Cross-Text Connections give you two short passages (Text 1 and Text 2) on the same topic and ask how they relate — usually how the author of one would respond to the other.
Before reading Text 2, lock down Text 1's exact claim. Then read Text 2 asking: does it agree, disagree, complicate, or add a new angle?
The reliable method
- Summarize each author's position in one sentence in your own words.
- Pin the point of contact — the specific thing both texts address. The answer lives there.
- Match the relationship precisely. "Would disagree" needs direct conflict; "would qualify" means partial agreement with a caveat.
Trap: Choices that are true about one text but don't describe the relationship between them. The question is always relational.