🧠 Command of Evidence: What even is it?

The SAT Language and Writing section has a similar purpose to a mythical trial, Pokémon gym battle, or CAPTCHA "are-you-a-robot?" check: it exists to test your abilities. The SAT tests you in five broad skill groups, but we are going to focus on the command of evidence questions in this section. This question is where you decide what details should be kept or deleted to make the best possible argument. 🤓

Quite frankly, "command of evidence" is more challenging to master than the other skills because it is less technical, more open-ended, and more time-consuming. Lucky for you, this article is a deep dive into the various question types you'll encounter in this skill group. 🍀

🥈 Types of Questions in Command of Evidence

The writing and language "command of evidence" section has two types of questions that will test your knowledge. We're going to briefly explain them and then do a deep dive into how you should solve these problems! ⬇️

1. • 📊 The first type is what SAT calls "interpreting data presented in informational graphics," which means you're going to look at statistical/numerical data and decide what would be the best to support the argument presented in the passage. Think about looking at a chart and deciding what numbers to pick out that would support the argument. These types of questions are not included in every passage since not all of them have charts and graphs to analyze! Phew!
2. • 🧱 The other type is "improving a passage's structure, support, and focus." These are a lot more common as this is essentially the heart of the language and writing section. You will be improving the clarity, relevancy, and content of the passage by adding and deleting details. Now let's go through these two question types in detail, starting with the less common one!

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📊 Interpreting Data Presented in Informational Graphics

Let's start by figuring out this question type. Some passages are going to come with a graphic, and you'd be asked to adjust the passage if there is an error in the interpretation of the graphic. You want to include data only that supports your argument, but not pointless numbers that don't add to the passage! 

You want to start by fully reading and understanding the question. Make sure you have evaluated the purpose of the reading and the central idea. Next, look at the graphic that's included in the passage. Determine how it's connected to the passage, what type of data it presents, and how it might benefit the argument. Here's where the tough part comes in: you need to determine what type of evidence the question is asking for. Some of the common questions are:

• • 👓 Identifying specific data points or values within the graphic. For example, looking at the minimum or maximum value in a chart or graph
• • 📈 Interpreting trends or relationships between variables: Maybe looking at a scatterplot and noticing a positive linear relationship between variables A and B, and then determining how that relates to the argument in the passage
• • 💭 Drawing conclusions based on data. Here's where you can pretend to be a scientist and make a decision on the impacts you think this data has
• • 🫵🏼 Identifying the purpose of the passage. Here's where you want to analyze the data and numbers to make a decision on the meaning of the trends and data

It's important to note that even though these question types have data attached, you will not have to do any math. You would rather be interpreting the graphics given and drawing conclusions.

Sample Question: Interpreting Data Presented in Informational Graphics

Let's take a look at an example! Here's a passage excerpt: 

"According to recent research, the popularity of different social media platforms among teenagers has been shifting over the past year. Below is a bar graph displaying the percentage of teenagers who reported using four major social media platforms in 2022 and 2023." Before we even look at the bar graph, we're going to make sure we understand what this excerpt is saying. Some major thing to take note of is that there's a change in percentages from one year to the next. So, when we look at the graph, we're going to note maybe which social media platform has the biggest change, which one has the smallest change and any other major stand-out data that might be noticed. 

Now, here's the accompanying question:

Based on the data presented in the bar graph, which of the following statements is supported by the evidence?

A) In 2023, Instagram was the most popular social media platform among teenagers, surpassing all other platforms in usage percentage.

B) The percentage of teenagers using Snapchat decreased from 2022 to 2023, while the usage of Facebook remained relatively constant.

C) Among teenagers, the usage of Twitter experienced a significant increase from 2022 to 2023, making it the second most popular platform in 2023.

D) Overall, the total percentage of teenagers using social media platforms decreased from 2022 to 2023.

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Starting with answer A, we can see that this is incorrect based on the data shown in the graph. Though Instagram is more popular in 2023 than Facebook and Twitter, it is not more popular than Snapchat. Answer B looks at the relationship within each social media usage and compares them by years. 

Answer B is the correct answer because the amount of Snapchat users is greater in 2022 than in 2023, and the percentage of Facebook users only increased by one, meaning it remained relatively constant. 

Answer C is incorrect because although there was an increase in the percentage of Twitter users, it is not the second most popular platform (this is where reading the entire question comes in handy!). And lastly, we can see that answer D is incorrect because all of the user percentages increased in 2023 (other than Snapchat) and the overall percentage was higher in 2023 than in 2022. 

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🧱 Improving a Passage's Structure, Support, and Focus

Now, let's dive into our other, and more common, question type for command of evidence. For these questions, you'll be revising pieces of a passage to make the writer's overall purpose shine through! 🔦

You want to start similarly as with the first question type by reading the entire passage and gaining an understanding of the main message and purpose of the writing. Gain a feel for the writing style and flow of the sentences. As you're reading, notice any spots that feel awkward, redundant, or misplaced within the excerpt. Then, once you reach your question, stop and fully read and understand what the question is asking with regard to the passage. Make sure you're looking at the correct sentence because this can be confusing! Determine what the question is asking and make a judgment as to the best way to fix the sentence. 

All of the possible questions are:

1. • 🏹 Revising Paragraph Structure: These questions ask you to reorganize or reorder the sentences within a paragraph to create a more logical and coherent flow of ideas.
2. • 🔗 Transitions and Connections: You'll be asked to improve the transitions between paragraphs or sentences to create smoother connections between ideas.
3. • 🎯 Main Idea and Focus: These questions focus on the central theme or main idea of the passage. You may need to identify a sentence or paragraph that doesn't align with the main argument or suggest a more focused statement of the main idea.
4. • ➕ Adding or Deleting Sentences: You might be asked to insert a sentence or paragraph into the passage to provide additional support for the main argument or to delete a sentence that is irrelevant or repetitive.
5. • 💁🏽‍♂️ Supporting Evidence: These questions assess whether the passage provides sufficient evidence, examples, or data to support the main points. You may need to propose additional evidence to strengthen the argument.
6. • 🦞 Improving Clarity and Precision: These questions involve revising unclear or ambiguous sentences to make them more precise and understandable.
7. • 🧶 Eliminating Redundancy: You'll be asked to identify and remove unnecessary repetition of ideas or information within the passage.
8. • 🧂 Consistency and Tone: These questions address the tone and style of the passage, ensuring it remains consistent throughout.
9. • 🫔 Concluding Statements: You might need to propose a stronger concluding sentence or paragraph that effectively wraps up the passage.
10. • 🟰 Sentence Combination: These questions ask you to combine or separate sentences to improve their clarity and effectiveness.
11. • 🍿 Revision Placement: You may be asked to determine the best location for a given sentence or piece of information within the passage.

Sample Question: Improving a Passage's Structure, Support, and Focus

Practice question time! Here's your passage excerpt: 

(1) Climate change is a pressing issue that affects all life on Earth. (2) The burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and industrial processes release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, trapping heat and leading to global warming. (3) Rising temperatures have a range of consequences, including melting ice caps, rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and disruptions to ecosystems. (4) These impacts not only threaten wildlife and biodiversity but also have profound effects on human communities, such as food and water shortages, forced migration, and increased health risks. Once again, let's go through and analyze this passage. We can see that the purpose is to inform the reader about climate change and its effects. In this specific paragraph, we can also see that the sentences are numbered, which means we will be adding, deleting, or reorganizing details in the passage. Let's see what the question is asking:

The writer wants to add a specific example to support the statement in Sentence 3. Which of the following would best accomplish this?

A) "Scientists predict that by 2050, the Arctic could be completely ice-free during the summer months, resulting in habitat loss for polar bears and other Arctic species."

B) "Climate change is a complex problem that requires global cooperation and immediate action from governments and industries."

C) "The industrial revolution of the 18th century marked the beginning of significant greenhouse gas emissions."

D) "It is important for individuals to reduce their carbon footprint and adopt sustainable practices in their daily lives."

This wants us to add detail in between sentences three and four. The added information must correlate with and support the information in sentence three. Going through the answer choices, A is the correct answer because it provides specific evidence and supports what was said in sentence three. It talks about the melting of ice which has effects on ecosystems, and answer A provides an example of a polar bear ecosystem that would be affected. 

Answer B is vague and is not relevant to what was said in sentence three. Answer C would interrupt the flow of the paragraph with a non-related fact. Lastly, Answer D seems like it could fit in the paragraph, however, it does not support sentence three with evidence. It only provides a recommendation which is not what the question was asking for. Tricky! 

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💡 TLDR: Some Final Tips

• • 🧠 Listen to your gut! Most likely, your instinct is correct. I know one of my personal struggles was doubting myself during testing- but YOU'VE GOT THIS! Believe in your answer and refrain from doubting yourself unless you notice you've made a true mistake
• • 🏆 Set goals for yourself. Truthfully, you're not going to get every single answer right. So, when you're practicing this section set a realistic estimate for the amount of questions you want to get correct and work towards that number, but don't get discouraged because this is a super hard thing to do!
• • 📅 Similar to the last tip, create a plan that you will stick to (be real with yourself) that will help you achieve that goal
• • 😤 Work the hardest on the question types that you are struggling with! I know it's a pain in the butt, but this will really help you improve your scores and be more confident all in all
• • 🫵🏼 Lastly, Be yourself! You are human and you're going to make mistakes, DO NOT beat yourself up about it. Ultimately, it's just one section of a test and it's not going to make or break you :)

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Aaaaaand that wraps up the "command of evidence" group of the SAT Writing & Language section! Now that you've familiarized yourself with the format of these questions, you shouldn't be too astonished by these prompts!

You're closer than ever to nailing that test you'll be taking in a couple of days, weeks, or months and improving your score. Now, use your knowledge to answer our practice questions for this section! Keep grinding—you got this 🤩