SAT Skills Insight
Select a score band
Skills needed to score in this band
SKILL 1: Use vocabulary clues to determine the tone of a text (the author’s attitude toward the subject of the text and toward the audience)
SKILL 2: Recognize elements of figurative language (such as metaphor) in a text
Use vocabulary clues to determine the tone of a text (the author’s attitude toward the subject of the text and toward the audience)Example
A reading passage Line Number Text Duke Ellington considered himself “the world’s greatest
listener.” In music, hearing is all. Judging by the two or
three thousand pieces of music Ellington wrote, he could
probably hear a flea scratching itself and put that rhythm
Line 5 into one of his compositions. For him the sounds of the
world were the ingredients he mixed into appetizers,
main courses, and desserts to satisfy the appetite of his
worldwide audience. He wasn’t averse to going out in
a boat to catch the fish himself. He would raise the fowl
Line 10 himself. But when that musical meal appeared before you
none of the drudgery showed.
The author most likely refers to the “flea” in line 4 in order to
Skills needed to score in the next band
As you read a text, think about the author’s purpose for writing (for example, to express his or her feelings about a subject, to inform the reader, to present an argument).
As you read a text, look for literary devices such as personification, metaphor, and hyperbole. As you identify them, think about what effect they have on the text.