USAGE/MECHANICS
RHETORICAL SKILLS
10 CONCEPTS
YOU NEED TO
KNOW IN
ORDER TO ACE
THE ACT
ENGLISH
BUT FIRST…
 PACING: 9 minutes/passage
 (5 passages – 15 questions per)
 ALLOWANCE:
-5/passage = 20
 -4/passage = 23
-3/passage = 26
-2/passage = 29
-1/passage = 32
USAGE/MECHANICS
 40/75 QUESTIONS
SKILL
# OF QUESTIONS
PUNCTUATION
10
GRAMMAR & USAGE
12
SENTENCE STRUCTURE
18
RHETORICAL SKILLS
 35/75 QUESTIONS
SKILL
# OF QUESTIONS
STRATEGY
12
ORGANIZATION
11
STYLE
12
1. PUNCTUATION
 COMMAS (,)
 Separate parts of a sentence (transition words, clauses, modifiers,
and other add-ons).
 Provide breaks, similar to yield signs.
 Separate items in a list
 Ex1 .
Before the test, Max had a hear ty breakfast.
 Ex.2
Bob, our contractor, is always late to the job site.
 Ex3.
Max had two waf fles with syrup, an egg, and a glass of OJ.
POWER TIP = Consider taking commas away, not
adding more of them
(42-7) - (47-36) - (44-17)
1. PUNCTUATION
 SEMICOLONS (;)
 Separate two independent clauses (i.e. complete sentences)
that are closely-related.
 Ex1 .
Max had a hear ty breakfast this morning; it was just the fuel
he needed to ace the ACT.
 Ex.2
Bob is always late to the job site; his super visor is unhappy.
POWER TIP = Look for complete sentences on both
sides
(46-34) – (42-3)
1. PUNCTUATION
 COLONS (:)
 Introducing something
 Creating a list
 Ex1 .
The weather was typical for Chicago: windy with light flurries.
 Ex2.
For breakfast this morning, Max’s mom brought to the table
the following items: two waf fles with syrup, one egg, and one
glass of OJ.
POWER TIP = Look for complete sentence on the left
side
(43-14)
1. PUNCTUATION
 DASHES (—)
 Introduce sudden action
 Add info the author left out
 Ex1 .
Maria was walking her dog when, suddenly —CRASH—a car
struck another head on.
 Ex2.
In the clanging acoustics of the room, this sound —a kind of
veech—echoed around grandly. – from Geof f Dyer
POWER TIP = Be sure the sentence is still complete,
even without the stuff inside the dashes
(43-14)
1. PUNCTUATION
 APOSTROPHES (‘)
 possession
 contraction
 Ex1 .
The dog’s bone.
 Ex2.
it’s, they’re
POWER TIP = Know that whatever comes before the
apostrophe, specifically, is what is in possession
(153-6)
2. PRONOUNS
 Common Issues
 Who/that, when, where – use them correctly.
 Parallel – one:one not one:you.
 Disagreement – pronoun:antecedent.
 Case – who vs. whom, etc.
POWER TIP = T he most common of these issues is
non-parallel str ucture involving one and you. Pay
careful attention for these key wor ds.
(152-3, 159-51, 156-33, 45-27)
3. VERBS
 Common Issues
 Disagreement – subject:verb.
 Tense – be consistent with the time frame.
 Conjugation – swim vs. swum.
POWER TIP = ALWAYS be on the lookout for
subject:verb disagreement, especially when you
think the answer is NO CHANGE.
(155-22, 154-17, 158-44)
4. ADJECTIVES/ADVERBS
 Common Issues
 Switch Errors – these should be obvious.
POWER TIP = Look for endings in –ly to signify an
adverb. T hese are easy points.
(154-19)
5. IDIOMS
 Common Issues
 Wrong idioms – look for the proper pairings of prepositions.
We look things “up” in the dictionary, not “down.”
We show up “on” time, not “at” time.
POWER TIP = Let your grammar ear tip you of f that
something doesn’t sound quite right. It is a well trained machine.
(47-35, 48-44)
6. WORD CHOICE
 Common Issues
 Commonly confused – precede vs. proceed.
 Clear expression – is it the right word for the context?
 Homonyms – its vs. it’s, their vs. there (*its’ does not exist!).
POWER TIP = T he trickiest of this group is its vs.
it’s. Make sure you have it down.
(46-30, 153-10)
7. SENTENCE STRUCTURE
 Common Issues
 Transitions – does it create the right logical relationship
between ideas?
 Run-ons – two complete sentences separated by a comma.
 Fragments – subject + verb + complete thought = sentence.
POWER TIP = with transitions, look for the odd man
out. Re-reading your answer back in will usually
help you avoid selecting fragment answer s. Know
the schematic for r un ons = complete, complete.
(47-40, 152-1 , 152-2)
8. EFFECTIVE WRITING
 Common Issues
 Adding/Deleting – logically, should this be added? If you were to
delete it, what would you lose?? What you had there! Trust the
obvious answer.
 Success of Essay – Did the author achieve what he/she meant to
in writing this essay? Example: “Suppose the author set out
to...did the author achieve this?”
 Ambiguity – make sure you always know to whom the pronoun,
etc. is referring. Must be clear.
POWER TIP = For adding/deleting, under line the focal
area in the question – this is a great clue. Answer
yes/no Success of Essay questions by first deciding
between yes or no.
(152-5, 155-23, 157-40, 160-60 (tough not having read the whole
thing), 45-24)
9. ORGANIZATION
 Common Issues
 Placement of words, sentences, and paragraphs – occasionally
things will be out of order. Questions involving the proper
placement of adverbs will be tough, in general.
POWER TIP = Look for clues about placement. If
the sentence in question is discussing a topic, find
out where that topic was fir st introduced. Look for
transition words, etc.
(159-49, 158-42)
10. WORDINESS
 Common Issues
 Too many words - verbosity
 Redundancy – the same idea repeated.
POWER TIP = To fix redundancy, you will usually
have to take one of the two ways of saying the
same thing away.
(42-2, 45-29, 157-37)