Rules of the Test
In addition to the content and format of the test, there
are some rules of the SAT II Writing that the directions will not
tell you, but which are very important to know.
- When taking the test, you can skip around
between sections. You must write the essay first, but after that,
you can do the sections in any order you like. For example, if you
find that the Identifying Sentence Error questions are easy for you,
you can answer those thirty questions before turning to the Improving Sentences
and Improving Paragraphs questions.
- The questions on the test aren’t organized by difficulty.
In other words, a difficult question about word choice might be
followed by an easy question about subject-verb agreement.
- All questions are worth the same number of points. You
will not get more points for answering a difficult question, or
fewer points for answering an easy question.
These three rules greatly affect how you should approach
the test. We will explain how and why in the next chapter, which
discusses general strategy for the SAT II Writing, and also in the
individual chapters that focus on each of the three different types
of multiple-choice questions.
