Fiction paragraphs make up approximately 10% of the passages on the SAT. Fiction based paragraphs are based on excerpts from stories- they take pieces from books or other literary works. Fiction passages appear most often as single long passages and paired long passages, although occasionally the shorter passages will be fiction as well.
It is easy to identify that the passage is a fiction passage by reading the blurb- if the blurb describes the passage as an excerpt from a novel or from some type of literary work, then the passage is fiction. Many students prefer to do fiction passages first, before fact passages, because fiction passages are more interesting. However, be cautious- you don't want to get too involved in the story and forget that you are reading for a purpose: to answer SAT questions.
When reading a fiction passage, you want to focus on slightly different things than you focus on when reading a fact passage. You can still do the Previewing Process if you choose, or alternatively you can still read carefully and jot down notes in the margins. The difference comes in the questions that you are trying to answer, while doing the Previewing, or the types of things you want to focus on as you jot down notes. The four key questions you want to consider, as you actively read or Preview a fiction passage are:
- What is the main idea of the story?
- What are the key plot points?
- What are the relationships between the characters?
- What is the mood of the story?
