. In chemistry, a dative bond is one in which a whole electron pairs is donated to the central atom, making it quite noteworthy. D. In chemistry, a dative bond is one in which a whole electron pair is donated to the central atom, making it quietly noteworthy. E. In chemistry, a dative bond is one in which a whole electron pair are donated to the central atom, making it quite noteworthy.

41. Improving Sentences Question 3 / 12 • In chemistry, a dative bond is one in which a whole electron pair is donated to the central atom, making it quite noteworthy. A. In chemistry, a dative bond is one in which a whole electron pair is donated to the central atom, making it quite noteworthy. B. In chemistry, a dative bond is one in which a whole electron pair is donated to the central atom, making the bond quite noteworthy. C. In chemistry, a dative bond is one in which a whole electron pairs is donated to the central atom, making it quite noteworthy. D. In chemistry, a dative bond is one in which a whole electron pair is donated to the central atom, making it quietly noteworthy. E. In chemistry, a dative bond is one in which a whole electron pair are donated to the central atom, making it quite noteworthy. ExplanationThe problem in the original sentence is pronoun-antecedent agreement, which is corrected by the second in choice B.

42. Improving Sentences Question 4 / 12 • Much people believe that T.S. Eliot was a racist but few would question the merit of his work. • Much people believe that T.S. Eliot was a racist but few would question the merit of his work. • Many people believe that T.S. Eliot was a racist but few would question all the merits of his work. • Most people believe that T.S. Eliot was a racist but few would question the merit of his work. • Many people believe that T.S. Eliot was a racist but few would question the merit of his work. • Much people believe that T.S. Eliot was a racist but few would question the merit of his working.

43. Improving Sentences Question 4 / 12 • Much people believe that T.S. Eliot was a racist but few would question the merit of his work. • Much people believe that T.S. Eliot was a racist but few would question the merit of his work. • Many people believe that T.S. Eliot was a racist but few would question all the merits of his work. • Most people believe that T.S. Eliot was a racist but few would question the merit of his work. • Many people believe that T.S. Eliot was a racist but few would question the merit of his work. • Much people believe that T.S. Eliot was a racist but few would question the merit of his working.

44. Improving Sentences Question 5 / 12 • Before you can go out, you must clean the room, mop the floor, and dusting the house. • Before you can go out, you must clean the room, mop the floor, and dusting the house. • Before you can go out, you must clean the room, mop the floor, and to dust the house. • Before you can go out, you must clean the room, mop the floor, and dusting. • Before you can go out, you must clean the room, mop the floor, and do dusting. • Before you can go out, you must clean the room, mop the floor, and dust the house.

45. Improving Sentences Question 5 / 12 • Before you can go out, you must clean the room, mop the floor, and dusting the house. • Before you can go out, you must clean the room, mop the floor, and dusting the house. • Before you can go out, you must clean the room, mop the floor, and to dust the house. • Before you can go out, you must clean the room, mop the floor, and dusting. • Before you can go out, you must clean the room, mop the floor, and do dusting. • Before you can go out, you must clean the room, mop the floor, and dust the house. Explanation: Only choice E maintains the correct parallel structure.

46. Improving Sentences Question 6 / 12 • To do something you like is very important. • To do something you like is very important. • To do something you like are very important. • Doing something you like is very important. • Doing something you like were very important. • Sometimes, to do something you like is important.

47. Improving Sentences Question 6 / 12 • To do something you like is very important. • To do something you like is very important. • To do something you like are very important. • Doing something you like is very important. • Doing something you like were very important. • Sometimes, to do something you like is important. Explanation The verbal form is not appropriate here and should be changed from the infinitive to a present progressive gerund

48. Improving Sentences Question 7 / 12 • Seeing that she is very tired, I walked out of the room and let her sleep. • Seeing that she is very tired, I walked out of the room and let her sleep. • Seeing that she are very tired, I walked out of the room and let her sleep. • Seeing that she was very tired, I walked out of the room and let her sleep. • Seeing that she is very tired, I walked out of her room and let her sleep. • I walked out of the room and let her sleep since she was obviously tired.

49. Improving Sentences Question 7 / 12 • Seeing that she is very tired, I walked out of the room and let her sleep. • Seeing that she is very tired, I walked out of the room and let her sleep. • Seeing that she are very tired, I walked out of the room and let her sleep. • Seeing that she was very tired, I walked out of the room and let her sleep. • Seeing that she is very tired, I walked out of her room and let her sleep. • I walked out of the room and let her sleep since she was obviously tired. Explanation Only choice C corrects the verb tense error in the original sentence without changing the original meaning

50. Improving Sentences Question 8 / 12 • Many people have a tough time understanding energy orbitals and quantam numbers and how they apply to the real world. • Many people have a tough time understanding energy orbitals and quantam numbers and how they apply to the real world. • Many people have a tough time understanding energy orbitals and quantam numbers and how those apply to the real world. • Many people have a tough time understanding energy orbitals and quantam numbers and how's apply to world. • Many people have a tough time understanding energy orbitals and quantam numbers and how to the world they apply. • To many people, a tough time is had understanding energy orbitals and quantam numbers in application to real world.