Digital SAT Command of Textual Evidence

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​SAT Command of Evidence Questions

​What are "textual evidence" questions? On the Reading and Writing section of your SAT, some questions will introduce a claim about an unfamiliar subject. The question will then ask you to identify the piece of evidence that most strongly supports that claim.

How should we think about textual evidence questions?

There are two types of textual evidence questions, and we need to think about each type a little differently.

​Scientific Evidence Questions



In these textual evidence questions, a hypothesis will be presented about a subject in science or social science, usually in the context of new research or experimentation. We won't need to rely on any previous science knowledge: everything we need will be contained in the short passage. Our task is to interpret the researchers' hypothesis, identify the research outcome that would support that hypothesis, and then select the choice that offers that outcome. This task should remind you of your science classes, in which you've likely needed to confirm or refute a hypothesis based on the outcomes of an experiment.

​Literary Evidence Questions







In these textual evidence questions, the passage will make an argument concerning a particular literary work, like a poem or novel. The choices will then offer a set of quotations from that literary work. We don't need any previous knowledge of the literary work under discussion. What we will need is the ability to evaluate whether the content of each quotation serves as direct evidence for the argument identified in the question. This task should remind you of your English classes, in which you've likely needed to pull quotations from a text to support your arguments in an analytical essay.

​How to approach textual evidence questions


To solve a textual evidence question, consider following these steps:


Step 1: Identify the argument
Every textual evidence question, whether scientific or literary, will introduce a central argument for the question. It might be a research hypothesis, or it might be an interpretation of a literary text, but either way it will be clearly stated. Your first job is to identify that argument and draw it out from the text. For instance, in the example question at the start of this article, you can identify the following hypothesis: "the sail-like structure running down the back of the dinosaur Spinosaurus aegyptiacus improved the animal’s success in underwater pursuits of prey species capable of making quick, evasive movements".

​Step 2: Create a test phrase


Once you've identified the argument you want to support, you should rephrase that argument in the simplest terms possible. For example, consider that hypothesis about Spinosaurus aegyptiacus. The claim is that a sail would help the dinosaur hunt quick prey while underwater. You could simplify that as follows: Sail on back = quicker underwater movement

The best choice will make this same argument.

​Step 3: Test the choices

Read each choice while keeping your test phrase in mind. Does the choice say something different than the test phrase? If so, eliminate that choice. Once you find a choice that makes the same argument as your test phrase, you've found the answer. You can select that choice with confidence.

​ Top Tips

Stay specific
Don't stray beyond the focus of the passage. Eliminate choices that broaden or blur the argument you're meant to be supporting. And look out for small twists and turns that make a choice seem relevant when it actually changes the focus of the argument.

Be strict

Remember, we're looking for the strongest and most direct evidence. If a choice "almost" or "kind of" feels like evidence, you can likely eliminate it. If you need to connect too many dots to make the evidence match the argument, then it's probably not strong evidence.

Multiple Choice

Hip-hop pedagogy is a form of teaching that’s gaining popularity across school subjects. It involves incorporating hip-hop and rap music into lessons as well as using hip-hop elements when teaching other subject matters. For example, Quan Neloms’s students look for college-level vocabulary and historical events in rap songs. Researchers claim that in addition to developing students’ social justice awareness, hip-hop pedagogy encourages student success by raising students’ interest and engagement.

Which finding, if true, would most strongly support the underlined claim?

• courses that incorporate hip-hop and rap music are among the courses with the highest enrollment and attendance rates.

• Educators report that they enjoy teaching courses that involve hip-hop and rap music more than teaching courses that don’t.

• Students tend to be more enthusiastic about rap music than they are about hip-hop music.

• Students who are highly interested in social justice issues typically don’t sign up for courses that incorporate hip-hop and rap music.

Multiple Choice

Pulitzer Prize–winning writer Héctor Tobar has built a multifaceted career as both a journalist and an author of short stories and novels. In an essay about Tobar’s work, a student claims that Tobar blends his areas of expertise by applying journalism techniques to his creation of works of fiction.

Which quotation from a literary critic best supports the student’s claim?

• “For one novel, an imagined account of a real person’s global travels, Tobar approached his subject like a reporter, interviewing people the man had met along the way and researching the man’s own writings.”

• “Tobar got his start as a volunteer for El Tecolote, a community newspaper in San Francisco, and wrote for newspapers for years before earning a degree in creative writing and starting to publish works of fiction.”

• “Many of Tobar’s notable nonfiction articles are marked by the writer’s use of techniques usually associated with fiction, such as complex narrative structures and the incorporation of symbolism.”

• “The protagonist of Tobar’s third novel is a man who wants to be a novelist and keeps notes about interesting people he encounters so he can use them when developing characters for his stories.”

Multiple Choice

The Milky Way galaxy is composed of millions of stars in a relatively flat structure containing a thin disk and a thick disk. Based on computer simulations and analysis of data on the brightness, position, and chemical composition of about 250,000 stars in the thick disk (collected from two telescopes, one in China and one orbiting in space), astrophysicists Maosheng Xiang and Hans-Walter Rix claim that the thick disk of the Milky Way formed in two distinct phases rather than a single one.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the researchers’ claim?

• There’s an age difference of about 2 billion years between certain stars in the thick disk.

• The stars in the Milky Way tend to have very similar chemical compositions.

• The thin disk contains about twice as many stars that can be seen from Earth as the thick disk does.

• The telescopes used by the researchers have detected stars of similar ages in galaxies other than the Milky Way.

Multiple Choice

In her 1921 poem “Spring,” Edna St. Vincent Millay subverts conventional depictions of springtime. Instead of celebrating growth and renewal, Millay disputes the merit of the season entirely: ______

Which quotation from “Spring” most effectively illustrates the claim?

• “To what purpose, April, do you return again? / Beauty is not enough.”

• The sun is hot on my neck as I observe / The spikes of the crocus.

• The smell of the earth is good. / It is apparent that there is no death

• Life in itself / Is nothing, / An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.

Multiple Choice

American fashion designer Patrick Kelly was known for his love of colorful buttons. Many of his signature dresses feature bold assortments of buttons throughout the garment. In a paper, a fashion design student claims that Kelly’s use of buttons as decoration was inspired by his childhood observations of the styles and actions of the women in his family. Which quotation from a work by a historian would be the most effective evidence for the student to include in support of this claim?

• A “Kelly’s grandmother, who would repair clothing when he was a child, frequently added mismatched buttons to the clothes to draw attention away from any flaws in the garments.”

• B “Kelly was destined to be a designer from a young age: he learned how to sew clothing from his aunt Bertha, and his love of drawing was developed by his mother.”

• C “Although some of the assortments of buttons appear to be mismatched pieces scattered randomly throughout Kelly’s dresses, his most famous designs feature carefully crafted patterns of matching buttons.”

• D “Many of Kelly’s contemporaries were inspired by his designs to incorporate buttons, as well as zippers and snaps, as decorative items in their work.

Multiple Choice

Many scientists have believed that giraffes are solitary creatures, preferring to spend their time alone instead of with others. But observations of giraffes and their behavior in recent years has suggested that these animals may be more social than we once thought. For example, scientists Zoe Muller and Stephen Harris claim that giraffes may even help each other care for one another’s newborns.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support Muller and Harris’s conclusion?

• Giraffes are able to make sounds but are rarely observed communicating with others.

• Some female giraffes have been observed sniffing and licking their newborn offspring.

• Confrontations between a younger and an older male giraffe are frequently observed.

• Female giraffes have been observed feeding young giraffes that aren’t their direct offspring.

Multiple Choice

The Land of Enchantment is a 1906 travel book by Lilian Whiting. In the book, which describes the experience of traveling through the southwestern United States by train, Whiting reflects on the escape from everyday life that such a journey provides: ______

Which quotation from The Land of Enchantment most effectively illustrates the claim?

• A “The social and the picturesque charm of the long journey is singularly enhanced by the leisurely stops made for refreshment.”

• B “One experiences a certain sense of detachment from ordinary day and daylight duties that is exhilarating.”

• C “The real journey begins, of course, at Chicago, and as these trains leave in the evening the traveller fares forth in the seclusion of his berth.”

• D “The opportunities and advantages already offered and constantly increasing are greater than would at first be considered possible.”

Multiple Choice

A researcher conducted an experiment inspired by studies suggesting that people may benefit from feeling frightened in certain circumstances, such as when watching scary movies or visiting haunted attractions. The researcher recruited several participants and had them walk through a local haunted house attraction. Immediately after exiting the attraction, each participant completed a survey about their experience. Based on the survey responses, the researcher claims that feeling frightened in controlled situations can boost a person’s mood and confidence.

Which quotation from a participant would best illustrate the researcher’s claim?

• A “My friends kept laughing as we were walking through the haunted house.”

• B “The haunted house was scary at first, but I knew everyone was just acting, so I felt less scared after a few minutes.”

• C “The sense of relief I felt at the end of the haunted house was similar to the feelings I have when I finish a scary movie.”

• D “After I came out of the haunted house, I felt very accomplished and less stressed.”

Multiple Choice

Some residents in a neighborhood in Atlanta recently founded a community garden inside a local park. The residents agreed to volunteer to take care of the garden together. Students at a local high school surveyed some of the volunteers as part of a project to understand the impact of the new garden. The students concluded that the new garden benefited the community overall by fostering connections and relationships between the volunteers and other residents of the neighborhood who weren’t volunteering at the garden.

Which quotation from a survey respondent would best illustrate the students’ conclusion?

• A “I love getting the opportunity to be outside and around nature, especially on days when the weather is nice.”

• B “We’re lucky to have a few expert gardeners living in the neighborhood. Some volunteers and I have gone to them a few times with questions, and they’ve been eager to help us and to learn more about the project.”

• C “My favorite thing about the garden is the feeling of pride I get when I walk by each day. As I see the plants growing, I feel good knowing I had a small part in creating this beautiful space in the neighborhood.”

• D “Our first challenge was deciding what plants would be most suitable to the climate and soil here in Atlanta. We needed plants that could survive the hot and humid summers.”

Multiple Choice

As a monthly newsletter formed in 1969 by a group of Asian American students at the University of California, Los Angeles, Gidra helped raise awareness about social and political issues concerning the Asian American community on campus and at large. The newsletter had an expansive reach for a publication of its kind: around 4,000 copies were published each month. A student writing a history paper, however, hypothesizes that Gidra’s influence cannot be measured by the number of newsletters published monthly alone.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the student’s hypothesis?

• A The students who initially formed Gidra each contributed financially to its creation.

• B Gidra was initially based out of the Asian American Studies Center at UCLA.

• C People would often give their copies of Gidra to others once they had finished reading an issue.

• D In addition to covering current events, Gidra also featured works of art and literature.

​Work Period

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