SAT Function/Purpose questions will typically underline a portion of the text and ask you to determine its function within a larger paragraph. The most important thing to keep in mind for this type of question is this: they are not detail questions! Although reading the underlined portion will be vital for correctly answering the question, you must read beyond it to the whole paragraph. These questions are not asking about “what” (detail) so much as they are asking about “why” and “how” (Why does the author include this sentence? How is the author using this portion?). If you read the whole paragraph and consider the overall purpose as you assess the choices, you will do well.
The following text is adapted from Ralph Ellison’s 1952 novel Invisible Man.
I longed to speak, but the words stuck in my throat. Silence pressed harder than any shout, filling the room with meanings I could not control. My own voice seemed the only thing absent.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It illustrates how silence conveys overwhelming significance for the narrator.
B. It explains the narrator’s decision to remain silent during an argument.
C. It contrasts the narrator’s silence with the voices of others in the room.
D. It introduces the idea that the narrator plans to leave the conversation.
As noted in the introduction, we need to reread the underlined portion but also move beyond that to the entire context. In addition, we have to take into account the genre; since this is literature, we may pick up on aspects of tone and mood that are not typically present in nonfiction.
The underlined portion alone is not easy to interpret, except to say that silence seemed “loud” to the narrator. But other phrases provide more insight: “but the words stuck in my throat,” “my own voice … seemed absent,” and especially “filling the room with meanings I could not control.” This last clause is especially revealing, in part because it occurs in the same sentence as the underlined portion and therefore is the most likely indicator of that other portion’s meaning.
Notice the sense of irony here; normally, we would associate “meaning” with something communicated verbally, either out loud or in writing. But Ellison connects it with silence. For the narrator here, silence itself has meaning, and that meaning threatens to overwhelm him.
We can eliminate the answer choices referencing an “argument” or a “conversation” (there is no mention of anyone else speaking to the narrator) and “others in the room” (there is no mention of anyone else present). Notice that the details of the passage help us eliminate wrong answers, but even there the context of the whole paragraph is vital.
That only leaves one possibility, the answer that mentions how silence “conveys’ overwhelming information.” That’s the one we want; the “information” corresponds to the “meaning” mentioned in the passage, and the mood of the paragraph demonstrates that the narrator is overwhelmed. The answer is A.
The main variation with these types of questions has to do with whether the main passage is nonfiction or fiction. If it’s fiction, make sure to consider tone and mood (the “feeling” you get as you read) when you’re assessing the function of a sentence or part of a sentence.
Answer this: what does the R in the QUICKER Method stand for?
REVIEW your answer in the original context to make sure it fits.
The following text is adapted from Charles Chesnutt’s 1899 novel The Conjure Woman.
Uncle Julius leaned against the gate and began his story. His words rolled out like a song, rich with the rhythms of his past. The listeners grew quiet, waiting for each new twist in his tale.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It emphasizes the musical quality of Julius’s storytelling.
B. It explains why Julius refuses to share details about his past.
C. It shows that the listeners were uninterested in what Julius said.
D. It suggests that Julius is reluctant to begin his story.
The answer is A. Sometimes it is best to avoid overthinking. The underlined portion mentions a “song,” and only one answer mentions anything related to music. If we had any doubt, though, the context puts this to rest: the rest of the sentence describes Uncle Julius’ story as “rich with the rhythms of the past.” Clearly, there is a musical quality to the storytelling.
Anthropologist Audra Simpson has written about the Kahnawà:ke Mohawk community’s refusal to be defined solely by external governments. Instead, she argues, they maintain a “politics of refusal,” choosing when and how to engage with outside authorities. Her analysis highlights Indigenous sovereignty not as granted by others but as continuously practiced.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. To criticize Mohawk strategies for maintaining sovereignty
B. To introduce a Mohawk engagement strategy that allows the community to remain self-governing
C. To show how political scientists disagree about Mohawk strategies for sovereignty
D. To compare Mohawk cultural approaches with those of other Indigenous groups
The answer is B. Taken by itself, the underlined portion doesn’t help us understand very much, because we need to know what a “politics of refusal” is in the context of the Mohawk community. Earlier in the paragraph, the author mentions the Mohawk “refusal to be defined solely by external governments.” We can see from this that the Mohawk community is seeking to maintain its independence from the outside, at least to some extent. Combined with the following clause about “choosing when and how to engage with outside authorities,” we have a yet deeper sense of how intentional the Mohawk are in maintaining a cautious stance toward outside authorities.
Two of the answers mention “sovereignty”, which is an apt word for what the Mohawk are seeking to maintain, but the author isn’t criticizing those efforts, nor are there multiple political scientists disagreeing about it. And choice D is out because the passage is not about “cultural approaches” but about the Mohawk community’s relationship to outside governments. And, in any case, no comparison is made to other Indigenous groups.
One answer remains: the one that correctly talks about “self-government” but also mentions the “engagement strategy,” which is actually what a “politics of refusal” turns out to be.
The following text is adapted from Willa Cather’s 1913 novel O Pioneers!
Alexandra looked across the fields she had worked so many years to cultivate. The soil, once stubborn and barren, now yielded richly under her care. To her, the land seemed not conquered but partnered in her family’s survival.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It conveys Alexandra’s recognition of how much hard work went into the land’s change.
B. It explains why Alexandra decides to leave her farm to others.
C. It describes Alexandra’s feeling of connection to the land.
D. It introduces the resentment Alexandra feels toward the land.
The answer is C. In literature, figurative language is frequent. Cather’s use of “partnered” in the underlined sentence does not mean something literal, but rather is intended to convey Alexandra’s relationship to the land. It was “not conquered,” as if Alexandra felt some sort of victory over it after all her hard work; rather, it was “partnered”, which implies equal footing. A “partner” is typically a person to whom someone is closely connected, so the answer mentioning a “feeling of connection” is best.
Answer A might seem right, as Alexandra did put in a lot of hard work according to the first sentence, and the results of that work are shown in the second sentence. But we have to stay focused on the function of the underlined sentence, and the underlined sentenced has moved past these details to discuss Alexandra’s feelings. The answer about “leaving her farm to others” misunderstands the part about the “family’s survival,” and the choice mentioning “resentment” misunderstands the words “stubborn and barren” as if they are speaking of an attitude Alexandra has toward the land, rather than the land itself.
In James Baldwin’s 1963 work The Fire Next Time, the author discusses how the country’s racial divisions were not merely political arrangements. They were a kind of spiritual failing, a blindness that deformed both oppressor and oppressed. Baldwin insisted that only by confronting this truth could America hope to become whole.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It identifies Baldwin’s central claim about the moral cost of racism.
B. It introduces Baldwin’s critique of American society in the midst of racial division.
C. It provides historical evidence that Baldwin used to support his argument.
D. It underscores a failure that lifts up one race at the expense of another.
The answer is A. Eliminating the wrong answers to this question involves paying careful attention to how the underlined sentence fits with the passage as a whole. For example, choice B might sound tempting because Baldwin does have a critique of a racist society. But the underlined portion does not introduce that critique; if anything, it is that critique. Meanwhile, choice C falls perhaps more easily because the underlined portion is not historical evidence at all; it is a descriptive picture of current society.
Of the two remaining choices, D will catch many students making a mistake in choosing it. What’s challenging about D is that it represents something broadly true: the failure that is racism, which Baldwin observed, absolutely did lift up one race at the expense of another. But we must always pay careful attention to the text. In the underlined portion, Baldwin is focusing on the damage that racism does to both oppressor and oppressed. So while choice D describes something true about racism in general, only choice A captures what Baldwin is doing in this passage with this particular sentence.
The following text is adapted from James Joyce’s 1916 novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
Stephen saw the lines of verse forming, yet they seemed to arrive from somewhere outside him. Inspiration felt less like possession than like surrender. In that yielding, he glimpsed his own freedom.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It explains why Stephen abandoned his pursuit of poetry.
B. It describes Stephen’s creativity as something that he confidently owns and expresses.
C. It introduces Stephen’s doubts about his literary abilities.
D. It conveys Stephen’s paradoxical sense of liberation through submission to inspiration.
The answer is D. As with any hard question in this category, we need to consider the context while carefully interpreting the underlined portion itself. Before the cited sentence, we learn that the creative inspiration seemed to come from “somewhere outside” Stephen. Meanwhile, after the underlined portion, we learn that Stephen has begun to feel free, or at least has had his first taste of creative freedom. The sentence itself needs to be interpreted because it uses “less like” instead of “more like”; we need to make sure it’s clear in our minds that the surrender is what it feels like, not the possession. In other words, he doesn’t feel as if he owns something; rather, he feels like he’s giving in to something that, if anything, owns him.
This research allows us to move to evaluating the choices. Choice A misinterprets the word “surrender” as if Stephen has given up writing. On the contrary: he has surrendered to creative inspiration! Choice B misunderstands the underlined portion. Choice C doesn’t work; there’s no sign of doubt here, not even in “surrender”.
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