Mark up the Passage
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The chart below offers you some ideas for how to pace yourself. Remember that you have 65 minutes for the entire Reading Test. Pacing Yourself Minutes Spent Minutes Spent Total Minutes Reading Answering Questions Reading Per Passage Speed 8 5 13 Fast 7 6 13 Medium MARK UP THE PASSAGE On the SAT, you know you will be tested about the content you read, so you want to make an effort to understand it while you are reading it, rather than trying to make sense of the ideas only once you reach the questions. This means you need to be an active reader and interact with the passages to find and understand the information you will be tested on. Specifically, the best way to be an active reader is to use your pencil to mark up the passage as you read by underlining text, and adding your own notes and symbols to highlight what is important. The goals of marking up the passage are to help you stay focused, understand what you read, and make it easy to find key ideas in the passage when you refer back to it. Use your pencil as a guide to circle or underline two to three main ideas per paragraph. Main ideas are those that relate to the 5 w’s: “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” and “why.” Stay focused on the bigger picture by making sure the main points you identify help answer the following questions: 1. Who is involved in this passage? Look for the people being discussed (artists, scholars, scientists, politicians) or the characters in a literature passage, and think about who might be writing the passage. 2. What is being discussed in this passage? Are specific events, theories, or ideas discussed? Look for the major concepts in each section of the passage. 3. Where are the events in the passage taking place? This can mean a specific location (one science laboratory) or a general setting (schools in North America). 4. When are the events in the passage taking place? It is usually more important to know the order in which things occur than to know specific dates. READING 36 5. Why is the information in this passage important? How are the ideas in the passage connected, and what is the author’s purpose for writing the passage? You can skip over more specific details when identifying the main ideas of a paragraph or passage. Try to underline the key words in the passage such that if you were to read over just those words, you would have a good idea what the passage is about. EXAMPLE PASSAGE Let’s look at the first few paragraphs from a reading passage and see how it might look if we mark it up using these ideas. This passage is adapted from an artist Pietro Cavallini – a painter and article about an Italian Renaissance mosaicist whose greatest works have artist. 20 been destroyed – spent years decorating Aracoeli toward the end of Tommaso Strinati clambers to the the 13th century. Yet only one small top of the rickety scaffold and laughs. Cavallini fresco, in the church's left ''It's a good thing that all this Baroque transept, remained visible. Mr. Strinati Line work is so unimpressive,'' he says, 25 wondered: had other Cavallini frescoes 5 pointing at the clumsy trompe l'oeil been painted over with inferior work? painting covering the wall in front of And if so, could modern restorers him. ''Otherwise, we might not have uncover them? been allowed to scrape it off!'' ''The answer to both questions was A 28-year-old art historian, he is 30 yes,'' Mr. Strinati says. A close-up 10 standing 16 feet above the marble floor examination of the chapel's walls last of San Pasquale Baylon chapel, a long- summer revealed ghostly images lying neglected nook of Santa Maria in beneath the surface. The entire chapel, Aracoeli, a Franciscan basilica in the it seemed, was a painted palimpsest. center of Rome. Last year, Mr. 35 And when a heavy altarpiece was 15 Strinati, who is still a graduate student, removed from one wall, a remarkably began studying the church's history. tender portrait of the Madonna and Records suggested that the Roman Child was found hidden behind it. Let’s see how these key words helped us locate the 5 w’s for this passage: 1. Who is involved in this passage? The passage is about the art historian Tommaso Strinati and the Roman artist Pietro Cavallini. We underlined their names in the first and second paragraphs. 2. What is being discussed in this passage? The passage is about how Strinati discovered Cavallini frescos that had been painted over. We underlined the information about Cavallini that Strinati gathered in the second paragraph, and also underlined that he wondered about work being painted over. Then we noted the READING 37 images beneath the surface and the hidden portrait in the third paragraph. These items proved Strinati’s guess. 3. Where are the events in the passage taking place? We underlined Santa Maria in Aracoeli, the name of the basilica where Cavallini’s art was found. The basilica is in Rome, which we also underlined. 4. When are the events in the passage taking place? We know that Cavallini painted the frescos at the end of the 13th century, as we underlined that information in the passage. The passage doesn’t specifically tell us when Strinati made his discovery. But the passage is written in the present tense and modern English, so we can assume it was fairly recently. 5. Why is the information in this passage important? The information we underlined in the second paragraph shows a surprising contrast between ideas. If Cavallini spent years painting the basilica, why is there only one fresco? This sets up a bit of a mystery, which Strinati begins to solve in the third paragraph. Though it can be tempting, don’t go overboard with your active reading! Remember that the goals of marking up the passage are to help you stay focused, understand what you read, and make it easy to find key ideas in the passage. If you mark up your entire passage, nothing will stand out as important, and you won’t be able to find anything. Your understanding will also be muddled, because you will be too focused on small details and not the bigger picture of what you have read. EXERCISE ON MARKING UP A PASSAGE Now that you’ve seen how to mark up a text, practice marking up the rest of the Cavallini passage below. This passage contains a lot of information, but not all of it contributes to the main ideas of the paragraph. Remember to stay focused on the 5 w’s! When you are finished, compare your work with the fully marked-up version of this passage that follows. READING 38 Tommaso Strinati clambers to the Mr. Strinati has grand ambitions top of the rickety scaffold and laughs. for his discovery. He hopes that in a ''It's a good thing that all this Baroque 50 few years the fully restored fresco will Line work is so unimpressive,'' he says, not only rescue Cavallini's name from 5 pointing at the clumsy trompe l'oeil obscurity, but also upend the painting covering the wall in front of widespread notion that the first flowers him. ''Otherwise, we might not have of the Renaissance budded in Florence, been allowed to scrape it off!'' 55 not Rome. For the fresco's lifelike A 28-year-old art historian, he is figures – in particular, an impish 10 standing 16 feet above the marble floor Christ child with charmingly flushed of San Pasquale Baylon chapel, a long- cheeks – suggest to Strinati that neglected nook of Santa Maria in Cavallini may have anticipated some Aracoeli, a Franciscan basilica in the 60 of the extraordinary naturalistic center of Rome. Last year, Mr. innovations that have long been 15 Strinati, who is still a graduate student, credited to the Florentine artist Giotto. began studying the church's history. Moreover, the Aracoeli fragments Records suggested that the Roman may provide a critical new clue in a artist Pietro Cavallini – a painter and 65 decades-old battle concerning the ''St. mosaicist whose greatest works have Francis Legend,'' the 1296 fresco cycle 20 been destroyed – spent years at Assisi, universally recognized as decorating Aracoeli toward the end of one of the foundations of the the 13th century. Yet only one small Renaissance. For centuries, the 28- Cavallini fresco, in the church's left 70 scene cycle – which recounts the life transept, remained visible. Mr. Strinati of the saint with a narrative zest and 25 wondered: had other Cavallini frescoes compositional depth that leave the flat been painted over with inferior work? tableaus of the Byzantine era far And if so, could modern restorers behind – was attributed to Giotto. But uncover them? 75 since the 1930's, various scholars have ''The answer to both questions was questioned this judgment, claiming 30 yes,'' Mr. Strinati says. A close-up that the Assisi cycle doesn't resemble examination of the chapel's walls last Giotto's other work. Now, the Aracoeli summer revealed ghostly images lying discovery is ammunition for Italian art beneath the surface. The entire chapel, 80 historians who believe that Cavallini it seemed, was a painted palimpsest. might actually be the primary creative 35 And when a heavy altarpiece was force behind the ''St. Francis Legend.'' removed from one wall, a remarkably The growing debate about tender portrait of the Madonna and Cavallini's importance was the Child was found hidden behind it.