What is a Conjunction?
The study of grammar often entails learning technical terms for words we use every day. Why else would English speakers–at least the ones without the benefit of a Schoolhouse Rock education–struggle to identify what a conjunction is? The issue is partially related to forgetting your grade school education but is also related to the fact that conjunctions come in three different types: 1. COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS Coordinating conjunctions are the ones that tend to come to mind when we think of this critical part of speech, the signal words that connect words, phrases, and clauses. A simple mnemonic taught to most students identifies all seven coordinating conjunctions: FANBOYS… For–And–Nor–But–Or–Yet–So 2. SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS Subordinating conjunctions connect a dependent clause to an independent clause, e.g., Although technical grammar terms aren’t tested on the SAT and ACT, students still benefit from knowing them. The list of subordinating conjunctions is long, but words like because,…
Enhanced ACT English Prompts
We’re well past first looks at the Enhanced ACT now that test takers have experienced the real thing in field test administrations. My recent recorded conversation with a mystery test taker revealed quite a few details about the Enhanced ACT, as has a thorough analysis of the exams in The Official ACT Prep Guide 2025-2026. So what new information do we know about the English section? Obviously, the Enhanced English section presents fewer items–50 instead of 75–to be answered in 35 rather than 45 minutes. But the most notable changes may be the most cosmetically obvious: every English question now has a prompt. More important, these prompts provide greater insight into what grammar and writing skills success on this test demands. Conventions of Standard English Throughout the history of the ACT, English questions testing understanding of the conventions of standard English grammar, usage, and mechanics lacked any kind of prompt.…
Highlighting Strategies for SAT Reading and Writing
The digital transition of the SAT Reading and Writing sections from long passages with multiple items per passage to shorter passages with individual questions represented more than just a shift in educational expectations. On a device that can sometimes be as small as an iPad, test takers should not be expected to scroll back and forth between passages and questions. Another aspect of the digital format that differs substantially from paper tests is the availability of annotation tools. Older versions of the test didn’t have any, unless you count your #2 pencil. The digital SAT offers a ton of useful tools that make sense on the Reading and Writing section: Highlights & Notes: highlight text from a question (multiple color options) or leave yourself a note Mark for Review: flag any question you want to come back to–always reference the Question Menu to see which questions you skipped or marked for…
Meet The Digital SAT: READING AND WRITING
While the digital deployment and multistage adaptive aspects of the new SAT and PSAT certainly draw attention as the biggest changes to these tests, one other revision deserves just as much attention. The SAT has always tested reading, and the digital SAT continues to refine just what aspects of reading matter most in the current educational environment. As usual, this portion of the test looks very different from its most immediate predecessor. Gone is the emphasis on long reading passages, linked evidence questions, and the dreaded historical documents. To be fair, most test takers won’t be sorry to see those elements go. What does the digital SAT offer instead? Expect questions evaluating many of the same fundamental reading skills in some new ways: Questions focusing on the enduring themes of thesis, structure, and both close and inferential reading will be attached to reading passages of roughly 100 words each. Each…
Solving SAT & ACT Organization Questions
The multiple-choice grammar and writing questions on the SAT Writing and Language and ACT English sections present a wide range of mechanical and rhetorical challenges. Test takers have to be as comfortable connecting subjects with predicates and pronouns with antecedents as they do connecting independent and dependent clauses. Even students who master mechanics still need facility with advanced writing concerns like, among other things, organization, unity, and cohesion. Both the SAT Expression of Ideas subscore and ACT Production of Writing Reporting Category establish organization as an imperative aspect of effective written English. Consequently, Organization questions on these tests require students to be able to place any piece of text where it belongs: — a word or phrase in a sentence — a sentence in a paragraph — a paragraph in a passage Most test takers find Organization questions both difficult and time-consuming. While the latter challenge can be overcome with…
Getting Started on your College Essay: Brainstorming and Free-Writing
Once Chariot Learning has already helped a student achieve her best SAT and ACT scores, she often comes back for help with another challenge: the college application essay. Writing the college application essay is a daunting task–in 650 words, a student must share something striking about herself that will convince an admissions committee that she will be a worthy addition to the college’s incoming class. With so many applicants to choose from, many of whom have strong numbers, the essay becomes a crucial part of a student’s college application that can make the difference between admission and rejection. What can a student do to make her essay succeed at this highly unique genre of high-stakes writing? First and foremost, I tell my essay students, “Write an essay that nobody could write except you.” What does that mean? Someone who knows you well should be able to read a pile of…