Digital SAT English Syllabus | Reading and Writing for SAT PDF Download

SAT Reading and Writing Section Overview

• The new SAT digital has combined the reading and writing sections into one. 

• The Reading and Writing section presents short reading passages followed by a single multiple-choice question. 

• This combined section is divided into two modules, each with equal time lengths.

• The entire Reading and Writing section lasts 64 minutes and includes 54 multiple-choice questions.

• Each module spans 32 minutes and contains 27 questions.

• Questions on the Reading and Writing section represent one of four content domains—Craft and Structure, Information and Ideas, Standard English Conventions, and Expression of Ideas. 

• To help you budget your time, questions that test similar skills and knowledge are grouped together and arranged from easiest to hardest.

Format of SAT Reading & Writing Test

Craft and Structure:

• Focuses on understanding vocabulary and passage organization.
• Tests interpretation of words and context.
• Includes comparing two related texts and evaluating text structure.

Information and Ideas:

• Concentrates on using stated or implied information to evaluate ideas in the text.
• Requires determining the main idea and interpreting supporting details.
• Involves drawing conclusions and making reasonable inferences based on the text.

Standard English Conventions:

• Centers on grammar and editing to adhere to standard English conventions.
• Involves identifying proper punctuation, agreement, and verb tense.

Expression of Ideas:

• Aims to improve the effectiveness of written expression.
  Focuses on topic development, logic, cohesion, and language use.
• Examine a list of bullet points to determine the option that best combines information to meet a specific objective.

Question Types

Understanding Author's Use of Evidence: Assess how evidence is utilized in arguments presented in the passages.

Meaning of Words in Context: Determine the meanings of words and phrases within their given contexts.

Analysis of Non-Fiction: Evaluate arguments, evidence, and impact in historical, social, and scientific texts.

Detailed Breakdown

The two Reading and Writing modules have the same overall structure. Each module has 27 questions; 25 of these questions count towards your score (what the College Board refers to as “operational questions”), whereas the other 2 questions are experimental (“pretest questions”). You will have 32 minutes to complete these questions.
Within each module, the order of the questions will be the same. Reading questions come first, followed by Writing questions.
The Reading questions fall into seven categories:

• Vocabulary
• Purpose
• Dual Texts
• Retrieval
• Main Idea
• Claims
• Conclusions

Not every module will contain all seven categories, but the categories that do appear will be in that order. Typically, 13-17 of the Reading and Writing questions will be Reading.
The remaining 10-14 questions are Writing questions. There are three categories of Writing questions:

• Vocabulary
• Transitions
• Rhetorical Synthesis

As with the Reading questions, the Writing questions always appear in this order.
As mentioned above, each Reading and Writing question will have its own passage. Each passage will be between 25 and 150 words. If there is an introduction (for instance, if the passage is taken from literature), that introduction is included in the word count.