Forest and Trees

(1)Forest questions: These ask you to see the whole picture, understand the entire text.

Examples: The author’s tone changes from ______to ______in the passage. The passage is best identified as a ______. You can infer from the passage that ______.

(2)Tree: These questions point to specific parts of the passage. Typically, they will have line identifiers. The majority of tree questions depend first of all on an accurate reading of that portion of the passage. Examples: By comparing human beings to both wolves and deeper, the speaker implies that . . . . The primary rhetorical function of lines 14-18 is to . . . .

(3)Citations: We identify these questions as “Root” because the footnotes provide information about the foundation reading that helped the writer of the passage draw conclusions about his/her subject material. These questions will ask you to comment on the reading content of the footnotes (more common), to compare/contrast two or more footnotes (common), or to identify a correct reading of the footnotes (less common).

Process:

  1. Before reading the passage, scan the questions.

*Mark any forest questions with an “F.”

*Mark any citation questions with an “R.” (So far in released multiple choice tests, only one passage has citation questions.)

*Mark any remaining questions (trees) with a “T.”

  1. You might wish to do the citation questions next, before reading the passages. Some students prefer this method, as nearly all of these questions can be answered without reading the passage; once you get the hang of them, they could be easier to answer correctly.

OR

2. Underline the key concepts in the forest questions before you begin reading the passage. These questions will help you focus during the reading.

  1. Read the passage. Some students prefer to read the passage as they go through the tree questions, but the majority of students do better by reading the passage and then answering the questions. You will need to determine which method is better for you.
  1. Answer the tree questions (and the root questions, if you haven’t done this first).
  1. Answer the forest questions. If you are out of time, these are the questions that you guess at.

Smile, and move on to the next passage!

(Adapted from Patricia Cain & Jennifer Troy)