ACT (PSAE) Test Date

1. ACT (PSAE) Test Date April 14th & 15th

2. Four Keys To ACT Success 1. Learn The Test Structure 2. Learn The Strategies 3. Learn the Materials Tested 4. Practice, Practice, Practice

3. What does the ACT Measure? • The ACT measures the knowledge, understanding, and skills that you have acquired throughout your education.

4. What is the ACT? 3½ hours long • Test 1 – English (45 mins. 75 quest.s) • Test 2 – Math (60 mins. 60 quest.s) • Test 3 –Reading (35 mins. 40 quest.s) • Test 4 – Science (35 mins.40 quest.s) • Test 5 – Writing (30 mins. 1 essay)

5. English • 45 minutes and includes 75 questions • (That’s 30 seconds per question) • The test is divided into five passages, each with 15 questions • The answer to every ACT question can be found in the test. If you read carefully and understand the words and concepts that the test uses, you can get almost any ACT question right.

6. Section 1 - English • 75-questions, 45-minute test • Understanding of the conventions of standard written English • Punctuation • Grammar and usage • Sentence structure • Rhetorical Skills • Strategy, Transition, Organization, Style

7. Section 1 - English 1. Conventions • Punctuation 10 Questions • Grammar and Usage 12 Questions • Sentence Structure 18 Questions 2. Rhetorical Skills • Strategy and Transition12 Questions • Organization 11 Questions • Style 12 Questions

8. Grammar and Usage(16%) = 12 questions • agreement between subject and verb • between pronoun and antecedent • between modifiers and the word modified • verb formation • pronoun case • formation of comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs • idiomatic usage

9. Punctuation - 10 questions • Period (.) means “end of sentence” • Question Mark (?) • Exclamation mark (!) • Comma (,) • Semicolon (;) • Colon (:) • Dash (-) • Apostrophe(‘)

10. Sentence Structure (24%) = 18 questions • understanding of relationships between and among clauses • placement of modifiers • shifts in construction

11. Grammar and Usage Example Pronouns: A pronoun must agree with the person or thing it is referring to, in person, gender, and number (singular or plural). The reference must be clear; if there is any confusion, the sentence must be fixed. …The story even reached the ears o Richard Steele, who featured it in his periodical, The Tatler. Eventually, he became the subject of a best-selling book. . . • NO CHANGE • his became • Selkirk became • he becomes

12. Grammar and Usage Verb Usage • Use the simplest tense possible. In most cases, the present, past, and future tense are all you need. • Change tenses only if the sentence doesn’t make sense as written. • Make sure the verb is singular if it has a singular subject and plural if the subject is plural. Make sure verbs match their subject and the tense of the surrounding context.

13. Verb Usage Example . . . In Crusoe, which had been published in 1719, Defoe took substantial liberties with the Selkirk story. • NO CHANGE • has been published • was published • will have been published

14. RHETORICAL SKILLS Strategy (16% = 12 questions) • how well you develop a given topic by choosing expressions appropriate to an essay’s audience and purpose; • Judging the effect of adding, revising, or deleting supporting material; • judging the relevancy of statements in context

15. Rhetorical Skills:Judging the Passage Considering the tone and subject matter of the preceding paragraphs, is the last sentence an appropriate way to end the essay? • Yes, because it is necessary to shed some doubt on Defoe’s creativity. • Yes, because the essay is about the relationship between the real Selkirk and Defoe’s fictionalized version of him. • No, because there is nothing “bizarre” about Selkirk’s story as it is related in the essay. J. No, because the focus is more on Selkirk himself than on Defoe’s fictionalized version of him.

16. Grammar and Usage Modifiers: A modifier, or “describer,” is any word, or groupof words, that describe another. Any and all describers must clearly relate (be close to) whatever they are referring to. . . . After a bitter quarrel with his captain, he put Selkirk ashore on tiny Mas a Tierra, one of the islands of Juan Fernandez . . . • NO CHANGE • Quarreling with his captain, the boat was put ashore • Having quarreled with his captain, Selkirk was put ashore J. Having quarreled with his captain, they put Selkirk ashore

17. Rhetorical Skills: Structure and Purpose [1] Only recently has new evidence led many scientists to question the accepted division between birds and dinosaurs. [2] Tradtionally, they have been placed in entirely separate classes within the subphylum Vertebrata. [3] Birds and dinosaurs don’t have many obvious similarities. [4] Birds formed the class Aves, while dinosaurs constituted two orders, Saurischia and Ornithischia, within the class Reptilia. To best fulfill the author’s purpose, the order of the sentences in the paragraph above should be: • 1, 2, 3, 4 H. 3, 2, 4, 1 • 2, 3, 4, 1 I. 3, 2, 1, 4

18. Style (16% = 12 questions) test how well you • choose precise and appropriate words and images; • maintain the level of style and tone in an essay; • manage sentence elements for rhetorical effectiveness; • avoid ambiguous pronoun references, wordiness, and redundancy

19. Grammar and Usage Idiom(Accepted Word Form and Choice) The correct preposition can vary depending on the sense of the sentence. Many other phrases in English are correct because people have agreed to use them in a certain way.

20. Idiom (Accepted Word Form and Choice) . . . For example, while Selkirk’s presence on the island was of course known for many people (certainly everyone in the crew that stranded him there), no one in the novel is aware of Crusoe’s survival of the wreck and presence on the island. • NO CHANGE • Widely known among people • Known about many people • Known to many people

21. Organization(11 questions) • organize ideas • choose effective opening, transitional, and closing sentences

22. ACT English Strategy #1: Stop and Go STOP / GO is simply a way to deal with sentence structure. • A sentence can have two thoughts, but they must be combined correctly. - There are three ways to connect complete thoughts. 1. Use a semicolon. 2. Use a comma with a FANBOY (For, And, Not, But, Or, Yet, So) conjunction. 3. Make one of the two thoughts Incomplete

23. The ACT Mind-Set • ACT questions are puzzles to solve, not quizzes for which you must remember the answers. Don’t think: “Can I remember?” Think: “Let me figure this out!” • Be creative!Take control! Solve specific problems to get points as quickly and easily as you can • Answer the questions if you want to • Answer the questions when you want to • Answer questions how you want to

24. Sentence Structure Example . . .Upon his return to England, Selkirk found himself a celebrity, his strange tale had already become the talk of pubs and coffeehouses throughout the British Isles. • NO CHANGE • celebrity, but his • celebrity. His • celebrity his

25. Grammar and Usage Problems 1. If a student won’t study, they won’t do well. • The fool gave the wrong tickets to Bob and I. • Bob – on his way to the store, saw a lizard. • Ed’s a slacker, Sara isn’t. • Emily listened to music. While she studied.

26. Grammar and Usage Problems 1. If a student won’t study, he or she won’t do well. (Singular/Plural nouns and verbs) • The fool gave the wrong tickets to Bob and me. (Compound Phrases) • Bob, on his way to the store, saw a lizard. (Parenthetical Phrases) • Ed’s a slacker, but Sara isn’t. (Comma Splice) • Emily listened to music while she studied. (Fragment)

27. Adverbs and Adjectives • Nouns and pronouns must be modified by adjectives • Verbs and adjectives must be modified by adverbs 1. Anna is an extreme gifted child, and she speaks beautiful too.” • Extreme and beautiful are adjectives, but they’re supposed to modify an adjective (gifted) and a verb (speaks) here, so they should be adverbs. Anna is an extremely gifted child, and she speaks beautifully too.

28. Good or Well • Good is an adjective (it modifies a noun or pronoun) • Well is an adverb (it modify verbs and adjectives) Wrong: Joe did good on the ACT. Good is an adjective, but here it’s modifying a verb (did), so use an adverb Correct: Joe did well on the ACT Exception: Well can also be used as an adjective, when it means “healthy.”

29. Idomatic Preposition Use(on, of, to, for) Wrong: 1. She tried to instill on me a respect to the law. 2. I want to protect you in all dangers. Problem: The prepositions don’t match the verbs.

30. Idomatic Preposition Use(on, of, to, for) Corrections: 1. She tried to instill in me a respect to the law. 2. I want to protect you from all dangers.

31. (Proper Word Usage)There, Their, or They’re, Are or Our • A good way to remember which is they’re is to remember that contractions use apostrophes – so they’re is the contraction for they are. • You can tell which is there because it’s spelled like here, and the words here and there match. • The words are (a verb) and our (a possessive). You can remember that our is spelled like your, another, less confusing possessive.