<p>I've lately been trying to study the English section but I have horrible grammar skills. My last score was a 21 (English only) and I am currently studying from the Barron's book but I can't seem to get a higher score on the ACT practice tests(Real ACT prep. book) than a 21. Are there any strategies to use to increase one's score in this particular section?</p>
<p>Read books.</p>
<p>If you have the time, pick up a grammar and usage reference manual and study it. Many of these manuals have exercises you can complete. If you’ve had a good education, this should be review, but you might also learn a few new grammar and punctuation rules that will help you on the English section.</p>
<p>I’ve been working on grammar in the Barron’s book and when I took the practice test near the end of the English (30 questions) I got 20 correct without skipping. Would this still near the range of 21 on the real ACT?</p>
<p>No seriously. Read books. There is absolutely no better way to learn vocabulary, grammar, and syntax then reading books.</p>
<p>I don’t have time to read books sadly because I also have to brush up on a few more sections.</p>
<p>i agree that reading books as a lifelong habit will help you in ACT english, but someone shouldn’t start reading a ton more than usual one month before the ACT.</p>
<p>since you seem to struggle with common uses of the language, you might need to sit down and memorize grammar and punctuation rules. sparknotes has a good list of them for free in their test prep section.</p>
<p>if you’re struggling with rhetorical stuff, then you should definitely read the passages more carefully as you go. english is relatively generous on time, so as long as you read well are able to get the general gist and meaning of each paragraph, you should have an easier time with the rhetorical stuff.</p>
<p>Yeah my major problem is the rhetorical section, in usage/mechanics I got 30/40 correct on the Barron’s. The subsections were Punctuation 9/12, Basic Grammar and Usage 11/14, Sentence Structure 10/14. On the other hand my Rhetorical Skills which got a 19/35 had the subsection scores of Strategy 5/8, Organization(Killed it) 5/14, and Style 9/13. I plan on improving my rhetorical skills to be nearly as identical as my Usage/Mechanics skills, how do I do this?</p>