The 3 Types of SAT® Reading Passages and How to Prepare for Each of Them

The SAT® Reading section consists of five passages from three different genres: literary narrative, science, and history and social science. 

These five passages include a combination of modern and classic published works. Passage types include classic literature (from 18th and 19th centuries), essays and speeches (spanning 18th to 20th centuries), scholarly articles, and scientific reports. 

That said, it is no wonder that many students find the SAT® Reading section to be the most challenging aspect of the test, which is why it is crucial to unpack each of the three types of passages for your students and offer advice on how to best prepare for each of them.

Type 1: Literary Narratives

A literary narrative passage is always the first one that a student encounters on the SAT® Reading section.

This passage is a published literary text that is sometimes a modern piece of fiction or an excerpt from a classic. 

Simply put, the most effective way for students to prepare for this section is to read fiction. No matter the subject matter, reading any type of fiction will help students become familiar with the key elements of this genre: characters and their relationships, setting, plot, themes and tone.

Literary Narrative Examples

Here are a few suggested well-known classics to encourage your students to try:

• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

• Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

• Treasure Island by R.L. Stevenson

• The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

Also urge them to broaden their search beyond the obvious. The following are a few off-the-radar suggestions that may help:

• We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

• The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

• Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

• Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger

• Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser

When aiding your students in finding literary texts, be sure to offer suggestions for where they can easily find a variety of these types of literary classics and modern narratives. Public libraries, bookstores (both online and brick-and-mortar), and public-domain databases like Project Gutenberg are all solid options. Even audiobooks can provide opportunities for students to engage with text - particularly those who may be a bit more reading-averse.

Literary Narrative Test-Prep Strategies

Here are a few suggestions for preparing your students for the literary narrative passage:

1. Read, read, read. This should be self-explanatory, but it cannot be stressed enough.

2. Literary structures matter. Not all students are familiar with reading literature - especially outside of school. It may take some practice for them to build up reading comprehension skills, an eye for identifying text structures, and the ability to interpret literary devices - especially if they’re used to just skimming over texts. Students may need to be reminded to pay attention to key elements of fiction writing: characters, relationships, setting, plot, themes and tone.

3. Take notes. Students should practice highlighting important characters, settings, and dialogue as they read. When possible, this practice should mimic the speed and brevity they will need to employ on test day. Jotting down quick notes in the margins and sketching quick plot diagrams are simple ways that students can keep track of integral elements of a fiction text.

Type 2: Science

SAT® Reading also includes two science passages. Sometimes one of the science passages is a paired passage, which is comprised of two shorter, related passages combined into one.

The science section can be daunting. It is chock full of scientific information and data (often accompanied by graphs, tables, or charts) that can easily confuse or overwhelm. That said,  exposure to these types of texts prior to test day will help students recognize and strategize the best way to examine the passage.

Science Passage Examples

When looking for exemplar texts for your students, try to find texts that discuss the basic ideas explored in earth science, biology, chemistry, and physics. In particular, seek out articles or reports found online through scientific, peer-reviewed journals and/or from academic databases such as:

• Science

• Discover Magazine

• ScienceDirect

• Scientific American

• PubMed: National Library and Medicine

• Academic Journals

• ScienceNews

• JSTOR

Science Passage Test-Prep Strategies

It is important to remember that understanding science passages on the SAT® has a lot more to do with reading comprehension than it does interpreting data. After all, these passages are part of a reading test, not a science-content test. That said, here are some tips to help your students prepare and navigate SAT® science passages:

1. Read to learn. All of the scientific-content knowledge a test taker will need for a science passage should be included within the passage itself. Practice reading scientific texts to become familiar enough with the content to understand it in a general sense.

2. Become familiar with how science passages are organized. Science passages are organized in common formats, which present the hypothesis (how it is tested and a review of the results), explain the problem (and plausible solutions), discuss the theoretical framework of the research, as well as explore opposing ideas (typically presented in a paired passage) - becoming familiar with articles written in this type of format will help your students tackle scientific SAT® Reading passages.

3. Take notes. Making simple notations and highlights of key concepts while reading can create helpful references to return to later in the reading or while looking for help answering questions. As with literary passages, notes should be quick and to the point. Students should be creating reference points within the text that they can return to later, not verbose personal interpretations or responses.

4. Identify key data and topics. Pay attention to the titles and labels in any graphs, tables, or charts. This includes units and measurements that may help give a sense of scale. Often, there is as much information in the data as there is in the text itself.

Type 3: History & Social Science

History and social science is the third type of text featured on the SAT® Reading section. Similar to the science section, there are two history / social science passages per test, and sometimes one of the two is a paired passage. 

History & Social Science Passage Examples

These passages typically fall into the category of either a “founding document” (history) or a “Great Global Conversation” (social science). They are all primary-source documents (i.e., speeches, letters, editorials, declarations), which date back to the 18th to 20th centuries.

Here are a few databases and archives that students can access for history and social science passages:

• Library of Congress

• National Archives

• The American Presidency Project

• Project Gutenberg:

  • Essays by David Hume

  • My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass

  • An Essay on Slavery and Abolitionism, with Reference to the Duty of American Females by Catharine E. Beecher

  • A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft

  • Freedom’s Battle by Mahatma Gandhi

  • The Advancement of Learning by Francis Bacon

  • Euthydemus by Plato

  • The Federalist Papers

History & Social Science Passage Test-Prep Strategies

History and social science passages can be tricky for students because of the nature of the writing style. Oftentimes, these passages are quite old, which means that the authors' use of older English, more complex sentences, and lack of brevity in getting their points across can easily get students’ focus off track.

The best way to help your students grasp the main idea of a history or social science passage is to maximize their exposure to these  types of texts. Here are some additional suggestions that will give your students an advantage before test day:

1. Read to learn. Typically, this split genre touches on political and social movements. As such, becoming familiar with topics like the American founding documents, the beginnings of democracy, women’s rights, the abolitionist movement, general US/World history, and classic philosophical works, will help students become familiar with this type of persuasive and opinion-based writing. It will also build familiarity with the historical figures who delivered them. Focusing on historical debates and the key players on each side is particularly important.

2. Expect to learn new vocabulary. Many of these works are loaded with advanced vocabulary terms that students either have never encountered before or may never encounter again. That said, it is important to encourage your students to try their best to find context clues within the text to help them understand the unfamiliar word. This is a prominent and critical strategy across all standardized tests. That said, when preparing for this type of passage (or any other reading passage for that matter) students should keep a dictionary handy as well as a notebook or stack of blank flashcards to help with vocabulary-building.

3. Take notes. Students should get into the habit of highlighting key points and claims made throughout a text while reading. This will help students later - particularly when faced with paired passages that require them to compare and contrast authors’ opinions. 

By now, it’s clear that no matter the genre, staying focused on the main idea of the passage and its supporting evidence is truly the key to making sense of the SAT® Reading passages. 

Introducing your students to and encouraging them to familiarize themselves with works from a wide array of genres will help them feel more prepared and confident when they encounter those passages on the SAT®.

For more strategies and a full array of practice SAT® Reading passages and questions, schedule a free demo of our 100% white-label test prep platform. See how our software, custom-branded workbooks, and personalized curricular tools can help your students walk into test day ready for success.