Your Comprehensive Guide to the ACT
English
I've said it many times, and I'll say it again: the best way to improve on the English section is by learning the question types! There are only so many types of questions, and once you know them, you can easily learn the steps to get the right answer. Every time!
Usage/Mechanics
So, basically this types of questions cover the grammar topics the English section covers. Punctuation questions can be broken down into two types: varied punctuation and comma-only punctuation. Each type has its own easy process you should use to get down to the right answer. Additionally, you'll see questions related to apostrophes, subject verb agreement, pronouns, who/whom, and a few other topics.
The thing to remember is that this section is, by and large, quite straightforward. For instance, let's look at questions that ask about subject-verb agreement. They can be split into two distinct types: plural vs. singular and past vs. present. Whenever you see a verb underlined on the English section, simply 1. Find the subject. 2. Check whether the verb is the appropriate singular or plural form. 3. If there are past and present forms among the answer choices, check the next sentence or previous sentence to arrive at the correct form. It's as simple as a set of instructions. All these types of questions can be reduced in this manner, and they're all this simple.
Rhetoric
A VERY common type of question, VERY easily done.
As you can tell from the name, these questions cover rhetorical questions. Basically, they test to see if you can recognize logical and cohesive writing. Questions will ask you about transition words, transition sentences, sentence relevancy, ordering (where to place a word within a sentence, a sentence within a paragraph, and a paragraph within an essay), active vs. passive voice, and sometimes word usage. Each of these questions can be as easily learned and mechanized as the usage/mechanics questions.
For instance, let's say a question asks you about where to place a sentence within a paragraph. In this instance, you only have to look for a logical gap between sentences within that paragraph. "The little girl went to the mall. Fortunately, her brains were not eaten." You should easily recognize that these two sentences make no sense next to each other. A question will ask where the sentence, "Unfortunately, there was a zombie outbreak", should be placed. Well, if you know you're looking for a logical gap, these question types (which is supposed to be challenging) becomes very simple. This is true of all types of rhetoric questions.