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Advanced Strategies for Writing Questions

Published on August 30, 2025·5 min read

Moving Beyond Grammar

Once you've mastered the punctuation and sentence structure rules, the final step is to master the questions that test logic and rhetoric.

1. Rhetorical Synthesis (The "Student Notes" Question)

This question gives you a goal and a few bullet points of notes. Your job is to pick the sentence that best accomplishes the goal using the notes.

The Strategy:

  1. IGNORE THE NOTES at first. Seriously. Don't even look at them.
  2. Go straight to the question and identify the specific goal. Is it to "emphasize a similarity," "present the study's aim," or "contrast the two findings"?
  3. Eliminate any answer choices that fail to do that one specific thing. If the goal is to show a similarity, get rid of any answer that talks about a difference.
  4. Look at the notes only if you need to. After eliminating, you might have two answers left that both seem to accomplish the goal. NOW, use the notes to check which statement is factually correct according to the information provided.

This method saves you time and prevents you from getting confused by irrelevant details in the notes.

2. Transitions

Transition questions ask you to pick the best connecting word or phrase (like However, Therefore, In addition).

The SLAP Method:

  1. S - Scan: Read the sentence before the transition and the sentence with the transition. Ignore everything else.
  2. L - Link: Determine the logical relationship between those two sentences.
    • Contrast? (e.g., However, On the other hand)
    • Cause-and-Effect? (e.g., Therefore, Consequently)
    • Example/Elaboration? (e.g., For instance, In fact)
    • Addition? (e.g., Moreover, In addition)
  3. A - Anticipate: Predict a transition word that fits the relationship you identified.
  4. P - Purge: Eliminate any answer choices that don't match your prediction.

If you're stuck, try reading the two sentences with the word "because" in between them. If it makes sense, the relationship is likely cause-and-effect, so look for a word like Therefore or Accordingly.