Style Questions | English for ACT PDF Download

Introduction

In some instances, ACT English questions require you to choose the most suitable option not based on grammatical accuracy, but rather on style or tone. Often on the exam, you may encounter a phrase or sentence that is not strictly grammatically incorrect but is perplexing, long-winded, or inadequately written. In such situations, your responsibility is to assist the author in enhancing their writing style. After all, not everyone can match your level of coolness.

(Shakespeare knew a lot about style.

At times, you might need to modify a word or phrase that does not fit the essay's tone. Alternatively, you may have to remove vague pronoun references, repetitive content, or clumsy language. Since style doesn't have strict guidelines, ACT style questions may be difficult to tackle, making it necessary to identify the different types of errors. Let's go over them, starting with the easiest and moving on to the most challenging errors to detect.

Redundancy

If you are not aware of the need to identify redundancy, it is possible to miss these errors. However, once you understand the significance of this aspect, you can earn plenty of points!

Here’s an example:

• Annually, I donate to the scholarship fund each year.
• Since “annually” means every year, we don’t need to say “each year.”

Redundancy-related queries are generally easy to detect if you pay attention to the content before and after the underlined section, as the repetition may exist elsewhere within the sentence.
An BIG CLUE to be aware of is when an answer choice states "OMIT the underlined portion." Although it does not always indicate the solution, it is a prominent indicator that you may be dealing with a redundancy issue that could be resolved by removing the underlined portion.

Ambiguous Pronouns

Occasionally, a pronoun might not be grammatically incorrect, but its intended referent may be unclear. Consider this example: "Because Samantha is less interested in her Calculus homework than in her English reading assignments, she sometimes neglects it." While it may seem logical that "it" refers to Samantha's Calculus work since she is less interested in it, this is insufficient for the ACT. As "it" could refer to either Calculus homework or English reading assignments, we need to specify what "it" denotes. Here is one way to accomplish this: "Because Samantha is more interested in her English reading assignments, she sometimes neglects her Calculus homework."

Tone

Occasionally, an underlined portion may be inappropriate in style for the essay it appears in. For instance, it could be too formal for a personal narrative about the writer's first pet or too casual for a serious biographical study. Generally, most tone-related mistakes on the test fall into the latter category. When in doubt, select the phrase you would use in a paper submitted to your English teacher, meaning standard written English. While this type of query is not very common on the ACT, you should be aware of it. Here's an instance: "Instead of presenting a rebuttal to my argument, she simply nodded and went that it sounded fine." Although some people may use "went" in informal conversations when describing dialogues with others, it is grammatically incorrect. We should replace this phrase with something like "muttered," "replied," or "responded."

Vague phrases

Frequently on the ACT, you will encounter questions that ask you to choose the phrase that provides the best description of a particular situation. In these cases, you should aim to select the most precise and vividly detailed response.
For instance, consider this example ACT question:  The weather forecast prepared us for a deluge of rain; instead we emerged from our vacation tired of sunshine.
Which answer choice employs ironic imagery most effectively to emphasize that the actual weather conditions were opposite to the forecasted ones?
(a) NO CHANGE
(b) basking in
(c) having received our fill of
(d) soaking wet

To effectively convey ironic imagery, answer choice D's "soaking wet" is the most specific and vivid option, despite the fact that it is impossible to be literally wet in sunshine.

Simplifying Phrases and Sentences

ACT English questions often ask students to select the clearest expression of a phrase or sentence. While some questions are straightforward, others require careful consideration and a good ear for identifying confusing or awkward phrasing.

Here’s an ACT test example:

No one meteorological model is fully being able to account for the sweltering summers that have brought nearly fifty consecutive days of triple-digit highs to some parts of the country.
(a) NO CHANGE
(b) is able to be accountable to
(c) can fully account for
(d) has been able to account fully for

The answer is C. It uses the least amount of words and chooses active voice over passive voice. When in doubt, choose the shortest answer choice. But BE CAREFUL. Just because an answer choice uses fewer words doesn’t mean there isn’t an error in it that makes it wrong. So avoid the temptation to always choose the shortest phrase until you check it thoroughly for grammar mistakes.