Main content
SAT
Course: SAT > Unit 11
Lesson 3: Writing: Grammar- Writing: Setting Up Ideas — Video Lesson
- Setting up ideas | Quick guide
- Writing: Strong Support — Video lesson
- Strong support | Quick guide
- Writing: Relevant Information — Video lesson
- Relevant information | Quick guide
- Writing: Sequencing sentences — Video lesson
- Sequencing sentences | Quick guide
- Writing: Transition Words — Video lesson
- Transition words and phrases | Quick guide
- Writing: Transition Sentences — Video Lesson
- Transition sentences | Quick guide
- Writing: Introductions — Video lesson
- Writing: Conclusions — Video lesson
- Introductions and conclusions | Quick guide
- Writing: Interpreting Graphs and Data — Video lesson
- Interpreting graphs and data | Quick guide
- Writing: Precision — Video Lesson
- Precise word choice | Quick guide
- Writing: Concision — Video lesson
- Concision | Quick guide
- Writing: Formal and Informal Language — Video Lesson
- Writing: Formal vs. casual language — Example
- Formal vs. casual language | Quick guide
- Writing: Syntax — Example
- Writing: Sentence Fragments — Video Lesson
- Writing: Sentence Boundaries — Example 1
- Writing: Sentence boundaries — Example 2
- Sentence fragments | Quick guide
- Writing: Subordination and coordination — Example
- Writing: Combining Sentences — Video Lesson
- Linking clauses | Quick guide
- Writing: Parallel Structure — Video lesson
- Writing: Parallel structure — Example
- Parallel structure | Quick guide
- Writing: Modifier Placement — Video Lesson
- Writing: Modifier placement — Example
- Modifier placement | Quick guide
- Writing: Verb Tense and Mood — Video Lesson
- Writing: Shift in verb tense and mood — Example
- Verb tense and mood | Quick guide
- Writing: Pronoun Clarity — Video Lesson
- Writing: Pronoun clarity — Example
- Pronoun clarity | Quick guide
- Writing: Pronoun Agreement — Video Lesson
- Writing: Pronoun-antecedent agreement — Example
- Pronoun-antecedent agreement | Quick guide
- Writing: Possessive determiners — Example 1
- Writing: Possessive determiners — Example 2
- Writing: It’s/Its Confusion — Video Lesson
- Confusion with "its" and "their" | Quick guide
- Writing: Subject-Verb Agreement — Video Lesson
- Writing: Subject-verb agreement — Example
- Subject-verb agreement | Quick guide
- Writing: Noun Agreement — Video Lesson
- Writing: Noun agreement — Basic example
- Noun agreement | Quick guide
- Writing: Frequently Confused Words — Video Lesson
- Writing: Frequently confused words — Example
- Frequently confused words | Quick guide
- Writing: Conventional Expressions — Video Lesson
- Writing: Conventional expression — Example
- Conventional expressions | Quick guide
- Writing: Logical Comparison — Video Lesson
- Writing: Logical comparison — Example
- Logical comparison | Quick guide
- Writing: End-of-sentence punctuation — Example 1
- Writing: End-of-sentence punctuation — Example 2
- Writing: Commas — Video Lesson
- Commas | Quick guide
- Writing: Semicolons — Video Lesson
- Semicolons | Quick guide
- Writing: Colons — Video lesson
- Colons | Quick guide
- Writing: Possessive Pronouns — Example
- Writing: Possessive Nouns — Video Lesson
- Making nouns possessive | Quick guide
- Writing: Items in a series — Example
- Writing: Punctuating Lists — Video Lesson
- Lists and punctuation | Quick guide
- Writing: Nonrestrictive and parenthetical elements — Example
- Writing: Nonessential Elements — Video Lesson
- Nonessential elements | Quick guide
© 2023 Khan AcademyTerms of usePrivacy PolicyCookie Notice
Writing: Strong Support — Video lesson
David demonstrates a Strong Support question on the SAT Writing and Language test.
Created by David Rheinstrom.
Want to join the conversation?
- Hi everyone. I had a doubt regarding this question. If the point about the statue being too beautiful wasn't in the passage and was in the options ( and the point about the statue being too heavy was in the question ) would it be a valid point for not placing the statue high?
Please help me out.(9 votes)- Good question! If the council voted the statue was too beautiful, it would still be relevant in the answer choices. Assuming the other answer choices stay the same in your question it would be the right answer. Although it wouldn't make too much sense, it still makes more sense than the other answers. To answer your question, yes, it would still be a valid point.(10 votes)
- I kind of feel like he absolutely didn't explain how he eliminated the other answer choices, besides just saying that it doesn't have much bearing. Like that literally makes no sense.(11 votes)
- Hi !
Can you please explain how did you determine the main Idea "Not lifting the statue " ?(8 votes) - why did the person have too overcome limitations ?(3 votes)
- David was reading that just in case, but later forgot about it as it was unimportant to the question we were asked since it only wanted to talk about the paragraph, and the sentence about Michael Angelo was not in the paragraph.(6 votes)
- You have got this at the end of each video gives a boost of self-confidence!!(2 votes)
- Can i get a 100?(2 votes)
- why did the person have too overcome limitations(1 vote)
- Does this provide a grat amount of results(1 vote)
Video transcript
- [Instructor] In this video, we're going to talk about questions that ask you to choose strong evidence or strong support for something. You know, you might be asked
to support a specific argument from a passage or a claim in a paragraph, or maybe an idea
introduced by the question. On test day, you'll see one
to two of these questions. So let's jump in. So this passage is about Michelangelo's famous marble statue of David, the biblical figure in Florence, Italy. And while I know we're just talking about question 31 here, let's pretend as though we've
been reading the passage, mostly just to get this context. "Michelangelo had overcome the limitations of the marble block, and moreover, had turned
it into a technical and artistic masterpiece. Now to question 31. Which choice gives a second reason and additional support for the
main idea of the paragraph? Okay, so we haven't even
read the paragraph yet, in question, that's going to be in here. 'Cause that's where question 31 is. So we'll read this paragraph. We'll figure out the main idea. There's one reason already present. So we need to come up with a second reason and additional support. So let's take a look at the paragraph. "Upon viewing the stunning statue," so we know it's, it really is gorgeous, "guild members discarded
the idea to hoist the statue to an exterior buttress." They decided not to lift it up to the exterior of a building. "It was far too beautiful." And I'm gonna skip this underline because it's one of our choices, and I don't want to be influenced by it. "It was far too beautiful," that's reason one, "to be
placed high above its viewers. After meeting with city
officials and prominent citizens, the members agreed that the statue should instead stand outside
of Florence's town hall as a symbol and representation of the city's strength and independence." You know, now that I look at it, that feels a little redundant to me. Symbol and representation
of feels a little redundant. So I know what I'd be looking
for when I get to question 32 which is a choice that
doesn't say the same thing in two ways. Okay, let's continue. "Thus, the guild members
achieved their goal of enhancing Florence's prestige." So for me, the main
idea from this paragraph is that guild members and city leaders decided
not to lift the statue. They instead decided to
put it on ground level where people could see it
because it was so beautiful. It's so pretty. So we're looking for
something that gives good, strong support to that idea. Why not lift the statue? So now let's look at our choices. So choice A is no change. And the option that is
currently in the paragraph is, "It was far too beautiful and was unlike other Renaissance
depictions of David." That may be true, but that's not really a good
reason not to lift the statue. It was far too beautiful, and B, "Depicted a favorite biblical story of the citizens of Florence." That doesn't really have much bearing on lifting the statue. I'm gonna leave it for now. C, "Would later to
symbolize Florence's defense of its civil liberties." Again, that doesn't
really have any bearing on why you wouldn't want to
lift a big marble statue. So I don't feel confident about B or C. And let's look at D. The statute was far too beautiful, and D, "At more than eight tons, far too heavy to be placed
high above its viewers." I think this is our answer
because first of all, this is a pretty evident, direct reason not to lift a giant statue. It weighs eight tons. And it also matches some of the structure. It was far too beautiful
and far too heavy. And that repeated structure signals to me rather elegantly that
these two reasons go together. So you'll see what I did here. Rather than go through
the choices one by one, I went to the passage first. I read the paragraph. I tried to pull out that main idea. And then I found the
first piece of support, it's too beautiful. And then I looked for a piece of support that would match. It's too beautiful to keep far away, and it's too heavy to lift safely anyhow. Let's review some strategies for strong support questions. When you encounter a
strong support question, first, answer the question
that's actually being asked. Every choice is grammatically correct, so don't fall for a choice that sounds good, but doesn't
actually answer the question. Then restate the claim. Always start off by
restating in your own words the point that the answer
was going to support. And finally match ideas. Get rid of choices that
don't match the ideas that they're meant to support. Good luck out there. You've got this.