ACT English

What does POOD stand for?

Personal Order of Difficulty

What does LOTD stand for?

Letter of the Day

What does POE stand for?

Process of Elimination

The English test distills all the rules of English grammar into the 4 C’s. What are they?

Complete, Consistent, Clear, Concise

What is the Basic Approach to English Proofreader Questions?

1: Read to the end of the sentence

2: Look at the answers, see what is changing and what they are testing

3: POE

How often will the correct answer to an English Proofreader question be “NO CHANGE”?

¼ of the time

List all STOP punctuation.

. ; ! ? [, + FANBOYS]

What kinds of ideas can STOP punctuation connect?

Complete and Complete Ideas

List all GO punctuation.

, or NO punctuation

What kinds of ideas can GO punctuation connect?

Anything EXCEPT 2 Complete Ideas

List all Half-Stop punctuation.

- :

What kinds of ideas can Half-Stop punctuation connect?

A Complete Idea to EITHER a Complete idea or an Incomplete Ideas

List the 4 reasons (as discussed in class) that you would use a comma.

1: As GO Punctuation

2: As STOP punctuation IF paired with a FANBOY

3: In a list of three or more

4: Before and after unnecessary information

List the FANBOYS.

For And Nor But Or Yet So

List the 4 “Either Direction” transition words.

Besides, indeed, in fact, while

What should you do if verbs are changing in your answer choices? Put another way, what is the Basic Approach to Verbs?

1: Find the subject

2: Check the tense and participle

3: Make it concise (avoid passive voice/-ing verbs)

What should you do if pronouns are changing in your answer choices? Put another way, what is the Basic Approach to Pronouns?

1: Find the Original

2: .Check the case (can be helpful to draw a line through the words between the pronoun and the verb)

3: .Be 100% clear

What two things should you keep in mind when you see apostrophes changing in your answer choices?

1: If it’s in a pronoun: it’s a contraction, so expand it out, see if it works.

2: If it’s in a noun: it denotes possession, so ensure that something is being possessed.

What should you do if transitions are changing in your answer choices? Put another way, what is the Basic Approach to Transitions?

1: Check complete

2: Read literally

3: Use POE

What are the three major clues that the ACT is testing concision, i.e. your ability to be concise?

1: All but one answer contains a transition followed by a comma

2: There is redundancy in the answer choices. 

3: “DELETE the underlined portion” is an option

What are the steps of the Editor Questions Basic Approach (Rhetorical Skills Questions)?

1: Read to the end of the sentence with the underlined portion OR the boxed number.

2: Read the Question carefully and underline what it is asking

3: Read more context if necessary.

4: POE

She is the woman ___ I met for lunch yesterday.

whom

You’ll be shocked when I tell you ___ called me last night.

who

 ____ will you be vacationing with?

Whom

____ left this report on my desk?

Who