Cracking the SAT II: Writing & Literature, 2003-2004 Edition

I love Princeton Review test prep books. Princeton Review books are so friendly they take away a lot of the stress. I used this book when I was in high school and got a nearly perfect score, and I wasn't a big reader back then. I did better than some of my "smarter" friends.

Don't try to take the SAT II Writing Test without a prep book--specifically the Princeton review book. In all honesty, it's a very tricky test but definitely not impossible if you're prepared. The majority of the test consists of those tricky "find the sentence error" or "correct the sentence," which can be daunting--I was certainly daunted. The Princeton Review book methodically goes through every category of error that you will be tested on, giving numerous examples that turned out to be extremely similar to the acutal test questions. I can't emphasize enough how important this is: you WILL feel confident on the test because you already know what you need to be on the lookout for. (Ex: subject-verb agreement, idioms, tenses, etc.) The explanations are clear, concise, and VERY thorough without being too boring. The section on identifying sentece errors has the same clear, effective format. It also includes the best peice of writing test advice: DON'T be afraid to pick choice E--"no error." When all else fails go with the ol' intuition.But what of the dreaded essay? Don't worry, this book covers that too. It gives lots of sample questions, and directs you as to what eXaCtLy makes a strong essay. My experience says the'yre right: at least on example from literature, then one from life, or history. And your essay should fill up the space they give you. Anyway, the samples are very good (the real questions are usually easier, judging by the ones I've heard), and the advice clear.Wait, you say! What about the Literature Test?? The section on preparing for the literature test (which, if you study for both, is really trickier than the writing), is equally effective. The book includes many passages of poetry and prose which are VERY similar to those found on the actual test. Once again, the book outlines specific areas with which you will need to be familiar and does a very good job explaining each example and literary term. In a relatively short space, this book manages to give you a comprehensive review of literature, its structure, and how to analyze it. In sum, I highly recommend this book to anyone preparing for either (or both) of these tests. The practice tests in the back are great (5 full ones!), all the examples realistic and clear, the explanations thorough and helpful. Most importantly, this book will allow you to go into the tests knowing what types of questions and tricks you'll encounter and how to effectively tackle it. Believe me, it drastically helped my score and gave me all the prep and info I needed.

The Princeton Review has published an excellent preparation guide for the SAT II Writing test. Complete with drills on virtually every grammatical pitfall you may encounter, a quick run through the book should be enough to adequately prepare for the test or at least to identify your weak areas. The drills are ten problems each but there are many of them so that you don't have the chance to get bored as you would with a traditional grammar book. Nevertheless, while Cracking the SAT II is excellent grammar preparation, it is quite useless in preparing for the essay section of the SAT II Writing or for SAT II Literature. Given the nature of both, success largely depends on your ability to write/read and is virtually impossible to drill and study for. This book only helps with the SAT II Literature by giving you two practice exams to get used to the kind of questions that will be asked. If you need a touch up on your grammar skills for the SAT II Writing, this text, complete with two practice exams, is an indispensible resource.