Reading Comprehension: 4a. Short Essays

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Reading Comprehension

		I: Introduction

		II: The Challenge

		III: The Five Steps
		1. Passage Classification
		2. Breaking Down Each Passage
		3. See the Organization
		3a. Short Essays
		3b. Long Essays
		4. Find the Big Idea
		5. Diagnose Author's Purpose
		IV: Question Types

		V: Tips

		VI: Sample Questions

These essays will naturally be a lot easier to navigate than the long essays as there simply isn't as much content or transitions to trip you up. Read (don't skim) every sentence because there will be a tremendous amount of information contained in a short space, though. (Exceptions may be jargon, lengthy technical explanations, and details.)

Mapping:

Paraphrase
Understand what each paragraph is about (tone, main idea, relation to preceding paragraph) and jot down a short summary of the main idea.

Big Picture
Pay particular attention to the tone and main idea of the first paragraph. When you have finished the essay, you should have a good mental road map.

Here is a sample short passage with accompanying commentary:

Read the commentary as you are reading the essay to see the underlying logic of how essays work.

This is a partial free sample of our prep guide. To view the remainder of this page, purchase the 800score Prep Course.

3. See the Organization

3b. Long Essays