Cracking the Writing & Language Test

The W & L Test on the SAT makes up 50% of your score on the evidence-based Reading and Writing section

The W & L Test on the SAT is 35 minutes long and contains 44 questions

Check what’s changing in the answer choices Check what’s changing in the answer choices. The answer choices not only tell you what a particular question is testing, but also reveal mistakes that you might not have otherwise seen.

Use POE to get rid of the incorrect choices Use POE to get rid of the incorrect choices. If you can’t eliminate three choices, pick the shortest one that is most consistent with the rest of the sentence.

Remember STOP, HALF-STOP, and GO Remember STOP, HALF-STOP, and GO! STOP punctuation can link only complete ideas. HALF-STOP punctuation must be preceded by a complete idea. GO punctuation can link anything except two complete ideas.

STOP - Period. - Question Mark - Semicolon STOP - Period - Question Mark - Semicolon - Exclamation Mark - Comma + FANBOYS When you see STOP punctuation changing in the answer choices, use the VERTICAL LINE TEST.

FANBOYS For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So

HALF-STOP -Colon - Long Dash GO - Comma -No Punctuation

On the SAT, there are only four reasons to use a comma: - STOP punctuation (with FANBOYS) - Go punctuation - after every item in a list - to set off unnecessary information

On the SAT, there are only two reasons to use an apostrophe: - possessive nouns (not pronouns) -contractions

Know why you are using punctuation Know why you are using punctuation! If you can’t cite reasons for using these punctuation marks, don’t use them!

You don’t need to know a ton of grammar if you remember these three basic rules: Consistency: Correct answers are consistent with the rest of the sentence and the passage. Precision: Correct answers are as precise as possible. Concision: Barring other errors, correct answers are concise as possible.

When you see verbs changing in the answer choices, make sure those verbs are consistent with their subjects as well as with other verbs in the sentence and surrounding sentences.

When the nouns are changing in the answer choices, make sure those nouns are consistent with the other nouns in the sentence and the paragraph.

Once you are sure that a word or phrase is consistent with the non-underlined portion of the sentence, make that word or phrase as precise as you can.

Concision is key when you want to communicate meaning Concision is key when you want to communicate meaning. As long as the grammar and punctuation are good to go, the answer will almost always be the shortest.