Rhetorical synthesis

Digital SAT · Reading and Writing · Expression of Ideas. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

You see a student's notes as bullet points, and then a goal: for example, to emphasize a similarity, to describe a study's methodology, or to introduce something to a reader who does not know it. You choose the sentence that best meets the goal.

All four options normally agree with the notes and are grammatically correct, so accuracy will not separate them. Judge them on the goal alone.

Turn the task words of the goal into a checklist. "Emphasize a difference" needs two things and a contrast word. "Explain an advantage" needs a benefit and the reason for it. The option that checks off every item is the answer.

Rules to remember

Read the goal first. It is the only test.
Similarity: both things named, with "both," "like" or "similarly."
Difference or contrast: both things named, with "while," "whereas," "but" or "unlike."
Methodology: what the researchers did, not what they found.
Result or finding: what was found, not how it was done.
Introducing to a new audience: say who or what the subject is before giving any detail.
A specific goal ("give the height," "give an example") needs that exact item from the notes.

Common mistake

Choosing the sentence with the most facts or the most interesting fact. A true, detailed sentence is wrong if it does not do what the goal asks.

Worked example

Notes: • The cheetah is the fastest land animal. • It can reach about 100 km/h. • The pronghorn of North America can reach about 88 km/h. • The pronghorn can keep up a high speed for much longer. The student wants to emphasize a difference between the two animals. (A) Both animals can run faster than 80 km/h. (B) The cheetah has the higher top speed, whereas the pronghorn can run fast for much longer.

Goal: a difference, so the sentence must name both animals and contrast them.
(A) names both animals but states a similarity ("Both").
(B) names both and uses "whereas" to set top speed against staying power.

Answer: (B)

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