Back

Sentence Function: Identify the Job, Not the Topic

SAT Reading & WritingCraft & StructureMedium

Explain how a highlighted sentence advances the passage’s argument.

What you need to know

  • Function answers use verbs: defines, illustrates, concedes, contrasts, qualifies, or supports.
  • Ask why the author included the sentence at that exact point.
  • The sentence’s topic is not its rhetorical job.
  • Read the surrounding sentences because function is relational.

The AYLOTI method

  1. Summarize the highlighted sentence.
  2. Identify the claim immediately before or after it.
  3. Name the relationship between them.
  4. Select the choice whose verb and object both match.

AYLOTI • Sir Hunain Zia • SAT Score 1594/1600 • 154 Total A Grades (Personal), 11 World Records, 7 Distinctions

Worked example

After claiming that memory is reconstructive, the author describes witnesses recalling different colors for the same car. What is the example’s function?

  1. The claim is abstract.
  2. The witness detail is a concrete instance.
  3. The instance illustrates variability created during recall.

Answer: It illustrates the preceding claim that memory is reconstructed rather than perfectly replayed.

Common SAT traps

  • Choosing “introduces the topic” for a sentence in the middle.
  • Calling any data a counterargument.
  • Ignoring whether the sentence supports or limits the claim.
Quick check

A sentence begins “Admittedly” and states a limitation. What function should you test first?

Concession: acknowledging a limitation before continuing the argument.

Before you move on

  • Explain the core rule without looking back.
  • Redo the worked example using your own steps.
  • Write the trap you are most likely to fall for.
Hunain Zia

Hunain Zia has previously achieved considerable success in the high-school educational stream, gaining a massive 154 Total A Grades and 7 Major Distinctions, a process in which he broke/ set 11 different world records, including the most A grades ever achieved, most subjects ever appeared in, most distinctions, gaining distinctions across two separate boards (Pearson Edexcel and CAIE) within the same year/ ever, and even 19 hours of constant examination. All records stand intact today. Hunain pursued his Honors Accounting Degree from the prestigious Bentley University, and then completed an LLB (in Honors) from University of London. Currently, he manages multiple social and commercial projects, has founded digital streams and works tirelessly in the education sector.

Educate A Change focuses on truly bringing change in the educational sector worldwide. All our courses are designed to ensure success, and provide complete preparation without requiring any other external material. Therefore, it takes away the expense of academies, books, past paper compilations and other miscellaneous items. Instead, by just the courses we offer, the student can prepare fully for the best grades in their CAIEs, Edexcel and other high-school exams. The earnings from our course-sales are invested in social projects and growing the free educational activities of Educate A Change.