act essay tips

act essay tips

Effective Strategies for Writing a High-Scoring ACT Essay

1. Introduction to the ACT Essay Section

The ACT writing assignment is designed so that you can display your skills in generating and organizing ideas in a clear way, writing standard English, and using concrete examples in your text. If you follow the outline for the writing test, you should be able to achieve a high score. Your test is evaluated according to the five criteria, and different weights are given to each of them. For example, your ideas may be clear, but if they are not expressed well, your grade for Word Choice is going to be lower. To achieve a good score, you need to develop your speech properly, discuss your ideas in a logical way, use clear language, and demonstrate consistency in your writing. The Writing Test also evaluates how well you have the required writing skills. This includes the effective use of grammar, punctuation, and the ability to write a clear text. Your ideas may be intriguing, but if they are expressed badly, your grade for English will be lower.

2. Understanding the Prompt and Formulating a Thesis Statement

When reviewing sources of information for the essay, ask yourself if the writers of these sources would agree or disagree with your thesis. Your thesis should represent the best judgment of yourself and your critical comparison of information. The more important the scientific or technical content, the greater the need for critical comparison of information and objective judgment. The essay will be hand-scored by two readers who will each assign a score of 1 to 6 for a total of 12 in each of the four areas. Each area of the essay is given a holistic score that accounts for the extent of development, organization, and language use. Prompt ideas should be developed into three main ideas to support your thesis statement. As you develop your reasons, develop additional ideas by asking yourself why and how your main ideas can be supported. Fact, personal example, and plain old logic all can provide the support required for a well-developed essay.

Effective writing typically begins with sentences that express the essence of the writing. A single sentence, which we will call the thesis statement, explains the major idea of the essay and sets the direction you want to take in your writing. Your essay, supporting this statement, argues for your judgment. Because your essay is motivated by this judgment, you do not have to know the answer to a problem to write a good essay. You only have to believe in your judgment. You will present evidence to support your argument, and the evidence you select will demonstrate your critical abilities much more than mere repetition of facts.

3. Structuring Your Essay: Introduction, Body, and Conclusion

Begin your introduction by setting the stage with an interesting, pithy quote or some other hard-hitting, rhetorical comment. The more you can lead with something hard-hitting, the better your chances of starting your essay off on a good note. Offer as much interesting information as possible in the introduction so that the grader’s interest is further piqued. Keep the introduction short and concise, and be certain that the thesis statement covers your main arguments and answers the essay prompt thoroughly. You should be able to breeze through these six sentences in about one minute so that you have time to concentrate on writing the body of the essay.

Your essay will make more and better points if your structure has three distinct parts: introduction, body, and conclusion. If the grader is confused by the time he picks up the conclusion, you won’t pick up too many points. But if you have a distinct, clear introduction, body, and conclusion, you give ACT essay readers the three-dimensional totem that “communicates” most effectively. You’re telling the reader three times what the point of your essay is, and it would take a special kind of comatose grader not to get the message. So here’s how to make the structure work for you.

4. Incorporating Persuasive Techniques and Evidence

You do not need to address the opposition’s perspective in every single paragraph. After all, you are the one making the point. Not every paragraph needs a counterargument. Just as it is important to have a couple of perfect examples, responding to the opposition’s perspective adds maturity to your written voice and demonstrates the clear reasoning that is key to a high score on this test.

This is where you can bring in the “opposing viewpoint” (also known as counterarguments) discussed earlier. You do not have to bring it in before you argue your first body paragraph, but you should have it down in your planning. It will support the overall strength and success of the writing to effectively address the opposing viewpoint, as this adds to the writing’s approach and strategy. You will have already mentioned it before in your introduction. You do not have to gush praise or support for the opposition’s viewpoint. Just a sentence or two will do. Signal you understand other viewpoints.

Look for opportunities to use persuasive techniques and/or insert evidence in your essay. Persuasive techniques are specific strategies, as well as other specific techniques such as repetition, contrast, and word choice, to ensure the ACT essay stays on track with regards to persuasion. Persuasive techniques may consist of: emotional appeal, appeal to logic, appeal to social or group identity, call to action, or appeal to patriotism.

5. Revising and Editing for Clarity and Coherence

Write what you know. Surely you’ve heard that advice before, but it really applies to the ACT essay. This means that when you are faced with the new topic, simply think about it for no more than two minutes, and build from there. As you journey through college and employment and embark on your writing career, you will be called upon to write many essays. So the skills you need for success on the ACT are skills you will continue to use well beyond high school!

In writing an essay, especially under the pressure of time and feeling that your writing will determine the course of your life if you are taking a form of high-stakes test—in this case, the ACT—writing can be quite difficult to write. Turn that feeling around! You are not writing under pressure; you are demonstrating a skill that happens to be tested on the ACT. It’s your ability to get what you know down on paper in a way that shows readers how your mind works. So don’t think of the ACT essay as an essay. Think of it as an assured opportunity to show off your mad communication skills.