{"id":901,"date":"2013-03-09t10:00:52","date_gmt":"2013-03-09t10:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/sat\/?p=901"},"modified":"2017-11-07t17:57:50","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08t01:57:50","slug":"how-to-find-the-main-ideas-in-sat-reading-passages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/sat\/how-to-find-the-main-ideas-in-sat-reading-passages\/","title":{"rendered":"how to find the main ideas in sat reading passages"},"content":{"rendered":"

sat reading passages can be a little hard to pick apart. they\u2019re not light reading, and you probably won\u2019t have any real interest in the topic. and they\u2019re full <\/i>of detail, a lot of which ends up being pretty unnecessary for the questions.<\/p>\n

it\u2019s true that there are lots of questions that ask about specific parts of the passage, but you won\u2019t know ahead of time which of those little bits are the juicy ones. you\u2019ll need to search out that info<\/a> in the reading after seeing the question.<\/p>\n

while you read, then, you shouldn\u2019t worry about the little things. instead, you want to focus on the author\u2019s approach and the passage\u2019s structure.<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

the main idea of sat reading passages<\/h2>\n

since sat reading excerpts are pretty short (compared to the texts they\u2019re taken from), they\u2019re usually about one clear topic that\u2019s explored in a limited way and concluded neatly. they\u2019re self-contained.<\/p>\n

that means it\u2019s usually pretty easy to find the main topic of the reading in the first few sentences of the passage. the first paragraph, at least, will have a sentence or two which are key to whatever it is the author is trying to get across. because of that, the introduction to the passage deserves special attention. find those key thoughts! they may not be thesis sentences<\/a> exactly, because they might not make an argument, but they\u2019ll be crucial in some way.<\/p>\n

make connections<\/h2>\n

read most of the text pretty quickly, without worrying about getting every detail. focus on finding the main point of each paragraph.<\/p>\n

the next part is absolutely critical for nailing sat reading questions. every time you have the main idea of a paragraph, ask yourself two questions:<\/p>\n

how is this related to the main topic (from the beginning)?<\/i><\/p>\n

how is this related to the paragraph before it?<\/i><\/p>\n

there are a number of common connections such as explanation, contrast, cause and effect, listing, and contextualizing.<\/p>\n

there will be some connection or another\u2014otherwise they wouldn\u2019t belong to the same passage\u2014so make sure you\u2019ve jotted down at least some kind of purpose for the paragraph or section in your notes. and yes, you should definitely be taking notes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

when reading the conclusion<\/h2>\n

at the end of the passage, revisit that original question. what was the purpose of all this? why did they author write this passage at all? is it something out of a history text book, or are they arguing an opinion? revise that \u201cthesis\u201d based on the final thoughts, thinking especially about the writer\u2019s tone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

why sat reading structure is important<\/h2>\n

a whole lot of questions on your sat will ask things that require you to understand the overall point of the passage. big picture questions<\/a> aren\u2019t the only ones; inference<\/a> questions and questions about the author\u2019s intentions<\/a> also test you on it.<\/p>\n

go into the questions having picked apart the structure of the passage and you\u2019ll be a lot better off.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

sat reading passages can be a little hard to pick apart. they\u2019re not light reading, and you probably won\u2019t have any real interest in the topic. and they\u2019re full of detail, a lot of which ends up being pretty unnecessary for the questions. it\u2019s true that there are lots of questions that ask about specific […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[43,46,85,44],"ppma_author":[24883],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nhow to find the main ideas in sat reading passages - magoosh blog | high school<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/sat\/how-to-find-the-main-ideas-in-sat-reading-passages\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"how to find the main ideas in sat reading passages\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"sat reading passages can be a little hard to pick apart. they\u2019re not light reading, and you probably won\u2019t have any real interest in the topic. and they\u2019re full of detail, a lot of which ends up being pretty unnecessary for the questions. it\u2019s true that there are lots of questions that ask about specific […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/sat\/how-to-find-the-main-ideas-in-sat-reading-passages\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"magoosh blog | high school\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/magooshsat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-03-09t10:00:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-11-08t01:57:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"lucas fink\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@magooshsat_act\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@magooshsat_act\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"lucas fink\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"article\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/sat\/how-to-find-the-main-ideas-in-sat-reading-passages\/#article\",\"ispartof\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/sat\/how-to-find-the-main-ideas-in-sat-reading-passages\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"lucas fink\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#\/schema\/person\/c06e6a007d0b81117c00610ed88b6c7d\"},\"headline\":\"how to find the main ideas in sat reading passages\",\"datepublished\":\"2013-03-09t10:00:52+00:00\",\"datemodified\":\"2017-11-08t01:57:50+00:00\",\"mainentityofpage\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/sat\/how-to-find-the-main-ideas-in-sat-reading-passages\/\"},\"wordcount\":524,\"commentcount\":7,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"sat critical reading\",\"sat reading comprehension\",\"sat reading section\",\"sat strategies\"],\"articlesection\":[\"sat\"],\"inlanguage\":\"en-us\",\"potentialaction\":[{\"@type\":\"commentaction\",\"name\":\"comment\",\"target\":[\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/sat\/how-to-find-the-main-ideas-in-sat-reading-passages\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"webpage\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/sat\/how-to-find-the-main-ideas-in-sat-reading-passages\/\",\"url\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/sat\/how-to-find-the-main-ideas-in-sat-reading-passages\/\",\"name\":\"how to find the main ideas in sat reading passages - 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