Back to: ACT English
For questions addressing the production of writing, you’ll need to examine how effectively the writer communicates the subject of their writing, as well as how they develop their ideas about that subject throughout the passage.
Purpose and Main Idea
A writer’s purpose affects their topic development in terms of both the content and form of their writing. Some common purposes for writing include the following:
- to inform
- to persuade
- to entertain
The main idea (aka main point, thesis, goal, etc.) of a piece of writing is more specific than its purpose. This represents the particular message, argument, or perspective the writer has on the topic. It is the writer’s “so what?” For example, if a writer’s purpose is to inform you about the development of generative AI, their main idea might be that ChatGPT represents the most significant evolutionary step in that development. In order to assess your knowledge of these concepts the exam will ask questions like:
- Suppose the writer’s primary purpose had been to X. Would this essay accomplish that purpose?
- Which statement best describes the author’s view of X?
Relevance
No matter the purpose of a given text, the writer must ensure that all of their content is relevant. In other words, no fluff! Each word, phrase, and sentence should help to develop the writer’s ideas and support their overall purpose. The ACT will assess how well you understand the concept of relevance by asking questions about whether a writer should add or delete portions of the text. These questions might be structured like the following:
- At this point, the writer wants to emphasize the idea that X. Which of the following best accomplishes that goal?
- Which of the following choices, if added here, would best conclude the paragraph and refer back to X at the beginning of the essay?
- The writer is considering deleting the preceding sentence. Should the sentence be kept or deleted?