Master Digital SAT Function Questions: A 2025 Expert Guide

How to Master Digital SAT Function Questions (Domain 2)

By Mr. O, Lead SAT Tutor at The Test Advantage

One of the most challenging question types on the Digital SAT Reading & Writing section is the "function" question. These are the prompts that ask about the role or purpose of a specific sentence or phrase within the larger passage. Mastering these questions is a critical step toward improving your SAT score.

Many students find these questions tricky because the answer choices are often complex and nuanced. But by learning a systematic approach, you can deconstruct any function question with confidence. To master the SAT, you need to understand not just what a text says, but how it says it.

Deconstructing a Digital SAT Function Question

Let's analyze a sample question that reflects the complexity of "Form, Structure, and Sense" (Domain 2) questions. First, read the short scientific passage:

Illuminating aspects of the sonic ecology of fauna, research by Acoustical Investigators Inc. indicates that certain songbirds (including Melospiza melodia) can achieve a subdued vocalization state through auditory dampening. Effects of this sound modulation were not limited to the songbird’s vocal organs and nest-like structures: acoustic attenuations were observed in the air immediately enveloping the songbirds. Though subtle, the attenuations inspired a sound-dampening device; using approximately 400 grams of feathers, the team’s prototype augmented the ambient sound level in a controlled environment by 10dB in forty minutes.

Now, consider the question:

What is the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?

The key to solving this is to understand the logical flow of the entire paragraph. Here’s a breakdown of the answer choices and why most are traps.

• (A) It identifies an unexpected observation that motivated the study of auditory dampening in fauna that is discussed earlier in the text.

  Trap Analysis: This flips the timeline. The study of auditory dampening was already happening; the underlined finding is a result of that study, not the motivation for it.

• (B) It provides empirical evidence to bolster the claim made earlier in the text that certain faunal species maintain a subdued vocalization state.

  Trap Analysis: While it is empirical evidence, its primary function isn't to prove the earlier claim. Its real job is to introduce a new, external effect that leads directly to the next part of the story: the device.

• (C) It establishes a finding central to the text’s discussion of a practical application resulting from the team’s study of faunal sonic biology.

  Correct Analysis: This is perfect. It's a "finding" (acoustic attenuations) that is "central" because it links the bird's ability to the "practical application" (the sound-dampening device) discussed immediately after it. It correctly maps the passage's structure.

• (D) It presents a tangential finding about sound modulation in certain faunal species that the experiment described later in the text was designed to explain.

  Trap Analysis: This gets two things wrong. The finding is not "tangential" (minor); it's crucial. And the later experiment was inspired by this finding, not designed to explain it.

The Before-During-After Method for Function Questions

The secret is context. The underlined sentence never exists in a vacuum. Its function is determined by its relationship to the sentences that come before and after it. Use this three-step analytical method:

1. Analyze the Underlined Sentence (The "During"): First, get a simple, clear understanding of what the target sentence actually says. In our example: "The air around the birds got quieter."
2. Analyze the Preceding Context (The "Before"): Read the sentence immediately before it. Our example says the effects of sound modulation "were not limited to" the bird itself. This perfectly sets up a sentence about an external effect.
3. Analyze the Subsequent Context (The "After"): Now, read the sentence that follows. Our example immediately says these attenuations "inspired a sound-dampening device." This reveals the underlined sentence's primary role: it's the bridge connecting the scientific discovery to a practical invention.

The Big Takeaway: Function is About Relationships

A "function" question is really a "relationship" question. The correct answer will be the one that accurately describes how the target sentence connects the ideas around it. For an expert breakdown of this concept, see our guide on Digital SAT Purpose Questions.

Always ask yourself:

• What job is this sentence doing in the argument?
• Does it provide evidence for the previous sentence?
• Does it introduce a cause for an effect described next?
• Does it present a problem that the next sentence solves?

Thinking about a sentence's purpose, or its rhetorical situation, will help you avoid trap answers that sound plausible but misrepresent the logical flow.

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