Reading: Literary Analysis
STRATEGY:
Look for:
Points to Remember:
Strategy 1: Determine the
main conflict
The tension, stress, strain, or
worry in the passage. (READ
FOR COMPARISONS and
CONTRASTS)
Keywords and phrases like
because, which resulted in,
the reason for this, and
consequently
You need to summarize a
paragraph. What is the broad
interpretation?
Word clues like first, next,
finally, also, in addition,
furthermore, more
importantly, most important,
therefore, as a result,
causing, and, in effect are
excellent indicators
It will be helpful to infer. Ask
yourself if the title, author, or
date gives you an idea about
the passage.
Read for comparisons and
contrasts.
Make Comparisons.
Read each question carefully
Read for cause and effect
Strategy 2: Know the key
words for cause and effect
Strategy 3: Learn how to
generalize
Strategy 4: Put Events in
Sequence
Strategy 5: Draw the right
conclusion
Read for Generalizations
Read for Sequences
(Transitions)
Read for conclusions
Reading: Main Idea and Supporting Details
STRATEGY:
Strategy 1:Notice key ideas
that are repeated in some
way
Look for:
A writer always wants a
reader to understand what
he or she has to say. A writer
always has a main idea to
express.
Strategy 2: Summarize the
Think of taking the reading
main content
section paragraph by
paragraph. Boil down
information in a phrase or
two, then you can move on
without worrying that you
forgot.
Strategy 3: Pull the clues and Pull together those clues and
phrases together
phrases, like a puzzle.
Strategy 4: Use what you
Details are ALWAYS related
know about the main ideas
to main ideas. The main idea
to hunt down details and
is always supported by
create a summary
details.
Strategy 5: Recognize quickly Obvious!!! It will say it in the
when you are being asked
question.
main idea or supporting
detail questions.
Strategy 6: Look for details
Read the questions carefully.
Make sure you understand it.
Scan the passage, looking for
key words. Don’t stop the
first time you find the key
words. They might come up
again. You might need
information from more than
one place in the passage to
answer the question.
Strategy 7: Identify the main Find key ideas (clues)
idea
Rethink of the main ideas as
simple phrases.
Points to Remember:
What keeps coming up? If
you boil all this down, then
what is the one thing that
stands out?
TAKE NOTES PER
PARAGRAPH
Recall the main points of the
text.
What category does it fall
under? Example, if you are
trying to find out where the
party (detail) is at, you would
look in the paragraph about
(main idea) the big event.
Notice for the words: main
idea or details
Read for details. You will be
asked to interpret what the
detail means.
Read for Main Ideas
Reading: Inferences in a text or texts
STRATEGY:
Strategy 1: Beginning at the
Beginning
Look for:
THE ANSWER IS RIGHT THERE!
Strategy 2: Familiarize
yourself with the questions
READ THE QUESTION FIRST
Strategy 3: Skim the passage
SKIM it.
Strategy 4: Read the first and
last sentences in each
paragraph; do not read
passages line by line
If you read the entire passage,
then you will only wonder
what you’re supposed to do
with all your newfound
knowledge.
Strategy 5: Draw Conclusions
Conclusions are never stated!
They are assumptions you can
make by piecing together
prior knowledge and the
information the author
provides.
Summarize the paragraph or
passage.
Details are ALWAYS related to
main ideas. So if you use the
margins to capture the main
ideas of the paragraphs you
read, then you’ll be able to
use those notes as a memory
trigger to help you find in
which paragraph a detail may
be hiding.
Note key information in the
questions.
Note information that justifies
your answers in the passage.
Strategy 6: Generalize
Strategy 7: Use what you
know about the main ideas to
hunt down details to create a
summary
Strategy 8: When dealing
with paired passages, use the
same strategies you learned
for single passages
Points to Remember:
You will be able to find the
correct answer if you read the
questions carefully and can
find the information in the
passage.
Knowing what you are being
asked will help you find the
answer.
Let the questions tell you
what to focus on. Then reread
the passage to grasp more
detail.
SAVE YOURSELF some time by
reading only the first and last
sentences of each paragraph.
The questions will tell you
what to focus on when you go
back to the passage for
information.
Asking “So what?” can
sometimes help you
determine an important
conclusion.
LOOK FOR A BROAD
INTERPRETATION.
The ideas from your margin
notes put them together. The
beginning of the sentence of
each paragraph and the
ending sentence of that same
paragraph often fit together
like a puzzle to summarize
that individual paragraph.
Be sure that you are looking at
the correct paragraph.
Reading: Author’s use of language
STRATEGY:
Strategy 1: Identify the
author’s tone and purpose
Look for:
Look for the author’s tone. Is
the tone positive or
negative? Did the author use
words that moved you to
agree or disagree?
Strategy 2: When analyzing
Once the audience and
writing, always try to
purpose are clear in your
determine why someone is
mind, you can begin to
writing in the first place
analyze the content of the
(even before you are asked a writing. Similarly, writers
question about it)
who want to persuade use
different language than
writers who want to inform a
reader about two sides of an
issue in a very balanced way.
Strategy 3: Quickly recognize Notice that “writer includes
how purpose and meaning
information” gets at purpose
questions are phrased
and “help readers
understand” gets at meaning.
Strategy 4: Rephrase the
meaning, and then imagine
what would happen to the
purpose and meaning if the
tested part of the passages
was taken out.
Strategy 5: Read the
sentences that appear
before and after the
sentence that contains the
quoted vocabulary word or
phrase
Strategy 6: Determine if the
tested word has a prefix
root, or suffix that you know
well; you might even know
Points to Remember:
Think about why the author
chose certain adjectives and
metaphors. Know what the
writer wants you to think or
feel about the subject.
Because we make decisions
about both the person
writing and the audience, we
can then make guesses about
what the writer will say.
Once you identify the test
question as asking about
purpose and/or meaning,
then you’re ready to use your
other strategies.
First rephrase or restate the
Ask yourself, “What would I,
meaning of the phrase or
as a reader, have missed out
paragraph in your own
on?” You are trying to figure
words. Consider what would out what you would NOT
happen if the information the have been informed about.
test question is referring to
By thinking about what
was deleted.
would happen if you take it
out, you’ll know why the
writer wants it in there.
Sometimes the meaning of
The sentences before and
words is connected to the
after the tested word or
words that are around them. phrase are the best clues for
helping you with vocabulary
that is unfamiliar.
We often speak of words as
belonging to families. Words that
begin with the prefix TRANS- are
part of the same family because
they almost always have something
to do with movement.
Think of “transport” and
“transplant.” So you can use
the words you know well to
help you with the words you
don’t know at all.
these words from your math
and science classes.
Strategy 7: Determine if the
text provides synonym or
antonym clues
Strategy 8: Substitute the
answer choices into the
sentence to see if one or
more sounds correct
Strategy 9: Use the overall
context of the passage as a
clue
Strategy 10: Use connective
words like “and” & “or” to
give you clues about a
difficult word or phrase
Strategy 11: Eliminate
adjectives and adverbs that
do not affect the meaning of
the sentence
Think about this pair of
sentences: “She’s so
optimistic. She’s like the
Pollyanna of our school.” If
you know even a little about
the story character
Pollyanna, you can figure out
that “optimistic” means
“hopeful or cheerful.”
By substituting in the answer
choices, you should be able
to tell which other word or
words might have crossed
the mind of the writer.
Does the word have a
positive or negative
meaning? By doing this, you
are considering how the
word or phrase fits with the
meaning of the rest of the
text that surrounds it.
You need to know only one
of the words within an “and
phrase” or an “or phrase.”
All sentences have a basic
meaning to them. As stated
above, you can often strip
out words from the sentence
without significantly
changing the meaning of the
sentence.
Writers frequently give the
reader these kinds of clues.
Whichever word or words
make sense usually puts you
on the path of determining
the correct answer.
The passages you read will
contain other difficult words
and phrases besides the ones
that are being tested.
Consider the sentence: “Ms.
Martinez is revered and
admired.” You don’t need to
know revered to understand
that Ms. Martinez is well
thought of; your knowledge
of admired gives you that
clue.
All you need is the central
meaning. The rest should
receive little of your
attention.