The Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar (3rd edition) by Erica L. Meltzer
The Writing & Language portion of the SAT is different from the Grammar section of the old SAT in one important way. The Writing & Language section leans heavily on STYLE. Style is a tricky animal because it often depends on unspoken rules and context. When an author is described as being a “good” writer or more commonly a “bad” writer, frequently what is being criticized is the author’s style. Fortunately, because the SAT is a standardized test, so to must be the stylistic conventions tested. But students still need to be told what those stylistic conventions are.
The Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar elevates itself from other grammar books in that it dissects the types of questions the newest incarnation of the SAT tests. Ms. Meltzer is methodical in her analysis of the first 4 released SATs and uses that data to produce 18 lessons on concepts necessary to score well on the Writing & Language section. Additionally, she indexes the question type for each of the W&L questions to enable a test taker to understand what types of questions he/she struggles with. This is a useful tool for the students who want to attain a perfect score on this test.
The chapters are focused and clearly written (good style) and provide the reader with exercises to practice the concepts described. Many students use their “guts” for this section and rely on what “sounds” right, but this is a mistake because the rules of written English are much more exacting than spoken English, and The Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar gives a thorough explanation of the rules and how to apply those rules.
Just the Facts:
- 252 Pages
- Targeted Practice for the Writing & Language section only
- No full tests
- Paper Quality is excellent–you can write and erase several times without breaking through
** There is a workbook that can be purchased in addition to this book, but I have not seen it in person to evaluate it.