ACT Preparation / Unit 5 ACT 0403 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Naming a Passage's Purpose
The idea
A passage's purpose is named in three steps. First, identify the audience: who is being addressed, and what they already know. Second, look at what the passage does most: report facts, argue for a position, question a belief, or tell a story that invites feeling. Third, state the purpose in one sentence that names the effect: this passage informs readers about something, or persuades readers to do something.
In practice
Worked example: a passage explains how a town's recycling program sorts glass, plastic and paper, with steps and figures, and ends by listing pickup days. The audience is residents; the passage reports how the system works and closes with practical information. Purpose: to inform residents how recycling works and when to use it. If the last paragraph instead urged residents to vote for expanding the program, the purpose of the passage would shift to persuading.
Where people slip
A passage can inform on the way to persuading. Name the purpose from what the whole passage is built to achieve, which its opening and its ending often show, not from one paragraph.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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