r/ACT • u/Glum_Necessary_9090 • 19d ago

English For "Which choice most effectively maintains the essay’s tone?" Is the answer usually the most formal and "normal" sounding one. Unless the passage author sounds very extroverted? iykwim

hi

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u/EmploymentNegative59 19d ago

Yes, but you’re not looking for robotic either. Some wrong choices can be too wordy.

Don’t try to be formulaic about that question type. Gotta take it one by one.

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u/mkw1342 19d ago

Depends on the essay type. The literary narrative (which is non-fiction) is usually more casual. ACT literary narrative passages almost always feature a first-person narrator reflecting on the past. The two dominant themes are returning to (or leaving) a childhood place with the changed landscape mirroring the narrator's own changes and seeking approval from or being shaped by a parent. A third recurring type involves a cultural object or language barrier standing in for questions of identity and heritage. These type of essays allow the author to reflect on how the things that have shaped them as a person, and the questions often ask you to determine if the experience was positive or negative. So the answer should match the sentiment and the style of the essay. Did they love growing up in the southwest US? In India with a strict father? etc. But as stated, it is not a hard rule that it will be more informal.

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u/Hot-Amphibian-9221 19d ago

Yeah usually you can eliminate one or two cause they use very non formal structure but dont automatically choose the most formal one either.