SAT: The Language of the Test: Language of the Test, List 1

Context is king on the new SAT! On the Reading Test, context refers to the surrounding textual "environment" where something (usually a word or phrase) is found. For example, you will only be asked for a word's meaning in the context of a particular passage. That means you should not rely on any prior association with that word when you answer a vocab question; instead, you need to figure out what the word means in the particular sentence or context as it is used on the test.

Argument is the name of the game on the new SAT. In the case of the new SAT, an argument is a reading passage (with or without an informational graphic) that advances a claim and supports that claim with evidence.

Claim has many meanings but if you spot it on the SAT, it will most likely refer to an argument's main point — what the writer is trying to persuade you to believe. There could be more than one claim in an argument, but the reading passages on the SAT will most likely have one central (or main) claim that is supported by different types of evidence.

When a writer builds an argument, he or she may include a counterargument to show how others may view the issue differently. Then, the writer shoots down the counterargument to show you how superior his or her point of view is. For example, if you are arguing for year-round school, you may include a counterargument about how others think summer vacation is important. Then, you could refute that counterargument by explaining that many teenagers get in trouble over summer break.

Evidence is not just the stuff you collect at a crime scene. On the SAT Reading Test, textual evidence is what supports an argument's central claim. It could take the form of examples, stats, facts, etc. Sometimes you will answer a question, and the next question will ask you to identify the evidence that led you to that previous conclusion or answer.

A rhetorical effect is achieved through the artful use of language. You will read persuasive arguments on the new SAT which will most likely be chock full of persuasive rhetoric. It will be your job to identify those examples and how they affect the reader. For example, Obama employed the rhetorical device of alliteration when he said, "They have served tour after tour of duty in distant, different, and difficult places..." in reference to the American armed forces.

On the SAT, the word appeal refers to a rhetorical appeal. Since the SAT prioritizes persuasive arguments, you may be asked to identify what types of appeals a writer has used in a passage. For example, a writer might pull on your heartstrings with the rhetorical appeal of pathos.

Data usually refers to numbers. On the new SAT, you are most likely going to have to interpret data in the form of some type of informational graphic (e.g., a graph, a table, or a chart).

Not to be confusing, but a graph is a type of informational graphic you may see on the new SAT. It could be a line graph or a bar graph, or even a pie chart. Regardless of the type of graph, you will be asked to interpret it and probably have to determine how it relates to a corresponding reading passage.

We're not talking furniture here. On the SAT, you will be expected to interpret tables of data — that means a set of facts or numbers most likely displayed in columns and rows. Think of the tables you have to complete when writing a lab report; that's the type of table you will most likely need to make sense of on the SAT.

An author is a writer, and you will spend most of your time on the Reading section of the SAT trying to figure out what messages different authors are trying to express through their writing. Be careful not to confuse an author with a narrator. A narrator is someone who is telling a story. So, an author can create a fictional narrator to tell a story. For example, J.D. Salinger was an author who created the fictional narrator Holden Caulfield to tell his story in The Catcher in the Rye.

A narrator is the one telling a story. Jane Eyre is the fictional narrator of the novel Jane Eyre, but she didn't write it. Charlotte Brontë was the author of Jane Eyre; she is the one who put pen to paper. Beware: don't confuse a narrator with an author on the SAT.

Your perspective is your point of view; it's how you see something. On the SAT Reading Test, you may be asked to interpret a writer's perspective (or a narrator's perspective) on an issue.