Read the neighbors first
When you see a blank or a movable sentence, read the sentence before it and the one after it. Write a brief description of what each does. One may introduce a general idea and the other may supply an example. One may give a result and the other may qualify it. The relationship tells you more than the presence of words that sound like transitions.
A chain of references
A phrase such as “this delay,” “the second stage,” or “that change” depends on something already introduced. Find the exact idea the phrase names. Place the sentence where readers can connect the reference without searching ahead or mistaking a nearby topic for its meaning. If a paragraph moves away from the topic, check whether the new sentence belongs before that shift.
Worked example: a cue at rehearsal
A script explains that the stage crew uses a half-light signal. The next sentence describes actors pausing when the half-light appears. Put “The signal uses only the lights at the front of the stage” after the first mention and before the actors respond. Readers learn what the cue is before they need to imagine a response to it. A placement before the first mention leaves “the signal” without a clear referent.
Check what an ending is meant to do
An effective ending can summarize the consequences of a process or return to the writer’s main point. A new claim about a different result may be interesting, but readers will need support for it. Ask which details the author has actually developed. A conclusion about a rain shelter can summarize who stays dry and when it is open. It cannot promise that rain will be less frequent.
Transfer check: select a relationship
An art club planned to finish a mural outdoors. The weather cleared in the morning. By the time the club arrived, the wall was still wet. Should you signal that the wet wall was caused by clear weather or that it was an obstacle despite the improvement? Use a contrast such as “Even so.” The clear sky leads to an expectation the wet wall frustrates.
Try it, then explain it.
Complete a short set without looking at the example. After each answer, explain which evidence or rule supports your decision and why the alternatives do not fit.
Sources & authorship
Original OpenExam explanations and examples. References support the concepts; they are not the source of copied questions. Independent educator review is pending.
Purdue OWL: On ParagraphsACT exam sections and structure