SAT® · Reading and Writing: Expression of Ideas
Goal: Emphasize a Difference
A sentence that emphasizes a difference needs two numbers or facts measured on the same axis, joined by a contrast word like whereas. Pick the one shared measure in the notes, then set the two readings against each other.
Emphasizing a difference takes two ingredients: a contrast word and a shared axis. The contrast word (whereas, but, while, however) signals that two things are being measured against each other. The axis is whatever is actually being measured — duration, length, cost, count. Without a shared axis, the contrast word is just decoration sitting between two facts that have nothing to do with each other.
Whereas works by locking onto one dimension and placing two readings at its opposite ends. Say one note gives a study's length as 12 years and another gives a second study's length as 6 months. Both numbers measure duration, so whereas can pin them against each other: 'The first team tracked its plot for 12 years, whereas the second team tracked a comparable plot for only 6 months.' Every other note — what was measured each spring, where it was published, whether the plot was thinned — gets dropped, because it doesn't feed the one axis the sentence is built on.
The hard case is when the notes don't share an axis at all. If one bridge's note gives its span in metres and the other bridge's note gives only its cost, there is no single dimension to run a contrast along — you cannot measure a difference between metres and pounds. The fix is to scan the full note set for a measurement both subjects share, even if it takes a moment to find, and build the sentence on that instead. This skill sits right next to the matching goal of emphasizing a similarity: same instinct of finding one shared axis, just pointed at agreement instead of contrast.
Key terms
- shared axis
- the single measurable dimension, like duration or length, that both things in the notes are rated on.
- contrast word
- a connector such as whereas, but, or however that signals two readings are being set against each other.
- reading
- one specific value on the shared axis, such as 12 years or 6 months.
- relevant information
- only the notes that feed the chosen axis; every other true fact in the notes is left out of the sentence.
Watch it explained
- How it worksHow does 'whereas' pin two notes to opposite ends of the same measurable dimension?
- Worked exampleWalk me through building one sentence that contrasts a 12-year study with a 6-month study on duration alone.
- Going furtherWhat happens when one note gives a bridge's span in metres and another gives its cost, with no shared axis?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a sentence stating two unrelated facts a contrast, even with 'however' sitting in the middle?
Check yourself
End of topic.