General
What does SSAT stand for?
Secondary School Admission Test
Name some strategies for approaching the reading section.
read quickly, answer questions out of order, multiple choice strategies, answer the 5ws, vocabulary building
What is the author's purpose in informative passages & where might you find these types of passages?
To explain or describe a main topic. You might find them in encyclopedias, textbooks or newspapers.
What are short stories?
Works of fiction that discuss people, places, and events that are made up by the author’s imagination
What is poetry?
a form of writing that expresses an idea through highly imaginative language, often in short lines rather than sentences and paragraphs.
How many questions and how much time do you have on the Reading section?
40 questions in 40 minutes
What does it mean to read critically?
Examining and interpreting the passage as a whole by not only trying to understand facts, but what the author is saying about those facts and how the author is saying it. Identify the author's topics, main point, and purpose.
What is the author's purpose in persuasive passages & where might you find these types of passages?
What are the major components of short stories?
Characters & Narrator (who)
Plot (what)
Setting (where & when)
Conflict (why & how)
What are the major components of poetry?
line- a group of words that take up one line of text on the page.
stanza- group of lines in a poem, like a “paragraph” within a poem.
meter- the rhythm made by the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in the words in each of its lines.
rhyme- the way that words at the ends of its lines sound similar.
Each question is worth the same amount of points. Approach the SSATs like a timed maze.
Name the 5W's and provide an example of each.
Who
Who is involved in this passage?
Who might be writing this passage?
What
What is being discussed? Identify major concepts
Where
Where are the events taking pace?
What are the important places being discussed?
When
When are the events taking pace?
When might the author have written this passage?
Why?
Why is the information in this passage important?
How are the ideas connected?
What purpose or main point is the author illustrating with the details?
What is a thesis?
The author's opinion about a main topic. It may help to identify the author's tone to help locate the thesis.
Is the author the same as the narrator?
NO.
Name some common types of figurative language.
imagery- uses descriptive words from the five senses to create a vivid image in the reader’s mind.
symbol- a word that represents another concept or idea within a poem.
simile- a device that compares two things using the words “like” or “as.”
metaphor- a device that compares to things, but does not use the words “like” or “as.”
personification- A technique that gives human characteristics to animals, objects, or ideas.
Genres for the reading passages include...
What does it mean to be an active reader?
What are the major components of informative and persuasive passages?
Introduction-The opening sentences of a passage normally introduce the reader to the main topic of the passage. Introduction typically includes author's thesis in persuasive passages.
Body- information or supporting details related to main topic.
Conclusion- The final sentences of a passage might summarize the main idea of the passage.
What is point of view?
The perspective from which the story is told.
- It could be 1st person, using pronouns such as "I" or "me," and is likely a character in the story.
- It could be 3rd person, using pronouns such as "she" or "them," and the narrator is usually not a character in the story.
What is a good strategy to help you understand difficult poems?
Re-write the poem in straightforward language.
Questions for the reading section include...
author's main idea, specific details, style, expand logically, infer/predict
Define the author's topics, main point, and purpose.
Topics- main focus of a paragraph
Main point- what the author is saying about the topics
Purpose- why the author may have written that passage (to explain, to persuade, to entertain, etc.)
What structure does a typical paragraph follow?
Topic Sentence
Serves as an introduction
Introduces readers to the main idea of the paragraph
Supporting Details
Like a body
Provides supporting details related to the topic sentence
Concluding Sentence
Might summarize the main topic
Might provide a transition to the next paragraph
its “main idea,” or the message it conveys about life and behavior.
To help determine the them, ask yourself:
Do the characters find success or disappointment, and why might this be?
Do the characters end up with a greater understanding of themselves and others?
How might the events in the story relate to other events you have experienced in real life?
Sleep: Death
Dreams: Fate, the future
Light (sun, stars, moon): good, hope, freedom
Dark: evil, magic, the unknown
Spring: youth, birth, life
Winter: death, dying, old age
Owl: wisdom
Dove: peace
Rose: love, beauty
Crown: wealth, royalty
Ring: love, commitment