Reading Passages: Literature

Reading Passages: Literature

Introduction of Learning Objectives
After this lesson, you’ll be able to:

1. Identify the characters, their relationships, and their feelings in a Literature passage
2. Evaluate the tone and theme of a Literature passage

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Reading Passages: Literature
Prepare: Identifying Literature passages
• The SAT Reading Test will present one US & World Literature passage.
• It will be an excerpt from a novel or short story.
• Identify Literature passages by looking for dialogue, multiple characters,
and a narrative structure.
Reading Passages: Literature
Prepare: Challenges unique to Literature passages
• Because Literature passages are stories, they are harder to map.
• Begin by identifying the narrator, the voice that tells the story:
o
o

• Then, focus on identifying characters and the way the narrator describes them and their
relationships:
o
o
o
Reading Passages: Literature
Prepare: Focus on Characters
The following excerpt is from Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey:
Reading Passages: Literature
Prepare: Using Opinion Keywords
• Opinion keywords will appear in the narrator’s descriptions and sometimes in dialogue.
• Look specifically for:
o
o
o
o
Reading Passages: Literature
Prepare: Juggling Multiple Opinions
• Keep in mind the differences between first-person and third-person narration:
o
o

• When characters have conflicting opinions or perspectives:

o

o
Reading Passages: Literature
Prepare: Juggling Multiple Opinions
The following excerpt is from PG Wodehouse’s Bill the Bloodhound:
Reading Passages: Literature
Prepare: Identifying the Tone
• Pay attention to the tone.
o
o
• Try to identify specific tones, such as:
o
o
o
o
o
o
Reading Passages: Literature
Prepare: Identifying the Theme

• Finding the theme of a story can illuminate the author’s purpose for writing it.

• Look for “turning points” in the story:

o

o
• Is there a moral, or underlying lesson, behind the story?

o
o
o
Reading Passages: Literature
Practice: Map a Literature Passage

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Reading Passages: Literature
Practice: Map a Literature Passage

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Reading Passages: Literature
Practice: Map a Literature Passage

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Reading Passages: Literature
Practice: Map a Literature Passage

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Reading Passages: Literature
Perform: Answer Questions

1. The passage suggests that Phileas Fogg is a man who

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Reading Passages: Literature
Perform: Answer Questions

1. The passage suggests that Phileas Fogg is a man who

A) focuses on cultural activities.
B) lives beyond his means.
C) enjoys routine.
D) keeps to himself.

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Reading Passages: Literature
Perform: Answer Questions
2. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?

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Reading Passages: Literature
Perform: Answer Questions
2. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?

A) Lines 5-8 (“He repaired ... for him”)

B) Lines 8-11 (“A flunkey ... delicate operation”)
C) Lines 14-17 (“Dinner passed ... before six”)

D) Lines 29-32 (“Skillful detectives ... Their fingers”)

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Reading Passages: Literature
Perform: Answer Questions
3. The purpose of line 95 (“‘It was once,’ ... a low tone”) is to

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Reading Passages: Literature
Perform: Answer Questions
3. The purpose of line 95 (“‘It was once,’ ... a low tone”) is to

A) create an ominous atmosphere at the table.

B) foreshadow Fogg’s ideas about the world.

C) illustrate Fogg’s proper demeanor and social skills.

D) introduce the conflict of the plot.

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Reading Passages: Literature
Perform: Answer Questions

4. What is the primary purpose of the passage?

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Reading Passages: Literature
Perform: Answer Questions

4. What is the primary purpose of the passage?

A) To illustrate the problems with theft at the Bank of England

B) To examine the lives of wealthy men in England

C) To introduce Phileas Fogg and his social circle at the Reform Club

D) To parody the social customs of the upper class

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