How to solve SAT Rhetorical Synthesis notes questions

Rhetorical Synthesis questions give you a list of notes a student has taken and ask which sentence uses those notes to accomplish a specific goal. They belong to the Expression of Ideas domain, about 20% of the Reading and Writing section, or roughly 8 to 12 questions. Rhetorical Synthesis and Transitions are the only two skills in that domain, so you will see several notes questions on every test, grouped at the end of each module. They are some of the most learnable questions on the SAT, because the question tells you exactly what the right answer must do.

What the questions look like

Every question opens with "While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes," followed by a short bulleted list. The last line names a goal, and the question asks, "Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?" Common goals include:

• emphasize a similarity or a difference between two things
• introduce a person, place, or idea to an audience unfamiliar with it
• present a study's aim, method, or findings
• explain an advantage or a drawback of something
• make a generalization, or give a specific example

Step-by-step method

1. Read the goal before the notes. It is in the sentence that begins "The student wants to."
2. Turn the goal into a checklist. "Emphasize a difference" means the sentence must mention both things and show how they differ. "Audience unfamiliar with" means the sentence must explain what the thing is. "Present the study's findings" means the sentence must state a result, not just the method.
3. Read the four choices against your checklist. Almost every choice will be accurate to the notes, so accuracy rarely decides the answer.
4. Cross out any choice that leaves out part of the goal, even if it is well written.
5. Go back to the notes only if you need to confirm a detail or break a tie.

Worked example

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

• The axolotl is a salamander native to lakes in and around Mexico City.
• Unlike most salamanders, axolotls typically keep their gills and live in water their entire lives.
• Axolotls can regrow lost limbs, including bone, muscle, and nerves.
• The tiger salamander, a close relative of the axolotl, usually loses its gills and moves onto land as an adult.
• Wild axolotl populations have declined sharply because of habitat loss and pollution.

The student wants to emphasize a difference between axolotls and tiger salamanders.

Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

A) Axolotls, which are native to lakes in and around Mexico City, can regrow lost limbs.
B) While tiger salamanders usually lose their gills and move onto land as adults, axolotls typically keep their gills and stay in the water.
C) The axolotl and the tiger salamander are close relatives.
D) Wild axolotl populations have declined sharply because of habitat loss and pollution.

Answer: B. The checklist for this goal has two items. The sentence must name both animals, and it must show a contrast between them. B does both, and "While" signals the contrast. C names both animals but points out a connection, not a difference. A and D are accurate but mention only axolotls.

Now change the goal. Suppose the student wants to introduce the axolotl to an audience unfamiliar with it. A strong answer would be "The axolotl, a salamander native to lakes in and around Mexico City, typically keeps its gills and lives in water its whole life." It tells the reader what an axolotl is before adding a detail. A choice like "Axolotls can regrow lost limbs, including bone, muscle, and nerves" is accurate and interesting, but it assumes the reader already knows what an axolotl is, so it fails the goal.

Common traps

• Accurate but off goal. The wrong choices are almost always true according to the notes. Accuracy doesn't matter if the sentence doesn't do what the goal asks.
• Half the goal. For comparison goals, check for both items and the relationship between them. One item alone, or two items with no comparison, fails.
• Ignoring the audience. An unfamiliar audience needs to be told what the subject is. If the goal says the audience already knows the topic, a basic definition is unnecessary.
• The longest choice. Packing in more notes doesn't make a choice better. The answer uses only the notes the goal needs.
• Reading every note first. Starting with the notes wastes time. The goal tells you which notes matter.

Quick check

Point to the exact words in your answer that fulfill each part of the goal. If any part of the goal has no matching words, the choice is wrong.