Remembering SAT Vocab
Anyone can study vocabulary by reading over a list of words and definitions. Simple. But not that helpful.
It’s another thing entirely to remember the words you study.
Mnemonics
Mnemonic devices are tricks of the memorizing trade. A mnemonic could be an image, a rhyme, a
formula—anything other than straight repetition of a word and its definition. So, let’s say you want to
memorize the word mnemonic. You could come up with an image of the word mnemonic branded into
some guy’s brain as he correctly answers a Sentence Completion. The image will stick in your head much
more readily than any dry old definition. With mnemonics, you’ll remember words permanently and with
less effort.
When you use mnemonics, the more outlandish the image or rhyme you can make up, the better. The
farther out the mnemonic, the more sticky it will be in your brain. If you’re trying to memorize the word
sacrosanct, which means “holy, or something that should not be criticized,” go all out. Imagine that scene
in the Raiders of the Lost Ark when the holy “Ark of the Covenant” gets opened, and then everyone’s face
melts off because they dared to touch this holy, sacrosanct object. Boom. You know this word. You’re not
about to forget someone’s face melting off. From now on, whenever you encounter an especially tough
SAT vocab word, generate a detailed phrase or image that burns the meaning of the word into your
memory.
Below are five mnemonic examples that we came up with to help you remember the definitions of some
tough SAT vocab words:
SAT WORD
buttress
DEFINITION
A support
conundrum
A problem or puzzle
cursory
Brief and to the point
malevolent
Wanting harm to be done
to others
boon
A gift or blessing
MNEMONIC
having a big butt gives you
extra support, like a
buttress.
Having only one drum is a
conundrum for a rock
drummer.
People tend to curse when
they want to get straight to
the point.
Violent males tend to be
malevolent.
Pirates consider booty a
boon.
Where the Wild Vocabs Are
SENTENCE
Without a strong buttress,
the building’s front structure
would collapse.
The explorers figured out
how to deal with the
conundrum of having only
two days to hike 100 miles.
His boss took a cursory look
at the memo and came to a
decision.
The villain confirmed his
malevolent wishes by
cheering when the tree fell
and crushed his neighbor’s
foot.
The teacher’s decision to
make the test open book was
a boon to his students.
SAT vocab lurks in lists and in life. You will be tempted to ignore life and focus only on the lists. That’s up
to you, but we think that’s a mistake. You’ll learn and retain more vocabulary if you focus on both.
Vocab in Lists
Studying vocab from a list of words seems easy, but it’s actually quite tough. That list of words lulls you to
sleep, so you think you’re remembering what you study, but you’re actually not. (This is another reason
mnemonics are so helpful: You can’t fool yourself into thinking you came up with a mnemonic. You’ve
either got one or you don’t.) You really need to focus to seal the meaning of the word into your mind.
Breezing over a list won’t make that happen.
There is another pitfall in studying vocab from lists. Your mind memorizes in context. One thing clues you
into another. This can trick you into thinking that you know a word even when you don’t—you may know
it only when it’s in the order from your list, not when it’s sitting there alone in an answer choice. So, when
you study from a list, don’t always go through it in the same order. Switch things around, go backward,
skip every other word. Keep your head on its toes. Or use flashcards and frequently reshuffle the deck.
Vocab in Life
Remember the other day when you were watching a movie like The Matrix and one of the characters said
a word you didn’t recognize, but you shrugged it off so you could just enjoy the show? Those days are over.
From now until the day you take the new SAT, if you hear a word you don’t know, try to guess its meaning
from context, then look it up to see if you were right and make a mnemonic.
This takes some effort. And if you don’t want to put out the effort to make the world your personal vocab
oyster, well, we’re not going to come track you down. But we will tell you that paying attention to words
you encounter on lists and in life will go a long way toward building the vocabulary you need to beat the
new SAT.
from http://www.sparknotes.com/testprep/books/newsat/chapter15section1.rhtml