SHSAT: Focus: keep, cut or add sentences that serve the purpose
Learn to name a draft's purpose, cut sentences that don't serve it, choose details that support a specific claim, and pick conclusions that sum up without overreaching.
How do you decide whether a sentence belongs in a draft, and which detail or conclusion fits best?
Short answer
Name the draft's purpose in a few words. Keep sentences that develop it, cut ones that only share its topic, and choose additions and conclusions that match the draft's exact claims.
Know first: Main idea and supporting details
Step 1 of 5
Every sentence needs a job
Focus questions ask whether a sentence belongs, which detail best supports a point, or which conclusion fits. They all come down to the draft's purpose: what the writer is explaining or arguing.
A sentence can share the draft's subject and still be off focus. A fact about famous inventors' workshops doesn't explain how a school's tool library runs. On the other hand, a sentence about a limit or a problem can be essential, even if it makes the program sound less than perfect.
| The question asks | Choose or keep the sentence that |
|---|---|
| Which sentence should be deleted? | Has no role in the purpose, even if it shares the topic |
| Which detail supports sentence X? | Gives an example of exactly what sentence X claims |
| Should the writer delete sentence X? | Stays if it explains the purpose or sets up what comes next |
| Which conclusion fits? | Sums up the main ideas without new claims |
Step 2 of 5
Find the sentence with no job
A short draft
[1] Our school started a tool library so students could borrow supplies without buying them1. [2] Students sign out tools such as staplers, calculators and glue guns with their ID cards2. [3] Each tool comes with a card that explains how to use it safely. [4] Tools that come back broken are logged so the club knows what to replace3. [5] Some famous inventors kept workshops filled with hundreds of tools4. [6] The log also shows which tools are borrowed most often.
- Purpose: sharing supplies so students save money.
- How borrowing works.
- How the program handles problems.
- Same subject, no job: famous inventors explain nothing about how this program runs.
Worked example: Which sentence should be deleted?
Which sentence should be deleted because it doesn't develop the tool library's purpose or how it works?
- ASentence 2
- BSentence 3
- CSentence 4
- DSentence 5
- 1
State the purpose
The draft explains how the tool library lets students share supplies and how it runs.
- 2
Give each sentence a job
2: how to borrow. 3: safety. 4: tracking broken tools. 6: what the log reveals. 5: a fact about famous inventors.
- 3
See why the others are there
Sentences 2, 3 and 4 each explain part of how the program works. Only sentence 5 shares the topic without doing a job.
Answer
D. Sentence 5.
Wrong: Sentence 5 belongs because it's about tools.
Right: Sentence 5 should go because famous inventors' workshops don't explain how the tool library works.
Sharing a topic isn't the same as doing a job. Ask what the sentence adds to the purpose.
Step 3 of 5
Judge each addition by the purpose
Check yourself · Question 1
Which detail would best support sentence 3 of the tool library draft (“Each tool comes with a card that explains how to use it safely”)?
Answer: C
It gives an example of exactly what sentence 3 claims: a card that explains safe use.
Check yourself · Question 2
Should the writer delete sentence 4 (about logging broken tools) to make the program sound more successful?
Answer: C
Sentence 4 explains how the program handles problems, and sentence 6 depends on it: the log refers back to sentence 4.
Trap answer: Yes, because broken tools make the program look poorly run.
Cutting an honest limit
- Why it looks right
- A draft about a program seems like it should show the program at its best.
- Why it's wrong
- The draft explains how the library works, including what happens when things go wrong. Sentence 4 also sets up the log in sentence 6.
- The right answer
- No, because sentence 4 introduces the log that the later sentence relies on.
Check yourself · Question 3
Which conclusion best fits the whole tool library draft?
Answer: B
It names lending, safety and tracking, and ties them back to the purpose of sharing supplies.
Common mistake
I kept every sentence that mentioned the program's name or subject.
- Why it's tempting
- Sharing the topic feels like enough to stay on focus.
- Do this instead
- Ask what each sentence does for the purpose: explains how, gives a reason, shows a result or sets up the next sentence. A sentence with no such job goes, even if it shares the same subject.
Step 4 of 5
What to remember
Remember
- State the draft's purpose before you judge any sentence.
- Cut sentences that share the topic but do no job; keep ones that explain limits or set up what follows.
- Choose details and conclusions that match the draft's exact claims.
Step 5 of 5
Practice on a real question
Use what you just learned on this question, then check the explanation.
In your own words
In the practice draft, what job does each sentence do, and which one only shares the topic?