SAT Cross Text Connections

Making text connections deepens our understanding of the text and helps us become better readers.

• True

• False

Identify the text connection: In the book I am reading Jan goes to a new school, just like I did. I remember feeling like everyone ignored me and missing my home, so I can relate to what she’s going through.

• text-to-self

• text-to-text

• text-to-world

Literary scholars have struggled with the vastness of Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka’s collective works of drama (spanning over 20 plays in total). It is best, however, to understand Soyinka’s body of work as a dramatist chronologically. Soyinka’s progression as a playwright can be considered to fall into three periods, with each one representing a particular thematic and stylistic cohesion: the 1960s, the two decades between 1970 and 1990, and lastly, from roughly 1990 onwards. It is tempting to impose a linear sense of order on the expanse of Wole Soyinka’s body of work as a dramatist. However, critics who have considered Soyinka’s plays to fit neatly into three phases overlook potential commonalities in Soyinka’s work that span across these phases. Additionally, this view may discount significant differences in the styles and content of plays written around the same time. Which choice best describes a difference in how the author of Text 1 and the author of Text 2 view the study of Soyinka’s works of drama?

• Although the author of Text 1 claims that Soyinka’s style as a dramatist has evolved over time, the author of Text 2 argues that Soyinka’s style has remained consistent throughout his career.

• The author of Text 1 considers Soyinka’s plays to showcase his strongest writing, whereas the author of Text 2 believes that Soyinka’s poetry is where he is most skilled.

• While the author of Text 1 believes that thinking about Soyinka’s works of theater in phases is useful, the author of Text 2 views such an approach as limiting.

• The author of Text 1 argues that Soyinka’s early plays were his most politically charged, whereas the author of Text 2 claims that Soyinka’s most recent plays are the most politicized.

Stage lighting theorist Adolphe Appia was perhaps the first to argue that light must be considered alongside all the various elements of a stage to create a single, unified performance. Researcher Kelly Bremner, however, has noted that Appia lacked technical expertise in the use of light in the theater. As a result of Appia’s inexperience, Bremner argues, Appia’s theory of light called for lighting practices that weren’t possible until after the advent of electricity around 1881.

Text 2

Adolphe Appia was not an amateur in the practice of lighting. Instead, it is precisely his exposure to lighting techniques at the time that contributed to his theory on the importance of light. When working as an apprentice for a lighting specialist in his youth, Appia observed the use of portable lighting devices that could be operated by hand. This experience developed his understanding of what was possible in the coordination of elements on the stage.

Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the claim about Appia’s level of technical expertise made by Bremner in Text 1?

• Appia was unfamiliar with the use of music and sound in theater.

• Theater practitioners who worked with Appia greatly admired his work.

• Many lighting technicians dismissed Appia’s ideas about light on the stage.

• Appia likely gained a level of technical expertise during his time as an apprentice.

Find the connection/connections between the two summaries below.

• Both talk about students.

• Both talk about students and why studying is good for them.

• Both talk about students and why studying is bad for them.

• Both talk about students and studying.

Find the connection/connections between the two summaries below.

• Both talk about how music can affect those who listen to it.

• Both talk about why it's important to listen to music.

• Both talk about how everyone needs a music playlist to listen to everyday.

• Both talk about why people should listen to country music.

Find the connection/connections between the two summaries below.

• Both talk about the benefits to having a pet.

• Both talk about why cats are the best types of pets.

• Both talk about how dogs are the best types of pets.

• Both talk about the importance of having no pets.

Which of the following best describes a text-to-text connection?

• A) Relating a personal experience to a character's experience in a book

• B) Comparing themes from two different books

• C) Connecting a book's events to real-world events

• D) Relating a book's character to someone you know

What is the primary purpose of making cross-text connections in reading?

• A) To memorize facts from the text

• B) To enhance comprehension and critical thinking

• C) To improve vocabulary

• D) To increase reading speed

Identify the type of connection: The themes in '1984' by George Orwell remind me of the themes in 'Brave New World' by Aldous Huxley.

• A) Text-to-self

• B) Text-to-text

• C) Text-to-world

• D) Text-to-author