Language Arts – Writing: Sentence Control, Conventions, and Revision
What the questions test
The writing section combines editing (fixing sentences) with revision (improving paragraphs and essays). You need to command:
- Sentence completeness: recognizing fragments and run-ons, including comma splices.
- Agreement: subjects and verbs agreeing in number; pronouns matching their antecedents clearly.
- Punctuation: commas in lists and after introductory phrases, semicolons between related independent clauses, apostrophes for possession versus contractions (its vs. it's).
- Parallel structure: items in a list or comparison should share grammatical form.
- Modifiers: place descriptive phrases next to the word they describe.
- Organization and transitions: choosing the sentence that belongs, the best transition word, or the strongest topic sentence.
Traps to watch for
- Comma splices. Two complete sentences joined by only a comma need a period, a semicolon, or a conjunction.
- Distractor edits that change meaning. The best revision preserves the writer's original point.
- "Delete the sentence" choices. Sometimes that is correct, but only when the sentence is truly off-topic or redundant.
- Sound-alike words: their/there/they're, your/you're, affect/effect.
Rule of thumb
Test each sentence by asking, "Who is doing what?" Find the subject and verb; if either is missing, you have a fragment. For semicolons, confirm that both sides could stand alone as sentences.
Worked example
"The team practiced every afternoon, they wanted to win the regional final." This is a comma splice. Fix it three ways: "...every afternoon because they wanted to win..." or "...afternoon; they wanted to win..." or "...afternoon. They wanted to win...".