ACT RHETORIC
CONCISENESS AND REDUNDANCY:
Repetition of an idea can be useful: for emphasis, to review a difficult topic, or to explain something more clearly. None of those reasons apply on the ACT. The test asks students to identify and correct overly-wordy sentences and redundant sentences.
Sentences should use an "economy of words." If the same tone, effect, and meaning can be achieved with fewer words, fewer words are better.
EXAMPLES:
- WORDY: I don't like your pants, which I think are silly; your shirt, which I think is stupid; nor your face, which I think is ugly.
- CONCISE: I don't like your silly pants, your stupid shirt, nor your ugly face.
- WORDY: If the school has a high-quality, efficient learning environment complete with highly-educated and well-qualified professional educators, one can expect the educational outcomes of the enrolled student population to exceed those present in other schools which lack those basics.
- CONCISE: We can expect better schools with better teachers to produce better results for their students.
Redundancies, obvious restatements, should be avoided.
EXAMPLES:
- REDUNDANT: The teenage students I teach in my classes are smart for their age; but they're only sixteen years old.
- CONCISE: My students are smart for their age, but they're only sixteen.
- REDUNDANT: Many voters who didn't attend school, lack the necessary education to make informed decisions on ballot initiatives.
- CONCISE: Many uneducated voters can't make informed decisions on ballot initiatives.
- REDUNDANT: The shallow end of a pool is an area at the end of the pool that isn't as deep as the rest and is safer for children and beginning swimmers.
- CONCISE: The shallow end of the pool is safer for children and beginning swimmers.