Author agrees/disagrees

[pacer]

For questions about "Author agrees/disagrees with which one of the following"

Are these assumption questions?

When I am reading a passage, for every evidence given - I annotate whether the author agrees or disagrees with it (i.e. how it ties to the author's main point). But I am a bit confused on exactly what the task is for this type of question.

[BethRibet]

Hi Pacer,

Thanks for writing.

No, this is not necessarily or usually an assumption question. In reading comp, when you are asked what the author agrees or disagrees with, you are being asked to correctly characterize the author's viewpoint, or some aspect of it, or to identify which answer choice is consistent with a claim that the author has made. It's not necessarily essential that you tie back to the main point; some of these questions deal with small details that aren't the core of the argument, although it's true that some do relate to the main point.

With these questions, mostly you just want to evaluate each answer choice, based on whether there's some clear indication from the passage (whether by explicit statement or logical inference) that the author would say "yes" (or "no", if it's a disagree question) in response to the answer choice.

Hope this helps!
Beth

[pacer]

Thanks Beth!

For this type of question, is it enough to keep the structure and main point of the passage in mind and evaluate each answer choice for its own merit? Or do you recommend going back to the passage to find a segment with which a contender answer matche (agree questions) or does not match (disagree questions)?

[David Boyle]

Thanks Beth!

For this type of question, is it enough to keep the structure and main point of the passage in mind and evaluate each answer choice for its own merit? Or do you recommend going back to the passage to find a segment with which a contender answer matche (agree questions) or does not match (disagree questions)?

Hello pacer,

As Beth seemed to be saying or implying, the main point and structure may not be enough. Some of these questions are very picky and particular, and basically require you to look through the passage in a detailed way, as you say above, seeing what fits or does not fit. In fact, sometimes people skip this type of question until the end, since it is so particular.

Hope this helps,
David