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Craft and Structure: Words in Context, Structure, and Cross-Text Connections

Craft and Structure is the largest domain on the Reading and Writing section, making up roughly 28% of the test. It shifts the focus from what a passage says to how it says it — the precise meaning of a word given its context, the way a passage is organized to achieve a purpose, and how two short passages relate to each other.

Because this domain leans on vocabulary and structural reasoning rather than content recall, it rewards students who build a systematic approach to each question type rather than relying purely on vocabulary memorization. This page covers the three question types in the domain and gives you a repeatable process for each.

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Words in context: strategy

Words in context questions ask you to choose the word or phrase that best completes a sentence, based on the logic of the surrounding text. The single most effective strategy is to cover the answer choices, read the sentence and its context, and predict your own word before looking at the options. This prevents you from being pulled toward a familiar-sounding word that doesn't actually fit the sentence's logic.

Pay close attention to contrast and continuation signals. Words like 'although,' 'yet,' and 'despite' tell you the blank should contrast with a nearby idea, while words like 'moreover,' 'similarly,' and 'in fact' tell you the blank should align with it. Many wrong answers are near-synonyms of the correct word that carry a slightly different tone or degree — for instance, choosing between 'skeptical' and 'dismissive' often comes down to whether the passage shows mild doubt or outright rejection.

Text structure and purpose

These questions ask either how a passage is organized (for example, presenting a claim and then complicating it, or describing a problem and then a proposed solution) or why the author included a specific detail or sentence. For structure questions, try to summarize the passage's shape in a short phrase — 'claim, then counterexample' or 'general trend, then exception' — before reading the answer choices.

For purpose questions about a specific detail, ask what job that detail is doing for the argument as a whole: is it providing evidence, anticipating an objection, offering context, or illustrating an abstract claim with a concrete example? The correct answer will name that function precisely, while wrong answers often describe a function the detail could plausibly serve in a different passage but doesn't serve here.

Cross-text connections

Cross-text connections questions present two short passages on a related topic and ask how they relate — do they agree, disagree, or address different aspects of the same issue? Start by identifying each passage's main claim independently, in your own words, before comparing them. It's easy to get lost trying to hold both passages in mind while also parsing four answer choices.

A frequent question format asks how the author of Passage 2 would most likely respond to a claim in Passage 1. Answer this by identifying Passage 2's overall stance first, then checking whether that stance logically extends to the specific claim being asked about — don't assume agreement or disagreement on one point just because the passages agree or disagree generally.

Worked example: words in context

Worked example

Although early critics dismissed the novel as derivative, later scholars have come to see its use of familiar tropes as deliberate and ____, arguing that the author was in dialogue with tradition rather than simply imitating it. A) accidental B) purposeful C) confusing D) excessive

  1. Predict a word before looking at choices: the sentence contrasts 'dismissed as derivative' with a later, more favorable view, so the blank should mean something like 'intentional.'
  2. Eliminate A, since 'accidental' contradicts 'deliberate,' which appears right before the blank.
  3. Eliminate C and D, since neither means 'intentional' — they describe unrelated qualities.
  4. B, 'purposeful,' matches both 'deliberate' and the contrast with the dismissive early critics.

Answer: B — it matches the sentence's own word 'deliberate' and fits the contrast signaled by 'although.'

Worked example: cross-text connections

Worked example

Passage 1: Urban planners have argued that removing highways through city centers revitalizes neighborhoods by reconnecting them and increasing foot traffic to local businesses. Passage 2: Studies of specific highway removal projects show mixed results; in several cities, local business revenue rose only in neighborhoods that also received new public transit investment, while removal alone had little measurable effect. How would the author of Passage 2 most likely respond to the general claim in Passage 1? A) By agreeing completely, since both passages support highway removal. B) By suggesting the claim oversimplifies the relationship, since removal alone may not be sufficient. C) By arguing that highway removal always harms local businesses. D) By stating that public transit investment is unrelated to business revenue.

  1. Identify Passage 1's claim: removing highways alone revitalizes neighborhoods.
  2. Identify Passage 2's finding: revenue only rose when removal was paired with transit investment, not from removal alone.
  3. Eliminate A, since Passage 2 doesn't fully agree — it adds an important condition.
  4. Eliminate C and D, since Passage 2 doesn't claim removal is always harmful, and it directly links transit investment to revenue, contradicting D.
  5. B accurately reflects that Passage 2 complicates rather than flatly accepts or rejects Passage 1's claim.

Answer: B — Passage 2 adds a necessary condition rather than agreeing or disagreeing outright.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Picking a words-in-context answer because it's a word you recognize, not because it fits the sentence's logic.
  • Ignoring contrast and continuation signal words when predicting the blank.
  • Confusing what a passage is about with how it's structured.
  • Assuming two passages fully agree or disagree instead of checking the specific claim in question.
  • Not summarizing each passage's stance independently before comparing them in cross-text questions.

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