Overview: About the ACT English Test
As a college student, you will do a great deal of writing. From essays to research papers to lab reports, you will have writing assignments in nearly all of your classes, and in many courses, most—perhaps even all—of your grade will be based upon your written work.
Because writing skills are so essential to your academic success, the ACT English Test aims to gauge your knowledge of writing rules and strategies. Your score on this section of the exam provides colleges and universities with a measure of how well you communicate in writing.
On the ACT English Test, you will have 45 minutes to read five prose passages and answer 75 multiplechoice questions. These questions test two types of English skills: your understanding of the conventions of standard written English (“Usage and Mechanics”) and your knowledge of rhetorical strategies and techniques (“Rhetorical Skills”). The 40 questions about usage and mechanics cover punctuation (13%), grammar and usage (16%), and sentence structure (24%). The 35 questions about rhetorical skills address general writing strategies (16%), organizational techniques (15%), and style (16%).
Source: Hirsch, Nancy, Melinda Grove, and Jelena Matic. "Chapter 3: ACT English Test Practice." LearningExpress's ACT Exam Success in Only 6 Steps! By Elizabeth Chesla. New York: LearningExpress, 2003. 31. Print.
As a college student, you will do a great deal of writing. From essays to research papers to lab reports, you will have writing assignments in nearly all of your classes, and in many courses, most—perhaps even all—of your grade will be based upon your written work.
Because writing skills are so essential to your academic success, the ACT English Test aims to gauge your knowledge of writing rules and strategies. Your score on this section of the exam provides colleges and universities with a measure of how well you communicate in writing.
On the ACT English Test, you will have 45 minutes to read five prose passages and answer 75 multiplechoice questions. These questions test two types of English skills: your understanding of the conventions of standard written English (“Usage and Mechanics”) and your knowledge of rhetorical strategies and techniques (“Rhetorical Skills”). The 40 questions about usage and mechanics cover punctuation (13%), grammar and usage (16%), and sentence structure (24%). The 35 questions about rhetorical skills address general writing strategies (16%), organizational techniques (15%), and style (16%).
Source: Hirsch, Nancy, Melinda Grove, and Jelena Matic. "Chapter 3: ACT English Test Practice." LearningExpress's ACT Exam Success in Only 6 Steps! By Elizabeth Chesla. New York: LearningExpress, 2003. 31. Print.