My dual mandate is to help my APUSH and SAT students and subscribers prepare for their upcoming tests. This post will be devoted to defining and illustrating the word INCREMENTAL.
APUSH
INCREMENTAL is used to describe a gradual process of step-by-step changes. INCREMENTALISM is a defining characteristic of the American political process. The INCREMENTAL expansion of the American electorate provides a particularly clear example of gradual change.
Rather than a single law granting everyone the right to vote, the expansion of the suffrage occurred in a series of INCREMENTAL hard-fought changes over nearly two centuries. In the early 1800s, states slowly removed property-owning requirements for white men. The 15th Amendment (1870) prohibited denying the right to vote based upon race. The 19th Amendment (1920) granted women the right to vote. And finally, the 26th Amendment (1971) lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.
SAT
A recent SAT vocabulary in context question asked students to choose the best word to describe the spread of maize from its home in central Mexico to its cultivation throughout eastern North American. The INCREMENTAL process took several thousand years. Although the passage seemed clear, confused students were tempted by OPAQUE (not transparent), VOLATILE (very sudden and even explosive change), and IDIOSYNCRATIC (very peculiar to an individual).
INCREMENTAL – gradual step-by-step changes