ACT Preparation / Unit 5 ACT 0423 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Revising a Paragraph for Focus
The idea
To revise a paragraph for focus, work in four steps. First, find or state its main point. Second, test each sentence: does it support, explain or illustrate that point? Third, delete or move any sentence that does not. Fourth, check that what remains still proves the point; if the evidence has gone, the paragraph needs it back.
In practice
Worked example, an invented paragraph: "Composting cuts a household's trash. Food scraps fill much of a kitchen bin. The word compost comes from Latin. The Lees, who compost, now fill their bin half as often. Compost also enriches garden soil." Main point: composting cuts trash. The sentence about Latin is off the point and goes. "Compost also enriches garden soil" is true but turns to a second benefit, so it moves to a paragraph of its own. The sentence about the Lees stays: it is the evidence.
Where people slip
Moving is not the same as deleting. A sentence on a second point may belong in the passage, only not in this paragraph.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
- Nothing yet depends on this.
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