Name______________________________________
ACT Rhetorical Skills Worksheet 4
Typical ACT rhetorical skills questions will ask you to:
● choose the most effective introduction and conclusion of both the essay and the
paragraphs (A’s/D’s).
● select the most logical transition between sentences and paragraphs.
● determine if a passage is appropriate for a particular audience.
● decide what kind of supporting details should be used.
● determine whether or not a particular sentence or paragraph is relevant to the selection
(focus).
● organize sentences or paragraphs based on the paragraph structure or the selection’s
purpose.
Supporting material will make up the bulk of the information in a paragraph. Types of
supporting materials include:
1. examples
2. facts
3. anecdotes
4. statistics
5. illustrations
6. quotes
7. definitions
8. sensory details (descriptions)
9. reasons
10. analogies (comparisons)
Exercise 1
Look at the following topics and using the list above, list which type of supporting material would
work best to build each paragraph. (More than one answer may apply.)
Type of Support
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
Topic
Devastation caused by the 2011 Joplin tornado
Importance of not smoking
Different ways of building a fire
Impact of new licensing program on teen accidents
Analysis of last night’s televised Presidential debate
Exercise 2
If the listed support would normally work with the given topic, select “A”; if it does not appear to
work, list “B”
1. _____
2. _____
3. _____
Type of Support
Definition
Facts
Statistics
Topic
The causes of China’s one-child policy
Impact of North Korea’s nuclear threat
Favorite childhood memories
4. _____
5. _____
Quotations
Examples
Congressional debate on health care
Garden designs