Many test-takers tend to answer this question by giving a list of what the author
said, but this is not the answer that you’re looking for. In one sentence, you should
be able to say why the author wrote the passage:
Incorrect: “The author says A, B, C, D, and then switches to say E.”
Correct: “The author wants to show that a perspective on human evolution
is flawed.”
The incorrect response only identifies information in the passage without
understanding it in the larger context of the author’s goal. The correct response
identifies a reason the author has for writing the passage.
Generally, the author’s purpose will fall into four categories:■ Explain. The author’s goal is to explain a concept or phenomenon.
■ Resolve/reconcile. The author’s goal is to resolve two or more competing
viewpoints.
■ Introduce. The author’s goal is to introduce a surprising discovery,
phenomenon, or perspective
■ Solve. The author’s goal is to provide a solution or answer to a question
presented in the passage.To identify a passage’s main idea, you should focus on contrast signals
and continuity signals similar to the ones discussed in Chapter 4.In the context of reading passages, these clues are essential because they provide
pivots for the direction of the passage. When you see a contextual signal, you
should slow down and identify the importance of that sentence to the passage.
Usually, that sentence will either determine the main purpose of the passage or
provide a transition into the passage’s main purpose. Look at the following excerpt
from a passage:... Because the volume of shipments during the 16th and 17th centuries was
so low compared to modern standards, most historians contend that colonial
era trade is irrelevant to the origins of the modern corporation. However,
despite the relatively low volume of trade, the hierarchical structure of these
organizations is an edifying antecedent to today’s high-volume companies.
If you were asking yourself why as you read the first sentence, you probably
couldn’t arrive at an answer. The real purpose doesn’t manifest itself until the
contextual clue howe ve r. Once you see this word, you know that the author is
introducing a point of emphasis, and you should slow down to understand what
this point is, how it relates to the previous sentence, and what type of information
might come after it.
In the preceding excerpt, you see that the claim “the hierarchical structure of
these organizations is an edifying antecedent to today’s high-volume companies”
contrasts with what most historians think about the role of 16th- and 17th-century
trade in the development of the modern corporation. You can thus infer that
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