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SAT
Course: SAT > Unit 4
Lesson 3: Full passage walkthroughsSAT Reading: How to approach a Literature passage
What's in this article?
This is a full SAT Reading Lesson with videos about a single passage, but it's also packed full of tips and strategies designed to help you with every Reading passage you might encounter on Test Day.
- One full Literature passage with questions
- 11 videos, including "How to survey the passage", "How to read the passage actively", AND "How to do each question"
- Written explanations for every question
- Tips and strategies that will help on other passages as well!
Let's get started!
The passage
First off, here's the passage we're working with, for easy reference:
(you don't have to read it right now)
Survey step
On Literature passages, many students find it helpful to read the blurb and then skim the questions, highlighting important words and line references. Then, they dive straight into a close reading of the passage. Check out how we do it:
Active reading step
This video demonstrates one way to read a narrative passage actively. As we work our way through, we focus on the WHO, the WHERE, and the WHAT. We also like to mark up the passage to help us keep track of the characters, their relationships, the setting, and what is happening.
The questions
Okay! Now it's time for the questions. You can do this three ways:
1) Questions first, one at a time: Try the questions on your own, one by one, and watch each video after you attempt each question. We recommend watching the video even if you got the question right!
2) One big push First, try all of the questions on your own; then, watch the videos to learn how we did them.
3) Videos first, one at a time: Watch the videos first, then try the techniques in the videos by attempting the questions and reading our explanations. If you choose this route, you'll already know the answers to the questions, but it's still good to do them and read our explanations to learn the strategies!
Question 1: Determining explicit meaning
Top tip: For questions like these, we encourage you to
- Pick out key words and ideas in the question
- Scan the passage to find where those keywords appear
- Read around the keywords in the passage to find the answer
- Express the answer in your own words
- Find a match for your prediction in the choices!
Video for question 1: Determining explicit meaning
Question 2: Determining explicit meaning
Try the tips we shared for Question 1!
Video for question 2: Determining explicit meaning
Question 3: Words and phrases in context
Top tips
- Cover up the choices
- Go back to the passage to find the word/phrase
- Make up your own version of the word/phrase using context clues in the surrounding sentences
- Uncover the choices, and find a match to your prediction in the choices
Video for question 3: Words and phrases in context
Questions 4 and 5: Analyzing purpose and Citing textual evidence
Top tip: For paired questions like these, we encourage you to
- Rephrase the first question using your own words. Try starting your version with How? What? or Why?
- Try to find the answer to your version of the question by reading around the quotations provided by the choices in the second question.
Video for questions 4 and 5: Analyzing purpose and Citing textual evidence
Question 6: Analyzing purpose
Top tips
- If possible, rephrase the question using your own words.
- Go back to the passage and read around the reference—before looking at the choices!
- Predict the answer, expressing it in your own words
- Find a match to your prediction in the choices using Process of Elimination
Video for question 6: Analyzing purpose
Question 7: Analyzing point of view
Top tips
- Rephrase the question to take control of it. If possible, use How, What, or Why
- Consider positive vs negative. Is the character's perspective strongly positive (++), mildly positive (+), neutral (0), mildly negative (-), or strongly negative (--)?
- Use process of elimination
Video for question 7: Analyzing point of view
Question 8: Understanding relationships
Top tips
- Try to sum up the situation in your own words
- Ask yourself "what's going on here?" "How does each character feel about what's going on, and how do they feel about each other?"
- Consider positive and negatives, and let that guide your process of elimination
Video for for Question 8: Understanding relationships
Question 9: Citing textual evidence
Top tips
- Simplify the question as much as you can, using your own words
- Then, apply that simple "test" question to the quotations in the choices
- With each choice, ask yourself: "Is this quotation doing that thing the question wants it to do?"
Video for Question 9: Citing textual evidence
Question 10: Words and phrases in context (2 of 2)
Top tips
- Cover up the choices
- Go back to the passage to find the word/phrase
- Make up your own version of the word/phrase using context clues in the surrounding sentences
- Uncover the choices, and find a match to your prediction in the choices
Video for question 10: Words and phrases in context (2 of 2)
You made it!
Nice work!
The strategies in this article and its videos have the potential to truly transform your score!
They might feel strange at first, and it takes time and repetition to get used to using them consistently—make sure to try them out when you're practicing on your own!
Want to join the conversation?
I wish I found this earlier. I think this really helps me to have a better understanding of the reading section.(79 votes)
Will i receive a graded score for the questions I've answered? I feel it would help me focus on what i need to work on.(13 votes)
What do you mean by graded score?
If you mean that from the Khan academy yes. Also it will show you which skills to practice on.(15 votes)
Is there a way to print the Khan Academy SAT lessons/practices (not the practice tests) so that I can work on my active reading and question surveying?(14 votes)- I guess you could literally print screenshots, or save the website and print it that way. As far as I know, Khan Academy doesn't have a built in feature that allows you to do this, though.(6 votes)
I don't know why this passage feels a little too easy. Is it just me or would this be the level we would get on SAT as well?(13 votes)
This was from an actual SAT, so don’t worry! Most of the reading questions instead focus in basic skills(5 votes)
- how about history and sciense texte(9 votes)
- Here you go:
SCIENCE
https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/sat/x0a8c2e5f:untitled-494/x0a8c2e5f:full-passage-walkthroughs/a/how-to-approach-a-science-passage
HISTORY
https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/sat/x0a8c2e5f:untitled-494/x0a8c2e5f:full-passage-walkthroughs/a/how-to-approach-a-history-passage(2 votes)
- what if you have rephrased an answer, in your own words, and found the answer in the options, but do not find the evidence in the passage?(3 votes)
If you don't have evidence in the passage for an answer, then it 100% cannot be correct. There has to be evidence that supports the correct answer, as well as evidence that would allow you to eliminate every incorrect answer. Perhaps you missed a key sentence, or maybe your interpretation of the answer was off in some way. Who knows?(11 votes)
I can't understand the question 8(1 vote)- Question A asks how one person would feel about something else. On the SAT, the secret to these questions is that the passage has to discuss one of those events and his reaction for the test to be completely objective. In the passage, Sandeep says that "grown-ups were mad" (meaning that they did something he didn't take to) and that they turned simple situations into complex, dramatic ones. Sandeep doesn't like the fact that adults make everything formal and traditional and overly dramatic. Now that we know what Sandeep criticizes, we can turn to the answer choices.
I'll only focus on C) and D), since that was what you mentioned having issues with. C) talks about the old lady's reaction to the gift. Sandeep's commentary on this event is that the adults, by fussing and fussing, turned a very small thing into something important and fancy. So far, this fits with what we think Sandeep will criticize. Now we look at D). D simply talks about the fact that the son and daughter-in-law were waiting in the anteroom. This is a trick answer. Sandeep doesn't offer his opinion about the son and daughter-in-law's waiting in the anteroom, but just after the passage goes over this, it goes over more fussing over tradition and what custom is best over a simple thing like a greeting, which Sandeep may actually criticize. But, since the answer choice doesn't talk about this, D) is wrong and C) is the better choice.(13 votes)
- can anyone tell me what is textual evidence??(2 votes)
- Simply put, a piece of the passage that helps you argue for something. The evidence questions on the SAT all make you choose between the part of the passage that best expresses a certain idea.(11 votes)
- Where in the passage does it say that the son was the son-in-law of chhotomama and mamma? I feel a little lost here.(2 votes)
- It says so in the little introductory blurb before the passage. These can give you historical information, or other background information for the story that can be crucial to understanding it. You definitely shouldn't skip over this.(7 votes)
- even if i suffer from understanding the passage in some parts, because of having poor vocabulary knowledge, would those strategies help me ?(4 votes)
Yeah, even if you get a sense of the passage(which you would from the blurb), you can solve the questions easily.(0 votes)