1. Overview Happy last ACT class!

2. Differences between dashes, parenthesis, and commas Parentheses are used for digressions - things that could be completely removed without affecting the meaning. Commas and dashes are for setting off clauses that, while not vital to the meaning, serve to provide a fuller picture. Which to use depends partly on the length of the clause—for example, if the clause itself contains a comma, you kind of have to use a dash—and partly on its importance: at least in my perception, a comma- delineated clause is more important to understanding the meaning than a dash-delineated one.

3. Who vs. Whom Let’s check out this website. I think it’s really helpful! http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/ magazines/scope/pdfs/SCOPE-REPRO-040212- 1.pdf

4. Wordiness “the fact that” “the way in which” Examples: Too wordy: all the more/ more As a matter of fact/in fact In order to/ to Past experience/ experience Personal friend/friend Once in awhile/ occasionally See how these seem redundant? Ask yourself if the same message can be given with less words

5. Verb tense Present – Present participle (ING) – Third person singular (S) Stand/standing/stands  Past: ed, d, or t  Past participle: past + had/has/have  I did my best/ I have done my best

6. Organization questions ask you to organize sections to maximize their coherence, order, and unity by asking three types of questions: Sentence Reorganization Paragraph Reorganization Passage Reorganization

7. Continued- Paragraph Reorganization If you are totally lost on a paragraph reorganization question (does paragraph one sound best before or after 3?), you can often look to the answer choices for clues. You can look at the first sentences given to you by the answer choices and see whether any of them sound like topic sentences. If you can identify a topic sentence, you’re well on your way to getting the correct answer.

8. Continued- Passage Reorganization look at (and perhaps underline) the topic sentences of each paragraph. These topic sentences, removed from the passage, should follow a logical chain of thought Consider the logical organization of an essay: introduction, supporting paragraphs, and conclusion.

9. A trick and activity for organization!!! Pick out an article or passage with a friend Cut them out and have your friend place them in order How did you know which was correct AND WHY?

10. Future tense Shall or will + present tense – You WILL go to college – BUT ALL YOUR TENSES MUST AGREE! YOU CANNOT SWITCH FROM PAST TO PRESENT!

11. Sentences, Clauses and Phrases Sentences: A sentence must have a subject (expressed or not), a verb, and a complete thought – She ran in the woods. – Clauses : contains a subject and a verb, but can or cannot contain a complete thought. Clauses that can stand on their own two feet as sentences are called either "independent" or "main"; clauses that lack a complete thought are termed either "dependent" or “independent".

12. Continued A phrase is a collection of words without a subject/verb or complete thought: – Prepositional over the river – Infinitive: to respect your elders is a sign of maturity – Participial: Biting my nails, I waited. – Gerund: I saw the running of the bulls – Appositive: My father, a doctor, gave me a hug.

13. Punctuation Commas: – Set off introductory clauses and phrases Example: Before we began the ACT, I got out a pencil. -Before a conjunction that begins an independent clause -Example: I was in school on time, but I was late to first period. -To set off paraenthetical expressions (or AN APPOSITIVE) -Example: my brother, who loves baseball, went to a SOX game.

14. Continued… Commas continued… To separate items in a list 2) Semicolons and Colon s: – Semicolon separates two independent clauses – Use a colon to introduce a list or illustration » Example: the only person trait you need is this: honesty

15. Continued 3) Hyphens and Dashes: – Use a hyphen to connect two (or more) words to form a single word meaning Example: Year-end sale - use a dash to set apart parenthetical comments. NOT essential – Example: Two of my friends, Natalie and Sarah, went to lunch with me.

16. Continued… Apostrophes: – S’ plural + s The students’ tests went well ‘s: posession – Charlie’s bag is green.

17. Pronoun Antecedent Pronoun takes the place of a noun The NOUN that the pronoun replaces is called THE ANTECDENT Pronouns include I, we, she, him, them, my, their, whose Example: Liz drover her car to school. She parked it near the front door. – Antecedent: LIZ of (her/she)