Working with Structural Clues
Structural Clues are words that authors use to indicate the function of each sentence in relation to other sentences and the author’s
argument as a whole. They indicate the logical progression of the argument. Fundamental rules of sentence construction and grammar
also dictate an argument’s progression or “architecture.” Therefore, understanding these rules can also help you identify sentence
order. Identifying both these words and grammatical constructions is the key to arranging the sentences.
Sentence Pairs
As a general rule, it’s a good idea to work with sentences in pairs. It is often easier to look for the relationship between two
sentences than it is to deal with the paragraph as a whole. For example, if a sentence contains a pronoun, look for the sentence that
contains the antecedent.
Nouns and Pronouns
Paying attention to pronouns and nouns can help you unscramble sentences 2–5. Basically, any time you see an ambiguous pronoun
(a pronoun whose antecedent is not found in the same sentence), you know that the previous sentence must define the pronoun. For
example, if you come across the sentence, “Rather than finish college, she dropped out to pursue her dream of building the world’s
largest popsicle stick sculpture,” you know that the sentence preceding this one has to tell you who “she” is.
NOUNS AND PRONOUNS
Paying attention to pronouns and nouns can help you unscramble the sentences.Similarly, if a person is referred to by a last name or nickname (i.e., by something other than a full name), there will be a previous
sentence in which the person is mentioned by his or her full name. So if you came across the sentence “The popularity of Michener’s
Kent State was renewed as the anniversary of the Kent State shootings neared,” you would have a previous sentence identifying
“Michener” by his full name, James Michener.
A RULE WITHOUT EXCEPTION
Scrambled paragraphs will never contain a pronoun without an antecedent.