CHAPTER 3

Command of Evidence
Despite important differences in purpose, topic, format, content, and
style, well-executed pieces of writing still have a lot in common. Authors
of all kinds, writing for all sorts of reasons, must make use of support—
details, examples, reasons, facts, figures, and so on—to help make their
ideas compelling, their points clear, and their claims convincing.

The SAT asks you to pay attention to how authors use support in texts REMEMBER
that cover a range of subjects and styles. One important way that the You’ll frequently be asked to use
SAT does this is by including questions that ask you to identify the evidence to create or defend an
part of a passage that provides the best evidence (textual support) for argument, or to critically assess
someone else’s argument, in college
the answer to another question. You’ll also be asked to make sense of
and in the workforce.
information presented in graphics, such as tables, graphs, and charts,
and to draw connections between that information and the information
presented in the passage. You might be asked other sorts of related
questions as well, such as how the focus of a piece of writing could be
improved (perhaps by deleting irrelevant information) or what role a
piece of evidence plays in an author’s argument.

Your command of evidence will be tested throughout much of the

SAT, including the Reading Test, the Writing and Language Test,
and the optional Essay. Command of Evidence questions accompany
each Reading and Writing and Language passage and contribute to
a Command of Evidence subscore. While your response to the Essay
prompt doesn’t contribute to this subscore, it will still make use of
your skill in understanding how an author uses support to make an
argument effective.

What We Mean by Command

of Evidence
The Command of Evidence category includes questions that focus on
many of the ways in which authors use support. These include:

§ Determining the best evidence in a passage (or pair of passages)

for the answer to a previous question or the best evidence for a
specified conclusion (Reading Test)

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PART 2 | Evidence-Based Reading and Writing

§ Interpreting data presented in informational graphics (such as

tables, graphs, and charts) and drawing connections between
words and data (Reading Test, Writing and Language Test)

§ Understanding how the author of an argument uses (or fails to use)

evidence to support claims (Reading Test)

§ Revising a passage to clarify main ideas, strengthen support, or

sharpen focus (Writing and Language Test)

REMEMBER Having a strong command of evidence is also central to the Essay.

While separate from the Command Your Analysis score on the Essay is based in large part on how well
of Evidence subscore, the Analysis you can explain how the author of a passage uses evidence, reasoning,
score on the Essay is largely based stylistic or persuasive techniques, and/or other means to persuade an
on knowledge and skills related to
audience.
those required for Command of
Evidence questions. Ten Reading Test questions—generally two per passage or pair of
passages—contribute to the Command of Evidence subscore. Eight
Writing and Language Test questions—again, generally two per
passage—also contribute to the subscore. Although not part of the
Command of Evidence subscore, the Essay’s Analysis score is based
heavily on knowledge and skills related to those needed for Command
of Evidence questions.

REMEMBER Let’s consider the types of questions in a little more detail.

A total of 18 questions—10 from
the Reading Test and 8 from the
Determining the Best Evidence (Reading Test)
Writing and Language Test—
contribute to the Command of Sometimes the Reading Test will ask you a question and then present
Evidence subscore. you with another question that asks for the “best evidence” for the
answer to the first question. This is actually simpler than it might
seem at first.

You should begin by reading and answering the first question to the
best of your ability. This question will ask you to draw a reasonable
conclusion or inference from the passage. As you’re reaching that
conclusion or inference, you’re using textual evidence. Textual
evidence can be as simple as a basic piece of information, such as a
fact or a date, but it can also be more complex or subtle, such as the
words an author uses to signal point of view on an issue. Textual
evidence helps you defend the answer you might give to a teacher
asking how you reached a particular interpretation of a text. Consider
the following examples:

§ “I think the author supports clearer labeling on food because . . .”

§ “The narrator seems to feel sympathy for the main character
because . . .”

What would follow “because” in each of these examples is likely to be

textual evidence—the “how I know it” part of the statement.

All that the second question in a pair of SAT Reading Test questions
is asking you to do, then, is to make explicit what you’re already doing
when you answer the first question in a pair. Typically, the second

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 Chapter 3 | Command of Evidence

question will present you with four excerpts from the passage and
ask you which one provides the best evidence for the answer to the
previous question. All you need to do is figure out which one does
the best job of answering the question of “how I know it”—in other
words, which one provides the best textual evidence.

It could be that looking at the choices in the second question makes

you reconsider your answer to the first one. That can be OK. Maybe
rereading particular parts of the passage made something clearer than
it’d been before or drew your attention to a crucial detail you hadn’t
considered. While you don’t want to second-guess yourself endlessly,
sometimes it can be a good idea to rethink an answer based on new
information.

You may also see questions that present you with a conclusion already
drawn and ask you to determine which of the four answer options
provides the best evidence from the passage for that conclusion.
You can treat these questions just like the textual evidence questions
described earlier, except this time you don’t have to draw the
conclusion yourself in a separate question.

Interpreting Data in Informational Graphics

(Reading Test, Writing and Language Test)
Some passages in both the Reading Test and the Writing and PRACTICE AT
Language Test are accompanied by one or more informational satpractice.org
graphics. These graphics, which are typically tables, graphs, or charts, When a question refers to a
usually represent numerical data in visual form, such as results from a table, graph, or chart, carefully
scientific experiment. On the Reading Test, you may be asked to locate examine the graphic to get a clear
or interpret information in the graphic, but you may also or instead be understanding of the data being
asked to draw connections between the graphic and the accompanying displayed. This may include reading
the title, identifying what the x-
passage. For instance, you may be asked how data in the graphic
and y-axes represent, noting the
support a particular conclusion reached by the author of the passage.
increment values on the axes, and
On the Writing and Language Test, you may be asked to revise a reading any captions.
passage to correct an error in the writer’s interpretation of a table,
replace a general description with precise figures, or add accurate and
relevant information in support of a claim.

It’s important to note that these Reading and Writing and Language
questions aren’t math questions in disguise. You won’t need to
add, subtract, multiply, or divide (and you won’t have access to a
calculator). The questions instead ask you to “read” graphics and draw
conclusions, much as you do when you read and interpret written texts.

Understanding how an Argument Uses

(or Doesn’t Use) Evidence (Reading Test)
Being able to figure out how an author constructs an argument is an
important skill needed for success in college and workforce training
programs—and on the SAT. Arguments seek to convince readers

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PART 2 | Evidence-Based Reading and Writing

(or listeners or viewers) of the rightness of one or more claims, or

assertions. To do this, authors of arguments make use of evidence,
PRACTICE AT reasoning, and stylistic and persuasive elements such as vivid imagery
satpractice.org or appeals to emotion to flesh out their claims. A reader convinced by
Questions on the Reading Test that an author’s argument may end up changing positions on an issue or be
ask about the use of evidence may persuaded to take a particular action.
require you to take a step back from
Arguments are a regular part of the Reading Test (as well as the
what the author is saying and to
Writing and Language Test and the Essay). Reading Test questions
focus instead on how the author’s
argument is put together. that focus on evidence use may ask you to identify what type of
evidence a particular author relies on most heavily (personal anecdotes
or survey results, for example), to determine what evidence in the
passage supports a particular claim, or to decide whether a new piece
of information (such as a research finding) would strengthen or weaken
an author’s case.

Analyzing an argument, including its use of evidence, is the main

focus of the optional Essay, which we’ll turn to momentarily.

Improving a Passage’s Structure, Support,

and Focus (Writing and Language Test)
As noted earlier, the Writing and Language Test may ask you to revise
a passage to better incorporate information from one or more graphics
PRACTICE AT into the text. The test will ask you to show your command of evidence in
satpractice.org other ways as well. You may end up adding or revising a topic sentence
Developing a clear understanding to improve the clarity and structure of a passage. You may also add
of the writer’s overall purpose in a or revise supporting material, such as a description or an example, to
Writing and Language Test passage make the writer’s claim or point more robust. Other questions may ask
is critical to answering many you to think about whether adding, revising, or removing a particular
Command of Evidence questions. sentence would sharpen or blur the focus of a certain paragraph or
Be sure you’re always thinking about
the passage as a whole. The element that these Writing and Language
the writer’s purpose as you read
questions (along with questions about informational graphics) have in
passages on the SAT.
common is that they require you to think about how a writer develops a
topic through making and building up claims or points.

A Note About the Essay

PRACTICE AT The optional Essay’s three scores aren’t combined with scores on the
satpractice.org multiple-choice portion of the SAT and thus don’t contribute to the
Another reason preparing for and Command of Evidence subscore. However, as we mentioned before,
taking the SAT Essay is a good the heart of the Essay task is analyzing an argument and explaining
idea is that in doing so, you’ll be how the author builds the argument to persuade an audience through
practicing many of the skills you evidence, reasoning, and/or stylistic or persuasive elements (or
need to do well on multiple-choice other elements you identify). The main focus of the Essay—and the
Command of Evidence questions.
foundation for its Analysis score—is, therefore, connected to your
command of evidence in the broad sense. Receiving a good Analysis
score requires making use of many of the same skills called on by the
Command of Evidence questions on the multiple-choice Reading Test
and Writing and Language Test.

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 Chapter 3 | Command of Evidence

Chapter 3 Recap
The Command of Evidence subscore on the SAT is based on questions
from both the Reading Test and the Writing and Language Test. These
questions are designed to see whether you understand how authors
present and develop their ideas, claims, and points.

You’ll find three types of questions on the Reading Test that address
command of evidence.

1. Determining the best evidence: You’ll be asked to figure out

which part of a passage offers the strongest support for the
answer to another question or for a conclusion that the question
itself provides. These sorts of questions accompany every passage
on the test.

2. Interpreting data presented in informational graphics: You’ll be

asked to locate particular information in tables, graphs, charts, and
the like; draw conclusions from such data; and make connections
between the data and the information and ideas in a passage.
These sorts of questions accompany select passages, as only some
passages on the test include graphics.
3. Understanding how an argument uses (or doesn’t use)
evidence: You’ll be asked to think about how an author makes
(or fails to make) use of supporting information, such as facts,
figures, and quotations, to develop claims. These sorts of questions
accompany select passages on the test—those that stake out one
or more claims and seek to make those claims convincing through
the use of evidence, reasoning, and/or stylistic and persuasive
elements.

You’ll find two types of questions on the Writing and Language Test
that address command of evidence.

1. Interpreting data presented in informational graphics: You’ll

be asked to use data in tables, graphs, charts, and the like when
you’re revising passages to make the passage more accurate, clear,
precise, or convincing. These sorts of questions accompany select
passages, as only some passages on the test include graphics.

2. Improving a passage’s structure, support, and focus: You’ll be

asked to revise passages to make the writer’s central ideas sharper;
add or revise supporting information, such as facts, figures, and
quotations; and evaluate information for relevance globally or at a
particular point in a passage. These sorts of questions accompany
nearly every passage on the test.

Although not contributing to the subscore, the optional Essay

is very much about command of evidence, as its task centers
on analyzing how an author builds an argument to persuade an
audience. To do well on the Essay—especially in terms of getting

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a good Analysis score—you’ll have to consider how the author

uses evidence, reasoning, stylistic or persuasive elements, or other
techniques to influence readers.

As you approach all of these questions and tasks, you’ll want to

think like an author. Answering for yourself such questions as
“What evidence in the passage is being used to support the author’s
interpretation?” and “How relevant is this information to the passage
as a whole?” is critical to getting a good Command of Evidence
subscore on the SAT.

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