The ACT is a nearly three-hour exam with four sections — English, math, reading and science — plus an optional writing section that adds 40 minutes, if you elect to take it. The reading section specifically is comprised of 40 multiple-choice questions covering various reading passages that you have to answer in 35 minutes.
An important skill that will help you succeed on the ACT reading section is your understanding of rhetoric — this is applicable to many of the questions you will face in the reading section based on ACT reporting categories, specifically key ideas and details, craft and structure, and integration of knowledge and ideas.
Although we tend to think of rhetoric — the ability to use language to effectively communicate or persuade — in the context of a person’s speaking ability, it can also refer to writing. A person who has mastered rhetoric is skilled not only in the mechanics of language — that is, grammar and syntax — but also in using language to educate and persuade listeners.
[Read about six tips for ACT success.]
For the ACT, you will apply rhetorical skills to answer reading questions that ask you to interpret the author’s intentions or speak to form and style. Preparing for this section can be challenging. You cannot simply memorize a list of rules or terms, as with grammar or vocabulary.
Improving your grasp of rhetoric involves a more sophisticated approach. Here are several key ways to develop your rhetorical skills for success on the ACT reading section.
— Capitalize on after-school programming: One way to expand your skills is to join an after-school club, specifically debate team. Debate is, in certain ways, the essence of rhetoric — how do you most persuasively argue the merits of a given position within a limited length of time?
If you don’t have access to an after-school debate program, consider joining your school newspaper’s editorial team.
Honing your debate or editorial skills will assist you in analyzing passages on the ACT — whether this means determining the effect of a specific word on tone or the effect of a distinct sentence on the passage’s argument.
For example, an ACT question may ask you what emotion the narrator of a passage meant to convey in a certain sentence. This is an instance where understanding tone will be helpful.
[Discover ways to ace the ACT with tailored test prep.]
The advantages of joining a debate team or the school newspaper also extend beyond the potential effect on your ACT test score. Once you begin college, you’ll be asked to write essays for many classes. Almost all of these essays will be constrained in length.
They will also require you to identify evidence and to use it to properly support your position. After college, debate can help you persuasively argue for an increased departmental budget or even for a merit raise.
— Broaden your reading list: Something you can easily implement into your daily routine to help you enhance your rhetorical skills is expanding your reading materials. Doing so can give you natural practice in deciphering key rhetorical elements.
And the good news is that you can do this through required school reading assignments, magazine articles, the latest chapter of a new book and so on.
As you do this, arm yourself with a list of important rhetorical devices — these range from hyperbole to metaphors to parallelism. Focus less on the names of the devices and more on how to use them.
Then as you read different writing, whether a textbook or newspaper article, ask yourself whether the writer makes his or her point and how the writer could have made the point more clearly or effectively.
Remember that being able to convince a person through logic is different than presenting information in a way that persuades. A passage may be well-written without necessarily winning you to its side.
When you find yourself swayed by a piece, ask yourself why. Consider writing these rdifferent fromd then using them as a prep material as you practice answering sample ACT reading questions.
[Discover five ways to improve your ACT score.]
— Test your predictions: One of the best test-prep strategies for further honing your rhetorical skills begins with ignoring the answer choices. As you read the sample passages in the ACT reading section, ask yourself the above questions and note particularly strong or weak phrases.
Once you reach the questions, cover the multiple-choice answers. Then predict the correct response.
For example, you may be asked to focus on a passage that describes a student’s after-school activities. The related question may ask which paragraph conveys a sense of anticipation for graduation.
Anticipation is an emotion, so the correct answer should include words that directly reference feelings or emotionally powerful moments. Simple descriptions of everyday activities aren’t the answer.
After brainstorming the correct response, look at the answer choices. Do any of them match your predictions?
If not, try to determine how you misjudged the correct response. Keep practicing — you will grow in your ability to identify the answer without using the multiple-choice.
Conquering the ACT is partially about familiarizing yourself with patterns, specifically the patterns you come across as you follow the above strategies. These patterns might be persuasive tactics you learned in debate, the ways writers have swayed you as a reader or recurring types of predictions you’ve made as you’ve answered practice questions.
With careful preparation, you will learn to recognize those rhetorical patterns that are most commonly used. And come test day, you will be ready to pounce.
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Hone Rhetorical Skills for Success on the ACT Reading Section originally appeared on usnews.com
