SAT Reading & Writing: Infer the author's perspective, attitude, or opinion
24+ practice questions in Praczo
The concept, explained
- 1
The author's perspective is the stance they take toward the topic: supportive, skeptical, curious, critical, cautious, or neutral.
- 2
Look at loaded word choices (e.g., "flawed," "promising," "overlooked") and hedges ("arguably," "perhaps") — these reveal attitude more than facts do.
- 3
Distinguish the author's view from views the author is reporting. An author can summarize a position without endorsing it.
- 4
Be precise about strength: "strongly opposed," "mildly skeptical," and "entirely dismissive" are very different — the SAT rewards the answer that matches the passage's tone exactly.
- 5
If the author only describes, never evaluates, the correct answer is usually a neutral choice like "informative" or "objective."
- ✗ Confusing the viewpoint of a quoted source with the author's own viewpoint.
- ✗ Picking an extreme answer ("completely rejects") when the passage uses hedged language ("raises questions about").
- ✗ Assuming the author has a strong opinion when the passage is purely descriptive.
SAT-style practice
In discussing a new urban-planning proposal, the author writes that the plan is "ambitious and well-intentioned, but it relies on funding mechanisms that have repeatedly failed in other cities." Which best describes the author's attitude toward the proposal?
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