RC "Author's attitude" questions Forum

[js123]

I have noticed that I am consistently missing the RC questions that deal with the "author's attitude" towards something in the passage.

Any advice on how to best tackle these questions would be greatly appreciated

[ilikebaseball]

I have noticed that I am consistently missing the RC questions that deal with the "author's attitude" towards something in the passage.

Any advice on how to best tackle these questions would be greatly appreciated

There are usually several subtle hints that indicate an author's attitude. Make sure you read EVERY BIT of EVERY answer choice. There are usually gonna be 3 that could be right by reading the first couple of words of the answer choice, but only 1 will be completely right.

[03152016]

make sure you've identified the role of the author in the passage
how active/passive? do they seem to have a role personally?
are they advocating? are they mediating?
is the tone more objective? subjective?
is the language more neutral/hedging? or is the language strong/argumentative?

don't spend a ton of time thinking about this stuff
make a note of it in your head as you read, and look for answer choices that match the author's tone/attitude

[dontdoitkid]

Look at the adjectives and adverbs that the author uses in the passage. Look at information introduced that runs counter to the main argument and see what the author says/thinks about it. Also look at how the author describes any figures (i.e. researchers, authors, artists, experts, etc.) quoted or cited in the passage.

[SecondWind]

Look at the adjectives and adverbs that the author uses in the passage. Look at information introduced that runs counter to the main argument and see what the author says/thinks about it. Also look at how the author describes any figures (i.e. researchers, authors, artists, experts, etc.) quoted or cited in the passage.

^This

The correct answer will many times use a synonym to the adjectives and adverbs in the text or substantially uses the definition of key words in the correct answer choice (or vice versa) .

IMO after you've read the question stem, but before you get to the answer choices, you should generally have a good idea of the correct answer will entail (aka pre-phrase the answer).