AccelePrep for the ACT Test 2nd Edition Student Text

C HAPTER 2 | H YPER P REP E NGLISH • 53

4. The writer is primarily interested in: F. discussing Huey Long’s political philosophy. G. describing Huey Long’s achievements. H. supporting the “Share Our Wealth” program. J. criticizing the idea that every man is a king.

TEST SPECS We’ve covered the highest value topics in this Strategy review. Another less frequently tested topic is Audience.

1. Every piece of writing should have a central or main point. 2. As a writer, you must make sure that your essays always have a main idea. As a reader, you must be able to identify the writer's main idea. SUM IT UP - MAIN IDEA

ORGANIZATION

Organization questions focus on the logical order of sentences in a paragraph and paragraphs in a passage. You should become familiar with the basic design of a passage. A basic passage includes an introduction, supporting paragraphs, and ƒ…‘…Ž—•‹‘Ǥ Š‡ ϐ‹”•– ’ƒ”ƒ‰”ƒ’Š ‘ˆ ƒ ’ƒ••ƒ‰‡ ‹–”‘†—…‡• –Š‡ –‘’‹… upon which the rest of the passage will elaborate. Several supporting paragraphs will follow, with each successive paragraph presenting information to further the topic that is set forth in the introductory paragraph. The last paragraph of the essay is the conclusion, which sums up the main idea of the passage. Organization items that deal with sentence-level structure may ask about the best placement for a particular sentence or the best order of sentences within a paragraph. These items may also ask whether a sentence should be deleted or changed in some way. You should approach items that ask to reorder sentences in a paragraph by looking for structural clues, such as topic sentences and transitions. When deciding the proper order for sentences, note that topic sentences are generally placed at the beginning of a paragraph as an introduction. If the paragraph follows an inductive method of development, where details are presented leading up to a general statement, the topic sentence will come last. Always make sure that the resulting organization makes sense and follows a logical pattern. [1] In the past several years, lawyers have increasingly been in the negative public spotlight. [2] A group of students hire a lawyer to sue their school because they don’t like the mascot. [3] A driver sues a take-out restaurant because he was scalded by the hot coffee

TEST SPECS There are three types of organization questions, focusing on three levels of organization: sentence-level structure, paragraph-level structure, and passage-level structure. Questions about sentence-level structure appear most frequently.

Example: