ACT English

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ACT English

• Strategies for Success

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EnglishOne 45 minute section with 75 questions

• Usage and Mechanics
• Punctuation
• Grammar and usage
• Sentence structure

• Rhetorical Skills
• Writing strategy
• Organization
• Style

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Usage and Mechanics

• Part 1 Punctuation

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Usage Mechanics - Punctuation

• Commas
• Apostrophes
• Semicolons
• Colons
• Parenthesis and Dashes
• Periods, Question Marks, and Exclamation Points

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Punctuation - Commas

• Commas separate Independent Clauses (FAN BOYS)
• Lesley wanted to sit outside, but it was raining.
• Henry could tie the shoe himself, or he could ask
  Amanda to tie his shoe.

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Commas In a Series

• A series contains three or more items separated
  by commas. The items can either be nouns (such
  as dog) or verb phrases (such as get in the
  car).
• The hungry girl devoured a piece of chicken, a
  pound of pasta, and a slice of chocolate cake.

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Commas Separate Adjectives

• A comma separates adjectives only if they can be
  in reverse order and still make sense.
• Rebeccas new dog has long, silky hair.
• My mother hates noisy electronic music.

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Commas Set Off Clauses and Phrases from a
Complete Sentence

• Commas set off clauses and phrases from a
  complete sentence
• After preparing an elaborate meal for herself,
  Anne was too tired to eat.
• Anne was too tired to eat after preparing an
  elaborate meal for herself.

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Commas Set Off Nonessential Elements

• Nonessential elements embellish nouns without
  specifying them (Extra info).
• Everyone voted Carrie, who is the most popular
  girl in our class, prom queen.
• The decrepit street sign, which had stood in our
  town since 1799, finally fell down.

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Commas Essential Elements

• Essential elements are not set off by commas
  because they are necessary to the meaning of the
  sentence.
• The girl who is sick missed three days of school.
• The dog that ate the rotten steak fell down and
  died.

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Commas Appositives

• An appositive is a phrase that renames or
  restates the modified noun, usually enhancing it
  with additional information.
• Everyone voted Carrie, the most popular girl in
  school, prom queen.
• The dog, a Yorkshire Terrier, barked at all the
  neighbors.

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Apostrophes

• Apostrophes are the second most commonly tested
  punctuation mark on the English Test.
• Apostrophes primarily indicate possession, but
  they are also used in contractions.

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Apostrophes Possessive and Singular Nouns

• A singular noun can be made possessive by adding
  an apostrophe followed by an s.
• Simons teacher was in the room.
• My mom forgot the dogs food.
• We removed the bottles label.

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Apostrophes Possessive and Plural Nouns

• Most plural nouns can be made possessive by
  adding only an apostrophe.
• The boys teacher was in the room.
• My mom forgot the dogs food.
• We removed the bottles lables.

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Apostrophes Plural Nouns

• For plural nouns that do not end in s, you
  should treat the plural form as a singular noun.
• The womens locker room needs to be cleaned.

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Apostrophes Possessive and Multiple Nouns

• Sometimes youll want to indicate the possession
  of more than one noun.
• The placement of the apostrophe depends on
  whether the possessors share the possession.
• Nick and Noras dog solves crimes.
• Dans and Joanns socks are dirty.

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Apostrophes Explanation

• In the example of Nick and Nora, the dog belongs
  to both of them, so you treat Nick and Nora as
  a single unit.
• In the second example, both Dan and Joann have
  dirty socks, but they dont share the same dirty
  socks, so you treat Dan and Joann as separate
  units.

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Apostrophes Wrong Word

• The ACT will test on your ability to distinguish
  between its and its.
• Other commonly tested issues
• their/theyre/there
• your/youre
• whose/whos

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Semicolons

• Youll usually find several questions dealing
  with semicolons on the English Test.
• The main functions of a semicolon that you should
  know for the test are its ability to join related
  independent clauses and its use in a series.

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Semicolon Independent Clauses

• Semicolons are commonly used to separate two
  related but independent clauses.
• Julie ate five brownies Eileen ate seven.
• Josh needed to buy peas he ran to the market.

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Semicolon Explanation

• In the previous examples, the semicolon functions
  as a weak period. It suggests a short pause
  before moving to a less-related thought.
• Generally, a period between these independent
  clauses would work just as well, so the ACT wont
  offer you a choice between a semicolon and a
  period.

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Semicolons Independent Clauses with a Transition

• Frequently, you will see two independent clauses
  joined by a semicolon and a transitional adverb
  (such as however, consequently, furthermore,
  nevertheless, etc.)
• Julie ate five brownies however, Eileen ate
  seven.
• Josh needed to buy peas thus, he ran to the
  market.

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Semicolons A Series

• The semicolon replaces the comma as a structural
  backbone of a series if the items already contain
  commas.
• The tennis tournament featured the surprise
  comeback player, Koch, who dropped out last year
  due to injuries the up-and-coming star Popp, who
  dominated the junior tour and the current
  favorite, Farrington, who won five of the last
  six tournaments.

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Colons

• Colons are used after complete sentences to
  introduce related information that comes in the
  form of a list, an explanation, or a quotation.
• When you see a colon, you should know to expect
  elaborating information.

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Colons Examples

• The wedding had all the elements to make it a
  classic the elegant bride, the weeping mother,
  and the fainting bridesmaid.
• The wedding had all the elements to make it a
  classic the elegant bride beamed as her mother
  wept and as the bridesmaid fainted.
• The mothers exclamation best summed up the
  wedding If only the bridesmaids hadnt fainted!

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Colons Problems

• A colon should ALWAYS be preceded by an
  independent clause.
• Wrong
• The ingredients I need to make a cake flour,
  butter, sugar, and icing.
• Right
• I need several ingredients to make a cake flour,
  butter, sugar, and icing.

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Colons Problems

• There should never be more than one colon in a
  sentence.
• Wrong
• He brought many items on the camping trip a
  tent, a sleeping bag, a full cooking set, warm
  clothes, and several pairs of shoes sneakers,
  boots, and sandals.
• Right
• He brought many items on the camping trip a
  tent, a sleeping bag, a full cooking set, warm
  clothes, sneakers, boots, and sandals.

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Other ACT Punctuation

• The English test rarely test punctuation marks
  other than those already listed.
• However, in the odd case that test writers do
  throw in some other punctuation errors, you
  should know what to expect.
• The ACT officially states that it covers, in
  addition the previously mentioned punctuation,
  parenthesis, dashes, periods, question marks, and
  exclamation points.

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Parenthesis

• Parenthesis usually surround words or phrases
  that break a sentences train of thought but
  provide explanatory information for it.
• The road trip (which was made in a convertible)
  lasted three weeks and spanned fourteen states.

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Parenthesis

• Similarly, parenthetical sentences can be
  inserted between other sentences, adding
  additional information to them without diverting
  their flow.
• Their road trip lasted three weeks and spanned
  fourteen states. (The one they took two years
  ago lasted two weeks and covered ten states).
  When they got home, they were exhausted.

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Dashes

• Dashes function similarly to parenthesis.
• Dashes indicate either an abrupt break in thought
  or an insertion of additional, explanatory
  information.
• He walked slowly with his hurt leg he couldnt
  go much faster that even his neighbors toddler
  eventually overtook him.
• I dont have the heart to refuse a friends
  request for help do you?

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Periods, Question Marks, and Exclamation Points

• These are the least common forms of punctuation
  tested.
• The sentence ends here.
• Does the sentence end here?
• Hooray, the sentence ends here!

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Usage and Mechanics

• Part 2 Basic Grammar and Usage

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Basic Grammar and Usage

• Subject-Verb Agreement
• Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
• Pronoun Cases
• Verb Tenses
• Adverbs and Adjectives
• Idioms
• Comparative and Superlative Modifiers

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Subject-Verb Agreement

• Singular verbs must accompany singular subjects,
  and plural verbs must accompany plural subjects.
• The man wears four ties.
• His favorite college is in Nebraska.
• Matt, along with his friends, goes to Coney
  Island.
• The men wear four ties each.
• His favorite colleges are in Nebraska.
• Matt and his friends go to Coney Island.

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Subject-Verb Agreement

• Subject-verb agreement is a simple idea, but ACT
  writers will make it tricky.
• Often, theyll put the subject at one end of the
  sentence and the verb a mile away.

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Subject-Verb Agreement Examples

• An audience of thousands of expectant people who
  have come from afar to listen to live music in an
  outdoor setting seem terrifying to a nervous
  performer.
• A. No Change
• B. seems
• C. have seemed
• D. to seem

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Subject-Verb Agreement Explanation

• To solve this problem, cross out the junk in the
  middle that separates the subject, an audience,
  from the verb, seem.
• Youre left with An audience seem terrifying to
  a nervous performer.
• Now you can see what the verb should be An
  audience seems terrifying to a nervous performer.

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Subject-Verb Agreement Collective Nouns

• Collective nouns (such as committee, family,
  group, number, and team) can be either singular
  or plural
• It depends on whether the noun is being treated
  as a single unit or as divided individuals.

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Subject-Verb Agreement Collective Nouns

• Singular
• The number of people living in Florida varies
  from year to year.
• Plural
• A number of people living in Florida with they
  had voted for Gore.
• Singular
• The committee decides on the annual program.
• Plural
• The committee have disagreed on the annual
  program.

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Subject-Verb Agreement Collective Nouns

• Trick -
• The is generally singular
• A is generally plural

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Subject-Verb Agreement Indefinite Pronouns

• Indefinite pronouns refer to persons or things
  that have not been specified.
• These can be tricky because some indefinite
  pronouns that seem plural are in fact singular.
• Indefinite pronouns are popular with ACT writers,
  so youd be wise to memorize a few of these.

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Subject-Verb Agreement Indefinite Pronouns

• These are always singular, and they tend to
  appear on the English Test
• Another Everybody Nobody
• Anybody Everyone No one
• Anyone Everything Somebody
• Anything Each Someone

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Subject-Verb Agreement Indefinite Pronouns

• The most commonly tested are the ones previously
  listed
• You probably wont come across more than a couple
  of indefinite pronouns on the English Test you
  take.
• Examples
• Anyone over the age of 21 is eligible to vote in
  the United States.
• Each has its own patch of grass.

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Subject-Verb Agreement Compound Subjects

• Most compound subjects (subjects joined by and)
  should be plural.
• Kerry and Vanessa live in Nantucket.
• The blue bike and the red wagon need repairs.

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Subject-Verb Agreement Compound Subjects

• There is or There are
• Depends on whether the noun is singular or
  plural.
• There are five grapes.
• There is a cat

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Subject-Verb Agreement Compound Subjects

• Or or Nor
• If you have singular subjects joined by an or
  or nor, the sentence always takes a singular
  verb.
• Either Susannah or Caitlin is going to be in
  trouble.

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Subject-Verb Agreement Compound Subjects

• Or or Nor
• If one of the subjects is plural and the other is
  singular, the verb agrees with the subject closer
  to it.
• Neither the van nor the buses were operating
  today.
• Either the dogs or the cat is responsible for the
  mess.

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Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

• ACT writers usually include several
  pronoun-antecedent agreement errors on the
  English Test.
• An antecedent is a word to which a later pronoun
  refers back.
• Example
• In the sentence Richard put on his shoes,
  Richard is the antecedent to which his refers.

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Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

• Wrong
• Already late for the show, Mary couldnt find
  their keys.
• Right
• Already late for the show, Mary couldnt find her
  keys.

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Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

• Sometimes the agreement error isnt as obvious on
  the test.
• In everyday speech, we tend to attempt gender
  neutrality and brevity by using their instead
  of his or her.
• People tend to say someone lost their shoe
  rather than someone lost his or her shoe.

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Pronoun Cases

• The ACT writers will definitely include some
  questions on pronoun cases
• Nominative
• Objective
• Possessive
• You dont need to know the names of these cases,
  but you do need to know the differences.

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Verb Tenses

• You LIE down for a nap.
• You LAY something down on the table.
• You LAY down yesterday.
• You SWIM across the English channel.
• You SWAM across the Atlantic Ocean.
• You HAD SWUM across the bathtub as a child.
• To lie and to swim arent the only tricky
  verbs.
• See provide handout for a list of more.

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Adverbs and Adjectives

• ACT writers will test you once or twice on your
  ability to use adjectives and adverbs correctly.
• To describe a noun, use an adjective.
• To describe a verb, adjective, or adverb, use an
  adverb.

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Adverbs and Adjectives

• Examples
• Wrong My mom made a well dinner.
• Right My mom made a good dinner.
• Since dinner is the noun, the descriptive word
  modifying it should be an adjective (good).

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Adverbs and Adjectives

• Adverb/Adjective errors are pretty common in
  everyday speech, so dont rely entirely on your
  ear. For example
• Wrong She shut him up quick.
• Right She shut him up quickly.
• Wrong I got an A easy.
• Right I got an A easily.

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Comparative and Superlative Modifiers

• Comparative modifiers compare one thing to
  another.
• Examples
• My boyfriend is hotter than yours.
• That purple-and-orange spotted dog is weirder
  than the blue cat.
• Dan paints better than the other students.

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Comparative and Superlative Modifiers

• Superlative modifiers tell you how one thing
  compares to everything else.
• Examples
• My boyfriend is the hottest boyfriend in the
  world.
• That purple-and-orange dog is the weirdest pet on
  the block.
• Of all the students, Dan is the best.

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Usage and Mechanics

• Part 3 Sentence Structure

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Connecting and Transitional Words

• Coordinating Conjunctions
• (and, or, for, nor, so, but, yet) connect words,
  phrases, and independent clauses of equal
  importance in a sentence.
• Words you can hand the bottle to Mike or Beth.
• Phrases To get there, you must drive over a
  bridge and through a farm.
• Clauses Time can go to the store, or Jen can go
  instead.

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Transitional Adverbs

• These adverbs can also join independent clauses
  (however, also, consequently, nevertheless, thus,
  moreover, furthermore, etc.)
• When they do, they should be preceded by a
  semicolon and followed by a comma.
• Joe always raves about soccer however, he always
  refuses to watch a match.
• If you cant go to the prom with me, let me know
  as soon as possible otherwise, Ill resent you
  and your inability to communicate for the rest of
  my life.

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Sentence Fragments

• Incomplete sentences
• Even though the rain had stopped.
• Having spent his last dollars on sunglasses.
• Always a bit shy.

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Sentence Fragments

• The answer choices on English Test questions will
  often make clear whether you should incorporate a
  fragment into a neighboring sentence.
• Example
• We didnt go outside. Even though the rain had
  stopped.
• No Change
• outside
• outside even
• outside, even

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Sentence Fragments

• Other sentence fragment questions will ask you to
  turn a fragment into its own full sentence.
• Example
• We didnt go outside. While the rain continued to
  fall.
• No Change
• Although the
• The
• Since the

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Comma Splices

• A comma splice occurs when two independent
  clauses are joined together by a comma with no
  intervening conjunction.
• Bowen walked to the park, Leah followed behind.
• Mary bought cookies for the party, Johnny bought
  chips.

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Run-on Sentences

• Two or more independent clauses joined together
  without punctuation.
• Joan runs every day she is preparing for a
  marathon.
• John likes to walk his dog through the park Kevin
  doesnt.

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Run-on Sentences

• Figure out where the sentences need to be split
  and punctuate accordingly.
• John likes to walk his dog through the park.
  Kevin doesnt.
• John likes to walk his dog through the park, but
  Kevin doesnt.
• John likes to walk his dog through the park
  however, Kevin doesnt.

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Misplaced Modifiers

• Does the following sentence sound odd to you?
• Having eaten six corn dogs, nausea overwhelmed
  Jane.
• Nausea didnt eat six corn dogs. Jane did.
• This is a case of a misplaced modifier.
• The modifier must come directly before or after
  the word it is modifying.

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Misplaced Modifiers

• Correct Answers to previous sentence
• Having eaten six corn dogs, Jane was overwhelmed
  by nausea.
• Jane, having eaten six corn dogs, was overwhelmed
  by nausea.

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Misplaced Modifiers

• Wrong
• Bill packed his favorite clothes in his suitcase,
  which he planned to wear on vacation.
• Right
• Bill packed his favorite clothes, which he
  planned to wear on vacation, in his suitcase.

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Misplaced Modifiers

• Other Examples
• Only Jay walked an hour to the store.
• This means no one but Jay made the walk.
• Jay walked only an hour to the store.
• This means the walk to the store wasnt too bad
  it took Jay only an hour.

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Parallelism

• When you see a list on the English test, look for
  a parallelism error.
• Parallelism errors occur when items in a list are
  mismatched.
• If you have a list of verbs, then all items in
  the list must be verbs of the same tense.

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Parallelism

• Example
• Wrong
• In the pool area, there is no spitting, no
  running, and dont throw your cigarette butts in
  the water.
• Right
• In the pool area, there is no spitting, no
  running, and no throwing your cigarette butts in
  the water.

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Parallelism

• More Examples
• Wrong
• To grow tired of London is growing tired of life.
• Right
• To grow tired of London is to grow tired of life.
• Wrong
• Growing tired of London is to grow tired of life.
• Right
• Growing tired of London is growing tired of life.

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Rhetorical Skills

• Part 1 Writing Strategy

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Writing Strategy

• Writing strategy involves improving the
  effectiveness of a passage through careful
  revision and editing.
• Choose the most appropriate topic or transitional
  sentence.
• Choose which sections of an argument can be
  deleted.

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Rhetorical Skills

• Organization

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Organization

• Sentence reorganization questions often invoke
  the placement of a modifier in a sentence.

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Organization

• Example
• Austen wrote about a society of manners, in which
  love triumphs over a rigid social hierarchy
  despite confinement to her drawing room.
• No Change
• (place after love)
• (place after Austen)
• (place after society)

80
Rhetorical Skills

• Style

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Style

• Redundancy
• Redundant statements say the same thing twice.
• ALWAYS avoid redundancy on the test.
• Wrong The diner closes at 3 a.m. in the morning.
• Right The diner closes at 3 a.m.

82
Style

• Appropriate Word Choice
• The content of a passage will generally give you
  a clue about the appropriate tone.
• Tone is one of the most important elements in
  correctly answering word choice questions.

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Style

• Word Choice Example
• During the Great War, the British Public believed
  that Lloyd George rocks! He was wisely admired
  for his ability to unify the government and thus
  to unify Britain.
• No Change
• rocked!
• was an effective political leader.
• had the ability to unify the government and thus
  to unify Britain.

84
Question Types

• The Question TypesThere are three main question
  types youll encounter in ACT English
• Economy
• Sense
• Technicality

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Economy

• These questions test your understanding of
  whether material is strictly essential to the
  passage, or whether it could be said more simply
  or economically.

86
Sense

• These questions ask you to identify and correct
  logical flaws in the passagestatements that just
  dont make sense.

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Technicality

• These questions check your knowledge of key
  punctuation, grammar, and usage issues.

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Strategies
89
Suggested Strategies for taking the English Test

• Practice pacing yourself on the test.
• Taking a practice test will help you feel more
  comfortable with the pace at which you should
  work. You should allow about 30 seconds for each
  question.

90
Strategies continued

• Answer every question.
• First do the questions that are easy for you.
  Eliminate the answers youre sure are incorrect.
  Guess the answer from the remaining choices. You
  wont be penalized if your guess is wrong (and it
  might be right).

91
Strategies continued

• Save the hard items for last.
• If you find yourself spending too much time on
  any one question, circle it in the test booklet
  and pass it by. Return to it if you have time
  later.

92
Strategies continued

• Notice that the directions ask for the BEST
  answer. That means that you cannot stop at the
  first correct answer you find. You must read all
  the choices and select the one you think is best.

93
Strategies continued

• Read the text before and after the underlined
  portion before selecting your answer.
• The correct answer will be consistent with the
  authors intent for the paragraph and the passage
  as a whole.

94
Strategies continued

• Determine the best phrasing for the underlined
  portion on your ownthen look for it among the
  answer choices.
• Re-read the sentence you are correcting,
  substituting your answer for the underlined
  portion to make sure it is the best answer.

95
Strategies continued

• Circle the letter for the answer choice in your
  test booklet. Going back and forth from the test
  booklet to the answer sheet can be difficult,
  takes time, and may result in a mis-marked
  answer sheet. When you have circled the answers
  for each two page spread, transfer the answers to
  the answer sheet.

96
Strategies continued

• All that matters is what circle you fill in. If
  you get the right answer but fill in the wrong
  circle, it will be wrong!

97
Strategies continued

• Keep it short. Almost a third of all the English
  items test your awareness of redundancy,
  verbosity, relevance, and similar issues. For
  these economy questions, the shortest answer is
  frequently correct.
• Avoid wordinessthink short and clear.

98
Strategies continued

• Sentences must have fluency or flowsay it to
  yourself in your head to hear how it sounds.
• When in doubt, look for the two shortest options,
  and pick the one that sounds the best.

99
Strategies continued

• RELAX!!!
• Realize that you will make mistakes.
• Remember that the average score for the ACT is
  about 55 correct.

100
Quick Summary

• When in doubt, take it out.
• Make sure it makes sense.
• Use your ears.
• Look for pitfalls.

101
Do you think youre ready???

• Lets practice!!!