How We Learn

Organizing the Mental Closet

Catherine and I have been going back and forth about "associative interference," since coincidentally we simultaneously wrote blog posts about the issue.

We've decided that not knowing the proper math and grammar terminology adds a layer of difficulty to the process of trying to improve your SAT score.

For example, try getting to the bottom of your errors with explanations like these (from the College Board):

It avoids the comma-splice error of the other options by turning the first independent clause, “This basic document is stating the liberties” into an appositive. An appositive is a subordinate noun phrase that renames a noun. In this revision, “A basic document” is the appositive that renames “Magna Carta,” and the dependent clause “that states the liberties” modifies “a basic document.”

Woof woof woof.

I don't get it.

Ok, I do finally know how to identify a "comma splice" (now, age 45, and 10 months into studying for the SAT), but I'm not sure I could pick out a "dependent clause" from an "independent one," and I would need the Google machine to help me understand the "appositive" portion of this explanation.

How am I supposed to organize my mental closet if I don't know the jargon?

According to Catherine, the terminology -- say "gerund" or "dangling participle" or "noun clause, " keeps reminding you that these are "different grammatical structures."

"Knowledge isn’t just facts and notions," she explained to me, "It’s facts and notions etc. organized inside a SCHEMA."

From Catherine's post about associative interference:

I'm also thinking more attention should be paid to teaching young children the terminology of arithmetic: addends, subtrahends, factors, and the like. I think -- I don't know -- that fluency with the terminology might help reduce associative interference. "All math looks alike": the 5 and the 2 in 5+2 look exactly like the 5 and the 2 in 5x2. But the words addend and factor have nothing in common whatsoever.

Illustrations by Jennifer Orkin Lewis

7 Comments | posted October 17th, 2011

http://www.perfectscoreproject.com Debbie Stier

Just received this email from Catherine (always so helpful!):
I’m pretty sure it’s essential to know this for SAT writing:Everyone needs to know what a CLAUSE is. A CLAUSE:has a subject
has a predicateAn INDEPENDENT CLAUSE has a subject
has a predicate
expresses a complete thoughtA DEPENDENT CLAUSE (sometimes called a SUBORDINATE CLAUSE):Has a subject
Has a predicate
Does NOT express a complete thought ------ instead, the dependent clause has a “dependent marker word” that tells you you have to go to the “main clause” to understand the “dependent clause”
AN INDEPENDENT CLAUSE IS A SENTENCE!!============EXAMPLES:

This is the purse that I bought at Muji’s.

This sentence is a combination of two sentences:
This is the purse.
I bought the purse at Muji’s.

This sentences has a MAIN CLAUSE & a DEPENDENT CLAUSE.

MAIN CLAUSE: This is the purse.
SUBJECT OF MAIN CLAUSE: This
VERB OF MAIN CLAUSE: is
SUBJECT COMPLEMENT OF MAIN CLAUSE (don’t worry about “subject complement”): purse

DEPENDENT CLAUSE: that I bought at Muji’s.
DEPENDENT MARKER WORD: that
SUBJECT OF DEPENDENT CLAUSE: I
VERB OF DEPENDENT CLAUSE: bought
DIRECT OBJECT OF DEPENDENT CLAUSE: that (direct object is implied, not stated)

Chris and Ethan take the train that goes through Harlem.

This sentence is a combination of two sentences:
Chris and Ethan take the train.
The train goes through Harlem.

MAIN CLAUSE: Chris and Ethan take the train.
SUBJECT OF MAIN CLAUSE: Chris and Ethan
VERB OF MAIN CLAUSE: take
DIRECT OBJECT: train

SUBORDINATE OR DEPENDENT CLAUSE: that goes through Harlem.
DEPENDENT MARKER WORD: that
SUBJECT OF DEPENDENT CLAUSE: that
VERB OF DEPENDENT CLAUSE: goes

(through Harlem is a prepositional phrase that MODIFIES “goes” -- tells us WHERE (which means it modifies the verb)
============Next step: there are four main kinds of sentence combinations:simple
compound
complex
compound complexSimple sentence:
Debbie took the SAT.

SUBJECT: Debbie
VERB: took
DIRECT OBJECT: SAT

You can add modifiers and modifying phrases to this sentence, but it’s still a SIMPLE SENTENCE:

Debbie took the SAT on Saturday. SIMPLE SENTENCE
Debbie, feeling tired and cranky, took the SAT on Saturday. SIMPLE SENTENCE

You can have compound subjects & compound verbs, but it’s still a SIMPLE SENTENCE:

Debbie and Catherine took the SAT on October 1 and are waiting for their results. SIMPLE SENTENCE

These are all simple sentences because they have JUST ONE INDEPENDENT CLAUSE.

Compound sentence:
A compound sentence has at least two INDEPENDENT CLAUSES.NOTE: THIS IS WHERE YOU GET COMMA SPLICES – YOU CAN’T CONNECT INDEPENDENT CLAUSES WITH A COMMA.Debbie took the SAT, and then she went home. (use a comma before the FANBOY)1ST MAIN CLAUSE: Debbie took the SATSUBJECT OF 1ST MAIN CLAUSE: DebbieVERB OF 1ST MAIN CLAUSE: tookDIRECT OBJECT OF 1ST MAIN CLAUSE: the SAT2ND MAIN CLAUSE: and then she went home.SUBJECT OF 2ND MAIN CLAUSE: sheVERB OF 2ND MAIN CLAUSE: wentNeither clause has a DEPENDENT MARKER WORD.NOTE:Debbie took the test and went home.This is a simple sentence because you have ONLY one subject: Debbie.You have to add the “she” to have a compound sentence.Complex sentence:
There are billions of complex sentences on the SAT & in all high-level nonfiction writing. Billions.A complex sentence has one INDEPENDENT CLAUSE & AT LEAST ONE DEPENDENT CLAUSE.This is the purse that I bought at Muji’s. Chris and Ethan take the train that goes through Harlem.Compound-complex:
A compound complex sentence is a combination of a compound sentence with a complex sentence: it has at least two independent clauses and at least one subordinate clause.Debbie, who is an SAT veteran, took the test in the Bronx, but Catherine decided to take the test in Tarrytown.1st INDEPENDENT CLAUSE: Debbie took the test in the Bronx.2nd INDEPENDENT CLAUSE: Catherine decided to take the test in Tarrytown.DEPENDENT CLAUSE: who is an SAT veteranSUBJECT OF THE DEPENDENT CLAUSE: whoVERB OF THE DEPENDENT CLAUSE: isSUBJECT COMPLEMENT OF THE DEPENDENT CLAUSE: SAT veteran
- Anonymous
  
  Diagramming sentences visually shows the relationship between different parts of the sentence. After diagramming sentences all through grade school, middle school, and early high school, the "bare bones" structures of sentences jumps out. (And that's usually all you need to know for the SAT) After 20+ years out of school, I'm not sure this diagram is technically correct, but it works to show the relationships. S=subject, V=verb, DO=direct object.
  
  Even my best kids don't know how to find the bones of a sentence. I think if they were taught diagramming they would.
  - http://www.perfectscoreproject.com Debbie Stier
    
    My daughter is learning that in school (which warms my heart)....and I did buy a book about how to do it, and started, and certainly, the basics I can do at this point......it's the more complicated sentences that still throw me for a loop. (see attached).
    
    All that said, my Writing score for this SAT, according to the CB online scoring was somewhere between 680-800......which is basically to say, I've either gotten nowhere from where I started, or I've achieved my goal in this area.
    
    Never taking one of those "range of" tests again!
    
    And P.S. this is the one that had the mistake in it.
    - Anonymous
      
      In a nutshell, what you've described is essentially the problem with the American school (when it comes to teaching English, at least). Schools don't want to bore kids with "pointless" terminology because they assume they'll miraculously pick up the rules holistically, and the result is that kids don't have any means of organizing concepts and thoughts. It's very hard to teach grammar to someone who doesn't have any vocabulary to discuss it with. That's why I usually spend a while just going over terminology with people before we even start to talk about the SAT. If someone doesn't know what a dependent clause or a coordinating conjunction or an adverb or a gerund is, there's almost no way to teach them most of the grammar on the test.
      - http://www.perfectscoreproject.com Debbie Stier
        
        I wish I'd known this from the beginning. The way I'm learning is so illogical.
        
        The good news is that my kids (especially daughter) do seem to be learning grammar from the ground up (at least my daughter), and I must remember that that's what this is really about anyway (i.e. THE KIDS!).
http://twitter.com/akilbello Akil Bello

I got to differ on this on. I think that all that jargon is pointless. so much of this seems jargon for jargons sake rather than for clarity's sake. I'm all for words that improve understanding and specificity but not when it forces learning words that wont be remembered or used ever outside of the contenxt.

Many of the kids i work with can tell you and appositive from a participial phrase and would not know a subjunctive from a subordinate clause but can probably tell you when those parts are functioning incorrectly.
- http://www.perfectscoreproject.com Debbie Stier
  
  I'm not sure what I think about the matter. I *think* I think (does that make sense?) that if you learn the proper terminology from the beginning, it would make it easier. Trying to learn after the fact makes it harder. Like learning a foreign language.