SAT Central Ideas and Details study notes

Start by asking, ‘What is this passage trying to tell me about its subject?’ A central idea joins the topic to the author’s point. A stated-detail question is narrower: you should be able to put your finger on the exact sentence. For a summary, keep an important exception or uncertainty instead of smoothing it away.

Worked example

A town opened its library before work hours. Morning visits rose, but weekend visits barely changed. What is the main idea?

The change helped a particular group use the library. The weekend detail keeps us from claiming that all visits rose. A sound answer would say that earlier weekday hours coincided with more morning use, while weekend use stayed about the same.

All SAT notes