OSAT English cheat sheet

Main idea: the central claim the whole passage supports; a supporting detail answers who/what/when/where/how but not why the passage exists.

Inference must be forced by textual evidence: if two readings both fit, the inference is not supported; the correct answer is the one the passage makes unavoidable.

Text structure signals: cause-effect uses because, therefore, as a result; compare-contrast uses however, similarly, on the other hand; problem-solution uses thus, accordingly, to address.

Author's purpose verbs map to text types: persuade (argument), inform (expository), entertain (narrative), explain (process), satirize (irony).

Tone words carry evaluative weight: 'notoriously' signals disapproval, 'remarkably' signals approval, 'reportedly' signals distance from the claim.

Vocabulary in context: replace the target word with each option and test whether the sentence's logic and connotation remain intact; the literal dictionary sense is often a distractor.

Chronological vs. flashback: a shift to past perfect (had + participle) typically marks an earlier event inserted into a present narrative.

Paired-passage questions: identify the point of agreement first, then the specific disagreement; answers that are true of only one passage fail a 'both' question.

Graphic organizers match relationships: Venn for overlap, timeline for sequence, T-chart for pros/cons, web for central idea with supporting details.

Plot arc: exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax (turning point of tension), falling action, resolution; climax is a decision or revelation, not necessarily the loudest scene.

Conflict types: person vs. person, self, nature, society, technology, fate; internal conflict is person vs. self and is often rendered through interior monologue.

Narrative point of view: first person (I), limited third (he/she with one character's interiority), omniscient third (access to multiple minds), objective/dramatic (observable action only).

Unreliable narrator markers: contradiction between stated and revealed facts, self-justification, gaps, and direct address that seeks the reader's sympathy.

Figurative language: simile (like/as), metaphor (direct identification), personification (human attribute to nonhuman), hyperbole (deliberate exaggeration), understatement/litotes (negation of the opposite).

Sound devices: alliteration (initial consonant), assonance (vowel rhyme), consonance (final consonant), onomatopoeia (word imitates sound); meter is stress pattern, rhyme is sound correspondence.

Poetry forms: sonnet 14 lines (Shakespearean: 3 quatrains + couplet, rhyme abab cdcd efef gg; Petrarchan: octave + sestet, abbaabba + cdecde), haiku 5-7-5 syllables, free verse no fixed meter or rhyme.

Theme vs. subject: subject is the topic (e.g., ambition); theme is the claim about it (e.g., unchecked ambition destroys the ambitious), stated as a full sentence.

Dramatic conventions: soliloquy (alone on stage, true thoughts), aside (brief remark to audience, unheard by others), monologue (extended speech to others), stage directions (nonverbal action).

Irony types: verbal (saying opposite of meaning), situational (outcome reverses expectation), dramatic (audience knows what characters do not).

Thesis test: a thesis must be arguable (a reasonable person could disagree), specific (names the claim and scope), and supported (the body can prove it).

Paragraph unity: every sentence serves the topic sentence; a sentence that introduces a new idea belongs in a new paragraph.

Evidence sandwich: claim → introduce source → quote/paraphrase → explain how it proves the claim; explanation is the analysis, not the quotation.

Transitions encode logic: addition (moreover), contrast (nevertheless), cause (consequently), example (for instance), concession (admittedly), sequence (subsequently).

Essay organization patterns: chronological, spatial, cause-effect, problem-solution, compare-contrast (block or point-by-point), order of importance.

Citation basics: direct quotation needs quotation marks and a locator; paraphrase needs a citation but no quotation marks; common knowledge needs neither.

Revision vs. editing: revision addresses ideas, organization, and evidence; editing addresses grammar, punctuation, and word choice; proofreading is the final surface check.

Audience and register: formal academic writing avoids contractions, second person, slang, and absolute claims (always, never) unless the evidence warrants them.

Conclusion function: restate the thesis in new words, synthesize the evidence, and state the significance; it introduces no new evidence.

Subject-verb agreement: the verb agrees with the grammatical subject, not an intervening phrase; indefinite pronouns (each, everyone, nobody) are singular; 'either...or' agrees with the nearer subject.

Pronoun case: use nominative (I, he, she, they) for subjects and after linking verbs; use objective (me, him, her, them) for objects and after prepositions.

Comma rules: separate independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction; set off nonessential (nonrestrictive) clauses; after introductory elements; in a series; never between subject and verb.

Semicolon joins two independent clauses without a conjunction or separates items containing internal commas; colon introduces a list, explanation, or quotation after a complete clause.

Apostrophes: possessive singular adds 's; plural ending in s adds only '; plural not ending in s adds 's; 'its' is possessive and 'it's' means 'it is'.

Dangling and misplaced modifiers: a participial phrase at the start of a sentence must modify the subject that immediately follows it.

Morphology: free morphemes stand alone (book); bound morphemes attach (un-, -ed); derivational affixes change word class (-ness makes nouns), inflectional affixes change grammatical form without changing class (-s, -ed, -er).

Phonology: phoneme is a contrastive sound unit; minimal pairs (pat/bat) prove phoneme status; a syllable requires a nucleus, usually a vowel.

Syntax: a phrase lacks a subject-predicate pair; a clause has one; an independent clause can stand alone, a dependent clause cannot.

Pragmatics and semantics: denotation is the dictionary meaning, connotation the associated attitude; deixis (this, here, now) depends on context for reference.