Content of SAT II Writing
What does ETS test on SAT II Writing? Not much. The essay
portion of the SAT II tests your general writing skills; the multiple-choice
portion tests your knowledge of the following grammar and writing
rules:
- Verb tense agreement
- Pronoun rules
- Parallelism
- Noun agreement
- Subject-verb agreement
- Coordination and subordination
- Logical comparison
- Misplaced modifiers
- Diction
- Wordiness
- Idiom
- Sentence fragments and run-ons
- Double negatives
SAT II Writing does not cover:
- Spelling
- Punctuation
- Technical names of grammar and writing rules
Because of the limited material tested, and because you
will never have to know grammar terms, you should not feel daunted
or panicked as you set out to study for this test. In essence, the
Writing test doesn’t test your ability to understand grammar so
much as it tests your ability to “hear” wrong grammar. You see,
in order to do well on this test, you need to be able to identify
only two things: sentences that sound strange, and sentences that
sound right. On one section of the test, you’ll have to know how
to fix up a strange sentence so it sounds right. On the essay section,
you’ll have to know how to generate your own right sentences. If
you can sniff out a bad sentence, you’re well on your way to doing
well on SAT II Writing.
