The ACT groups these questions into Production of Writing (29%) and Knowledge of Language (13%), but they share a common skill: making editorial judgments about writing quality.
These ask you to think like an editor managing the big picture:
| Question Type | What It Asks | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Add/Delete sentences | "Should the writer add this sentence here?" with YES/NO + reasoning | 2–4 per test |
| Paragraph ordering | "Which paragraph order makes the essay most logical?" | 1–2 per test |
| Sentence placement | "Where should this sentence be placed for the most logical flow?" | 2–3 per test |
| Transitions | "Which choice best connects this sentence to the previous one?" | 3–5 per test |
| Topic development | "Which choice best supports the writer's claim in this paragraph?" | 2–3 per test |
| Opening/closing | "Which choice provides the most effective opening/closing?" | 1–2 per test |
These focus on word-level and sentence-level writing quality:
| Question Type | What It Asks | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Concision | "Which choice uses the fewest words without losing meaning?" | 2–3 per test |
| Redundancy | "Which choice avoids repeating information?" | 2–3 per test |
| Word choice | "Which word best fits the tone/context of the passage?" | 2–3 per test |
| Style consistency | "Which choice matches the essay's established tone?" | 1–2 per test |
Grammar questions have a single correct answer based on rules. Rhetoric questions require judgment — you need to understand the writer's purpose and the passage's structure to pick the best choice. Multiple choices might be grammatically correct, but only one serves the passage best.
Rhetoric questions cannot be answered by looking at the underlined portion alone. You must understand: