Transcript document

Refresher Course:
A Review of Basic English
Language Concepts to
Improve Performance on the
ACT English Test
The ACT English test
measures your understanding
of the mechanics and the
rhetorical skills of Standard
Written English.
“Mechanics” is a broad term
for things like punctuation
and sentence structure.
53% of the test questions will
cover mechanical issues.
“Rhetorical skills” is just a fancy
term for being able to make a
clear point and support that
point with appropriate,
organized evidence.
47% of the test questions will
cover rhetorical issues.
Punctuation is one of the biggest
areas that students struggle
with, so we will start be
reviewing basic punctuation
rules.
Commas:
Five Rules to Remember
The function of the comma is to
guide the reader easily though a
sentence. Misplaced commas
interfere a great deal with a
sentence’s clarity.
#1: Use a comma to separate
items in a list. A list is
comprised of three or more
items.
Steve Anna Katherine and Tom all bought tickets
to the concert.
Denise’s favorite foods are lasagna spaghetti and
tacos.
#2: Use a comma between two
or more adjectives that describe
the same noun.
Dan’s tall handsome friend wants to
meet Jane.
Kevin cut a small square hole in his
sister’s jacket.
The last three rules depend on
your ability to recognize a
complete sentence.
To be complete, a sentence
needs a subject, a verb, and it
must express a complete
thought.
#3: Use a comma after
introductory phrases. Introductory
phrases are any phrase that can be
taken off the beginning, but the
sentence will still be complete.
After the game we’re just going home.
Four days ago Eddie stopped smoking.
While you were sleeping your mom called.
#4: This rule involves comma placement
with conjunctions. Conjunctions are
FOR, AND, NOR, BUT, OR,YET, & SO
Use a comma before a conjunction ONLY IF
the conjunction separates a complete
sentence.
Nathan is 26 years old and teaches history.
Nathan is 26 years old and he teaches history.
Alex’s dad called so now he’s going home.
Are you having chicken or fish?
#5: This rule involves comma placement with
nonessential elements in a sentence.
A word or phrase is a nonessential element if it
can be removed from the sentence and not
change the meaning or make the sentence
incomplete. Use a comma on both sides of a
nonessential element.
Dave’s brother Mike runs the bait shop downtown.
Oh by the way I have to stop by the grocery store after work.
Jenn went on vacation to Pleasant Springs which is in California.
When you are finished with your
test put down your pencil close
the booklet and remain quiet
until time is up.
The large red ball rolled into the
street and the toddler chased it.
Fortunately the babysitter saw
him and rescued the child from
danger.
Pam who is Shannon’s friend
just won the lottery so she
bought her parents a new house
a boat and a car.
Apostrophes:
Not as Confusing as Everyone
Thinks They Are!
Placement of an apostrophe
changes the meaning of a
sentence, so for the purpose of
clarity and agreement, it is very
important to learn how to use
apostrophes.
Nouns can be singular, plural,
or possessive. Apostrophe
placement depends on which of
these forms the noun is in.
Plural means more than one.
Nouns that are just plural
NEVER have an apostrophe.
two cats
six kids
a few days
all Americans
CDs
DVDs
1980s
Possessive means that some object or
characteristic belongs to something
else. Possessive nouns ALWAYS have
an apostrophe.
Nouns can be singular possessive,
meaning one thing owns another OR
plural possessive, meaning more than
one thing owns another.
Singular possessive nouns have an
apostrophe BEFORE THE S.
Singular nouns that end in an S
have an ’S added to the end.
Chris’s desk
the teacher’s pet
an American’s patriotism
1960’s presidential election
the dog’s bowl
the atlas’s maps
the CD’s case
Mr. Jones’s car
Plural possessive nouns have
an apostrophe added to the
end of the word, which already
ends in S.
all Americans’ patriotism
the dogs’ bowls
the trees’ leaves
the Joneses’ house
CDs’ cases
1960s’ protest
atlases’ maps
In English, there are some
plural nouns that don’t
end in an S
women
men
children
sheep
deer
fish
These irregular plural nouns
become possessive by having
an ’S added to the end.
women’s restroom
men’s basketball
children’s literature
sheep’s wool
deer’s tracks
fish’s gills
There is a group of possessive
words that do not have
apostrophes: possessive
pronouns.
his
hers
theirs ours
yours its
Semicolons:
The Easiest Punctuation
The only correct way to use a semicolon is like a
period; it separates two complete sentences.
Semicolons are used instead of periods to
eliminate short, choppy sentences. The two
sentences, however, must be closely related.
NO: After the game; we’re going home.
NO: I enjoy cereal for breakfast; I am often late for work.
YES: After the game, we’re going home.
YES: I enjoy cereal for breakfast; my favorite is Special K.
Colons:
The Introductory Punctuation
Colons are used to introduce a list
of items or an example ONLY IF
what comes before the colon is a
complete sentence.
NO: I went to the store for: milk, eggs, and cheese.
YES: I went to the store for three things: milk, eggs,
and cheese.
NO: It’s never a good idea to: leave your car unlocked.
YES: There is one thing that is never a good idea:
leaving your car unlocked.
Proper grammar is important to
clear expression of ideas, and
the ACT English test has
questions that test your ability
to recognize a few key grammar
concepts.
Pronouns are the words (he, she,
her, it, we, they) that take the
place of regular nouns. Very
often, a pronoun is used in the
same sentence as the noun it’s
referring to.
Jon lost his keys.
After their dog ran away, Bob and Shelly put
up posters offering a reward for its return.
When a pronoun and its
antecedent (the noun it refers
to) are in the same sentence,
they have to agree in number
and in gender.
People who slack in high school get
___ punishment in college, but
a person who slacks in high school
gets ___ punishment in high
school.
Teachers have to plan ___ lessons
thoroughly, but a teacher has to
plan ___ lessons thoroughly.
Be careful of a noun that is
SINGULAR but whose meaning
implies plurality:
city
group
class
country
band
team
family
race
The pronoun that agrees with
these nouns is IT, not they
A person should brush ___ teeth
three times daily.
The nation will elect ___ new
president in two years.
Students need to pick programs
that interest ___.
The band fired ___ drummer.
Verb Tense Agreement
means that in narrating
events, you can stay
consistent with past or
present tense verbs.
We were going home when Chris said he wants
to stop at Taco Bell for some food. When we
tried to get in line, a car cuts us off. Chris is an
idiot, so he pulled out a spray bottle I keep in
my back seat and points it out the window,
yelling that he had a gun. The next thing we
know, three police cars pulled up and surround
our car. The police handcuff us and throw us
in the back of the cop car. After a lot of
questions, we got the situation straightened out
and go home.
Sentence Structure is another
important mechanics issue
because word choice and
putting parts of a sentence
together in logical order are key
to creating clear,
understandable writing.
Modifiers are words and phrases in a
sentence that describe something,
someone, or an action.
This means adjectives and adverbs are
types of modifiers, but modifiers can also
be whole phrases in a sentence.
Since last month she’s received three credit card offers.
Ryan nearly collided with Fran in the hallway.
The man with the flowers is looking for you.
Problems with clarity result when a modifier
in a sentence is not right near enough to the
something, someone, or action it’s
modifying.
Ryan collided with Fran nearly in the hallway.
The man is looking for you with the flowers.
The thief was a small, wiry man with a ski mask
weighing about 130 pounds.
Sara said yesterday she found my keys.
To fix problems with modifiers,
move them as close as possible
to the word being modified.
The thief was a small, wiry, 130pound man wearing a ski mask.
Yesterday, Sara said she found my
keys.
Sara said she found my keys
yesterday.
Wordiness and redundancy are two
other problems that occur
frequently in the ACT English test.
The basic rule you need to
remember is that the shortest
option for fixing a problem is the
best one.
Wordiness:
The train continued on its way proceeding to
the next stop.
becomes
The train proceeded to the next stop.
It is only a matter of time until the man will
eventually propose to his girlfriend.
becomes
Eventually, the man will propose to his
girlfriend.
Redundancy:
Coincidentally and as a matter
of chance, Eric and Megan went
to the same movie.
I might possibly have gone to
the concert if I had the money.
Rhetorical Strategies are the portion of
the test that I cannot teach you set rules
about.
To be able to answer these questions
correctly, you have to rely on the
common sense knowledge about
writing that you have accumulated ever
since you became literate.
One sentence must flow logically into the next.
Don’t add information to passages unless it
helps clarify or refine the meaning of a
previously mentioned concept.
Don’t delete material if it will change the
meaning of a sentence or paragraph.
Don’t use slang or a conversational tone.
A lot of people hate to ride the New York City subways,
but I love them because I like to get places fast. A
musician balancing a cello case, two Buddhist monks
in saffron robes, and a group of stockbrokers get on at
Wall Street. A passenger placidly sews while the
subway train flings and jolts. A teenager holding a
shoebox containing a kitten as tiny as a gingersnap
smiles as a lone of girls in frilly dresses file by. About
3.5 million people ride the subway every day, and I
might have met them all.
============================================
Question: At this point, the writer wants to provide one reason
why she likes to ride the subways. Which choice is most relevant
to the information provided in the first paragraph?
A. No Change
B. I never know what I’ll see there.
C. they are so much cheaper than taxis.
D. They are places of enormous quiet and calm.
…Smith is the official griot of both the city of Baltimore and
the state of Maryland; she has served as griot-in-residence
at several universities.
Though Smith has been interested in theater since her
youth, her recognition of her own talent grew gradually…
=========================================
The writer is considering deleting the phrase “at several universities”
from this sentence. If the phrase were deleted, the essay would
primarily lose:
A. an essential link to the paragraph that follows.
B. a contrast for the purpose of making a comparison
C. information that qualifies the term griot-in-residence
D. an unnecessary detail
She worked for thirty years as a teacher and
librarian in the field of education in
Baltimore public schools.
========================================
Which of the following words or phrases from the
preceding sentence is LEAST necessary and could therefore
be deleted?
A. thirty
B. and librarian
C. in the field of education
D. Baltimore public
If batters repeatedly fail to hit the ball – and
lots of them do – the umpire is patient, giving
them four or five chances instead of the usual
three.
===================================
If the writer were to delete the word repeatedly and the phrase
“and lots of them do” (and the dashes) from this sentence, the
sentence would primarily lose:
A. a tone of admiration for the work of umpires
B. details about the rules of T-ball
C. an explanation of why children often fail to hit the ball
D. a sense of how difficult the task is for children
Raptors, or birds of prey, cannot afford to be
grounded for weeks waiting for a large number of
flight feathers to regrow. They must be able to fly if
they are to hunt and eat. Raptors, including eagles
and hawks, therefore normally shed their feathers
slowly, one or two at a time.
===========================================
The writer want to describe the way raptors shed feathers.
Which choice would be most consistent with the way the
feather-shedding process has been described to this point?
A. No change
B. in an all-at-once blizzard.
C. often losing them in clumps.
D. leaving them flightless for long periods of time.
If necessary, a number six or eight feather can be
carefully trimmed with small scissors to the shape of a
number seven feather.
=====================================
The writer considers revising the sentence as follows:
If necessary, a number six or eight feather can
be cut to the shape of a number seven feather.
If the writer did this, the sentence would primarily lose a sense
of how:
A. limited rehabilitators’ feather collections are.
B. delicate the work being described is
C. different each of a bird’s flight feathers are
D. easy it is to replace a number seven feather