It Can Go to Your Head

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Besting the Beast Part III: Critical Reading Tips

The Critical Reading Section in the SAT is the haven for those exponents of the fustian, Spartan, epicurean and erudite relish that tinctures the gamut of raconteurs' ramblings you must imbibe in order to succeed in this section. A sapid soup of sumptuous stories, poems and plays stirred into a slew of sections spanning over an hour, the sheer variety is mind-numbing. Your role is to sift through debris and superfluous information with the finesse of a neurotic archaeologist on his first dig. Heavy-handedness is anathema to Critical Reading. Dismantle the passage, don't bludgeon it.

• Success in this section is a wheel, and its revolves entirely upon a painstaking logic. You must be more than careful; you must be captious. Knit together a tapestry of details, weave your logic together, do not prick yourself with solecisms or drop stitches with reckless assumptions.
  
• Do not read the passage like a leisure novel, skim it in a minute. I abjure the oft touted discipline of reading the passage. The pertinent knowledge one gathers piecemeal by perusing the passage for the information asked for dispenses with much of the surfeit sump contained in the passage. If you acquire a propensity for addressing specifics then the time won't sluice away between your fingers.
• Do not vacillate. Equivocating is grounds for skipping the question immediately. Come back to it after you have completed the section.
• If you are really struggling, read the passage slowly. This is only advisable in a situation of extremis. When mental rigor mortis begins to set in, do a danse macabre with questions. The terpsichorean twirling of "what", "who" , "where" and "why" can make a Lazarus out of your logic.

Designed for All Races, Sexes and Species

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