Many writers use chronological order because it matches how people usually tell stories and experience events in real life. However, writers sometimes change the order of events (for example, by starting in the middle or jumping back in time) to create a particular effect or emphasize a point.
Words that indicate a chronological structure include dates as well as the following:
For example:
Which statement matches the structure of the paragraph best?
a. The passage provides a history of European breakfasts from the Renaissance until today.
b. The passage describes the moral objections to breakfast and explores modern justifications for it.
c. The passage criticizes the centuries-old debate about what to eat for breakfast before pointing out that most people don’t have time for it anyway.
d. The passage begins with medieval superstitions about breakfast and shows that they were debunked during the Industrial Revolution.
e. The passage begins with medieval objections to breakfast and then explains how opinions changed during the Renaissance and Industrial Revolution.
Answer: d. The passage begins with medieval objections to breakfast and proceeds to explain how opinions changed during the Renaissance and Industrial Revolution is correct because it accurately describes the beginning, middle, and end of the passage.
a. The passage provides a history of European breakfasts from the Renaissance until today is incorrect because the passage begins with the medieval period.
b. The passage describes the moral objections to breakfast and explores modern justifications for it is incorrect because there is no mention of “modern justifications” for eating breakfast.
c. The passage criticizes the centuries-old debate about what to eat for breakfast before pointing out that most people don’t have time for it anyway is incorrect because the passage is not criticizing moral objections to breakfast and because it misstates the rest of the passage entirely.
e. The passage begins with medieval superstitions about breakfast and shows that they were debunked during the Industrial Revolution is incorrect because the passage does not say that those myths were debunked during the Industrial Revolution.
Writers use description to help readers picture a person, place, object, or scene. Descriptive details are often introduced with phrases like these:
Here’s an example:
This passage is taken from My Antonia, by Willa Cather, found at Project Gutenberg. The narrator, a young boy, is meeting Otto Fuchs for the first time.
Which statement best describes the narrator’s first impression of Otto Fuchs?
a. Otto Fuchs is of historical interest to the narrator because he has not kept up with modern times.
b. Otto Fuchs looks as terrifying as the wiliest, most dangerous “desperado.”
c. The narrator thinks that Otto Fuchs is Jesse James.
d. The narrator is impressed by Otto Fuchs’ appearance because he looks like Jesse James, one of the most famous train robbers in American history.
e. The narrator is frightened of Otto Fuchs and stays in the wagon bottom to avoid him.
Answer: d. The narrator is impressed by Otto Fuchs’ appearance because he looks like Jesse James, one of the most famous train robbers in American history is correct because the passage specifically makes this comparison between the two men.
a. Otto Fuchs is of historical interest to the narrator because he has not kept up with modern times is incorrect because the passage says that Fuchs “looked as if he had a history,” which is not the same as saying that he is “of historical interest.”
b. Otto Fuchs looks as terrifying as the wiliest, most dangerous “desperado” is incorrect because the narrator is impressed by him, not frightened.
c. The narrator thinks that Otto Fuchs is Jesse James is incorrect because the narrator only thinks that Fuchs looks like James.
e. The narrator is frightened of Otto Fuchs and stays in the wagon bottom to avoid him is incorrect because he and his companion ride in the bottom of the wagon covered with a blanket to keep warm, not to avoid Fuchs.
A passage focused on classification sorts information into separate categories and then gives details that belong in each category.
For example:
Which choice best expresses the passage’s organizing structure?
a. It introduces new terminology and provides a comprehensive overview of cloud type and shape.
b. It classifies clouds by their sizes, shapes, and names.
c. It compares different kinds of clouds to one another and then focuses on those that make rain.
d. It includes the etymologies of words about clouds and says which clouds produce rain.
e. It introduces high clouds, mentions a definition, and then names middle and lower height clouds.
Answer: e. It introduces high clouds, mentions a definition, and then names middle and lower height clouds is correct because it accurately identifies the order in which the student presented the information in the passage.
a. It explains new terminology and provides a comprehensive overview of cloud type and shape is incorrect because the student lists the cloud types without explaining their names and because the passage is not a comprehensive overview, but merely a brief summary.
b. It classifies clouds by their sizes, shapes, and names is incorrect because it is too general. It also misses that the main classification is by distance from the ground.
c. It compares different kinds of clouds to one another and then focuses on those that make rain is incorrect because the passage doesn’t compare the different clouds. It merely lists them.
d. It includes the etymologies of words about clouds and says which clouds produce rain is incorrect because it suggests that the passage focuses on cloud names and their meanings when it does not.
An argument is an attempt to persuade. The word “claim” is often used as a synonym for “argument.” A text that tries to persuade you to agree with a particular point of view does so by stating a claim and then supporting that claim with facts, examples, and details. Sometimes the writer also anticipates a counterargument and refutes it. Persuasive passages often end with a call to action.
An argument that is not supported by facts, details, and examples is only an opinion. You will be asked to differentiate between facts and opinions on the test.
Texts often signal factual information with words like in fact and by citing sources for their supporting facts, details, and examples. Facts can be independently verified.
In contrast, authors often signal opinions with “I” language, such as “I think” or “In my opinion.” Opinions may also appear as value judgments (such as “better” or “worse”) or as claims that are not supported with facts, details, or examples. Opinions can also be called subjective statements.
Compare the following statements:
The Indian Muntjac deer is between sixteen and eighteen inches high. (This is a verifiable fact based on measurements by people who have studied muntjac deer.)
Muntjac deer live in a variety of habitats, including tropical and subtropical zones, grasslands, hilly areas, and forests. (Another verifiable fact.)
Muntjac deer are the cutest deer species. (This is an opinion because cuteness is subjective.)
Muntjac deer would make good pets. (This is an opinion because the definition of a good pet is subjective.)
No one cares about muntjac deer. (This claim is undercut by the fact that some people keep them as pets.)
Here’s a test-like example:
Which statement best represents the author’s opinion?
a. It costs $16 million per hour to remediate the ravages of climate change.
b. Climate change is too costly to address.
c. Climate change continues to be a problem because world leaders care more about getting rich than they do about sustaining human life.
d. People should rise up against oil oligarchs and demand that they stop producing petroleum products.
e. We should have stopped climate change in the 1970s.
Answer: c. Climate change continues to be a problem because world leaders care more about getting rich than they do about sustaining human life is correct because it makes an unprovable assumption–a claim–about world leaders that it does not substantiate.
a. It costs $16 million per hour to remediate the ravages of climate change is incorrect because it is a supporting detail that the writer uses to support the claim that climate change is unsustainably costly.
b. Climate change is too costly to address is incorrect because the writer is upset that the profits from not responding to climate change motivate world leaders to ignore it.
d. People should rise up against oil oligarchs and demand that they stop producing petroleum products is incorrect because it is a misstatement that elevates a detail to a main point while also getting it wrong.
e. We should have stopped climate change in the 1970s is incorrect because, although the writer might believe it, the passage doesn’t say it.
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