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ACT Essay Template and Sample

Act essay template.

¶1: Introductory Paragraph

• Introductory statement

¶2: First Body Paragraph

• Describe your thesis
• Provide 1st example/reasoning: include specific, relevant information

¶3: Second Body Paragraph

• Continue supporting your thesis
• Provide 2nd example/reasoning: include specific, relevant information

If you are running out of time, don’t write a 2nd body paragraph. Instead, take the time to write a thorough 3rd body paragraph and a clear conclusion  paragraph.

¶4: Third Body Paragraph

• Explain how your thesis compares and contrasts with Perspectives One, Two, and/or Three
• Strengths/Weaknesses of the perspective(s)
• Insights offered / Insights not considered
• Persuasive / Not persuasive
• Example or reasoning: provide specific, relevant information

¶5: Conclusion Paragraph

• Recap your thesis
• Recap how your thesis compares and contrasts with Perspectives One, Two, and/or Three

Sample Prompt

Bilingual Accreditation

While the most common language in the United States is English, it’s certainly not the only language in which Americans communicate. In fact, bilingual fluency is highly desirable in many professions, including business, education, and medicine. In an effort to ready students for success in their future careers, some high schools may consider instituting programs that would offer bilingual accreditation to students who successfully complete a significant portion of their schooling in a language other than English. Because bilingual certification is not a necessary component of traditional education, should schools be  expected to explore this option for interested students? As American high schools aim to remain competitive as measured by increasingly rigorous international education standards, innovative programs such as bilingual certification may prove to be essential.

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each discusses relevant aspects of offering bilingual accreditation.

  Perspective One: Schools should encourage bilingual fluency but should not be expected to offer special classes  or programs. School administrators need to work on strengthening the existing curriculum rather than overcomplicating instruction by attempting to incorporate additional programs that do not reinforce traditional education.

Perspective Two:  Offering bilingual accreditation weakens the core of high school curriculum. A large enough portion of the student population already struggles to maintain passing grades when taught in English, and adding other languages would likely add to that number.

Perspective Three:  Bilingual accreditation should be offered, but it needs to be thoughtfully implemented. Courses taught in languages other than English need to be carefully selected to ensure that this program does not affect the integrity of the high school diploma.

Sample Essay Using the Prompt

Essay outline.

• Thesis:  Schools should offer bilingual accreditation as long as courses offered in languages other than English are carefully selected.

¶2: First body paragraph

• Describe your thesis:   All classes need to be carefully selected so scheduling bilingual offerings is not an additional burden for school administrators.
• Provide first example/reasoning: include specific, relevant information— Even if core classes are given in two languages, all students still study the core curriculum and preserve the integrity of the diploma.

¶3: Second Body Paragraph

• Continue supporting your thesis:   Offering bilingual accreditation provides an opportunity for schools to offer non-traditional classes for all students .
• Provide second example/reasoning: include specific, relevant information— Every dollar spent to accommodate bilingual education should be matched with equal funding for other types of educational enrichment such as STEM training and career-oriented electives.

¶4: Third Body Paragraph

• Explain how your thesis compares and contrasts with Perspectives One, Two, and/or Three:   The first perspective argues that schools should encourage bilingual fluency but not add any bilingual classes, which is in direct contrast to Perspective Three.
• Strengths/Weaknesses of the perspective(s):   Perspective One doesn’t take into account that making the existing curriculum better often means adding additional classes, which bilingual accreditation would accomplish.
• Persuasive / Not persuasive:   The argument simply says that these classes would only be for interested students, so it doesn’t affect everyone.
• Example or Reasoning: provide specific, relevant information— Most of the world uses English as a second language, and many people speak at least two languages, so to stay competitive, U.S. students should also be fluent in two languages.
• Recap your thesis:   I fully support perspective three because it opens up possibilities for all students without denying anyone a full high school curriculum leading to a meaningful diploma.
• Recap how your thesis compares and contrasts with Perspectives One, Two, and/or Three:   Recognizing the benefits of being bilingual, and making bilingual courses available but optional, is the best of both worlds.

Final Essay

               In today’s world where international education standards are very high and the U.S.  needs to remain competitive, educators are looking for ways to enhance high school curriculum.  One way is offering classes in languages other than English. Some people think that  schools should provide enough education in a different language for students to be certified  as bilingual. Others think this will weaken the curriculum. Still others think the accreditation  should be offered but carefully administered so that graduation from that school would  indicate the completed high school curriculum, and this is the option I agree with. I would  further argue that schools should not only carefully implement bilingual programs to suit  students who want to become fluent in two languages, but also provide supplemental non- traditional courses for students pursuing their entire education in English.

              The third perspective posits that while students should be given the opportunity to  learn in other languages and be accredited as bilingual, the courses given need to be carefully  selected. In reality, all classes need to be carefully selected so this is not a problem  for bilingual classes. And if the classes selected were all optional, not required, it would not  affect students who still want to learn everything in English. Since core classes might be  given in two languages, and students select which one they want, all students still study the core curriculum and preserve the integrity of the diploma. Schools have always taught  languages in high school so a French or Spanish course taught as a bilingual class makes  perfect sense. Bilingual classes are also advantageous for students who do well and want  to challenge themselves. So a French literature class can be taught in French while students  read in French also.

             As schools work to accommodate students who wish to pursue a bilingual education,  administrators must keep in mind that students who do not want an additional bilingual  accreditation should still have every opportunity to excel as they work toward their high  school diplomas. Every dollar spent to accommodate bilingual education should be matched  with equal funding for other types of educational enrichment such as STEM training and  career-oriented electives. That way, every student can benefit from classes that go beyond  traditional education, whether the classes concentrate on language, science, technology,  engineering, mathematics, or future careers. Given the rigorous demands of the current job  climate, students will greatly benefit from any additional marketable skills that they can  acquire during their high school careers.

              The first perspective argues that schools should encourage bilingual fluency but not  add any bilingual classes, which is in direct contrast to my position. Instead, the school  administrators should make the existing curriculum better so that traditional education is  really good. Certainly a high school curriculum should be as good as it can be and we should  always be looking for ways to make it better. That often means adding new courses. For instance, computer courses didn’t exist a few years ago, but they are in schools now because  it’s important for people to be able to use computers. It’s the same thing with bilingual  courses. Most of the world uses English as a second language, and many people speak at  least two languages. So it’s only right that to stay competitive, U.S. students should also  be fluent in two languages; this is particularly important in careers that require international  work. Also, the argument simply says that these classes would only be for interested  students, so it doesn’t affect everyone. And finally, how can the schools encourage bilingual  fluency if they don’t provide a place for students to practice another language?

              Being bilingual in a world with international interaction can’t help but be useful. I fully  support perspective three because it opens up possibilities for all students without denying  anyone a full high school curriculum leading to a meaningful diploma. Recognizing the  benefits of being bilingual, and making bilingual courses available but optional, is the best  of both worlds. Expanding courses offered in a curriculum is always better than restricting  them, especially when they serve such an important need as the ability to communicate  with others in their own language.

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ACT Essay Samples | Good vs Bad Examples

The ACT Essay option is a great way to impress college admissions officers with your writing ability. But what does a good essay look like vs a bad one? Thankfully, ACT has provided some helpful ACT essay samples that you can study based on good vs not-so-good examples.

In addition, here are 10 helpful ACT Essay prep tips to practice before test day.

ACT Essay Samples Prompt

This provided prompt, Intelligent Machines, is a good representation of how prompts are provided to you on the actual test.

“The test describes an issue and provides three different perspectives on the issue. You are asked to read and consider the issue and perspectives, state your own perspective on the issue, and analyze the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective on the issue. Your score will not be affected by the perspective you take on the issue.”

ACT Essay Samples Passage

Here is the actual passage that students drew from when writing the sample essays below.

Intelligent Machines

“Many of the goods and services we depend on daily are now supplied by intelligent, automated machines rather than human beings. Robots build cars and other goods on assembly lines, where once there were human workers. Many of our phone conversations are now conducted not with people but with sophisticated technologies. We can now buy goods at a variety of stores without the help of a human cashier. Automation is generally seen as a sign of progress, but what is lost when we replace humans with machines? Given the accelerating variety and prevalence of intelligent machines, it is worth examining the implications and meaning of their presence in our lives.

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about the increasing presence of intelligent machines.”

ACT Essay Samples Perspective Choices

• Perspective One : What we lose with the replacement of people by machines is some part of our own humanity. Even our mundane daily encounters no longer require from us basic courtesy, respect, and tolerance for other people. “
• Perspective Two : Machines are good at low-skill, repetitive jobs, and at high-speed, extremely precise jobs. In both cases, they work better than humans. This efficiency leads to a more prosperous and progressive world for everyone.”
• Perspective Three : Intelligent machines challenge our long-standing ideas about what humans are or can be. This is good because it pushes both humans and machines toward new, unimagined possibilities.”

ACT Essay Sample 1 (Low-Scoring)

“Well Machines are good but they take people jobs like if they don’t know how to use it they get fired and they’ll find someone else and it’s more easyer with machines but sometimes they don’t need people because of this machines do there own job and there be many people that lack on there job but the intelligent machines sometimes may not work or they’ll brake easy and it’s waste of money on this machines and there really expensive to buy but they help alot at the same time it help alot but at the same time this intelligent machines work and some don’t work but many store buy them and end up broken or not working but many stores gets them and end up wasting money on this intelligent machines’ but how does it help us and the comunity because some people get fired because they do not need him because of this machines many people are losing job’s because of this machines.”

Sample Essay 2 (High-Scoring)

“Should machines be used to do good and services instead of humans? I believe they should not for many reasons. Machines can not be smart unless a human is controlling it. So it would not matter if it’s an intelligent machine or not a human is still controlling it to do everything.

When using a machine it could easily malfunction and it could be hard to fix the problem or it will just take a while to fix it. If a human is taking over instead of the machine there may be fewer problems. Machines have so many problems that it would not be worth having.

Also, the more machines you have the fewer jobs there are for people because everyone thinks it would be better to have machines instead of people. When fewer people are out of work that means less money for those people and sometimes they will lose their homes or cars because they can not afford anything.

Sometimes working with machines can be very stressful because they may not work at times or they could be running extremely slow and won’t get anything done. Machines are not smart at all, only when people are controlling them they are but not all the time. It may seem smart but it’s really not.

In conclusion, I think machines should not be used to take over a human job because machines can not think only humans can think and make right or wrong decisions. Machines do not have brains, they’re not wired to think so why have them do stuff that we can do ourselves.”

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By submitting my email address. i certify that i am 13 years of age or older, agree to recieve marketing email messages from the princeton review, and agree to terms of use., sample act essay prompt (and how to tackle it).

Are you taking the ACT with Writing? No need to stress! The ACT essay follows a predictable format, which means you can practice and prepare beforehand. Take a look at a sample ACT writing prompt and learn five key steps to penning a high-scoring essay.

Keep in mind: The ACT writing essay is optional. Currently, only 27 colleges and universities require the ACT with Writing. You can see the complete list  here . If there is any chance that you might apply to one of those schools, you should register for the ACT with Writing. Not sure where you will apply? You should strongly consider signing up for the essay and keep your options open.

ACT with Writing: Sample Prompt

This example writing prompt comes straight from our book ACT Prep :

Education and the Workplace

Many colleges and universities have cut their humanities departments, and high schools have started to shift their attention much more definitively toward STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and away from ELA (English, Language Arts). Representatives from both school boards and government organizations suggest that the move toward STEM is necessary in helping students to participate in a meaningful way in the American workplace. Given the urgency of this debate for the future of education and society as a whole, it is worth examining the potential consequences of this shift in how students are educated in the United States.

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about the shift in American education.

Write a unified, coherent essay in which you evaluate multiple perspectives on the issue of how schools should balance STEM and ELA subjects. In your essay, be sure to:

• analyze and evaluate the perspectives given
• state and develop your own perspective on the issue
• explain the relationship between your perspective and those given

Your perspective may be in full agreement with any of the others, in partial agreement, or wholly different. Whatever the case, support your ideas with logical reasoning and detailed, persuasive examples.

How to Write the ACT Essay

Your job is to write an essay in which you take some sort of position on the prompt, all while assessing the three perspectives provided in the boxes. Find a way to anchor your essay with a unique perspective of your own that can be defended and debated, and you are already in the upper echelon of scorers.

Step 1: Work the Prompt

What in the prompt requires you to weigh in? Why is this issue still the subject of debate and not a done deal?

Step 2: Work the Perspectives

Typically, the three perspectives will be split: one for , one against , and one in the middle . Your goal in Step 2 is to figure out where each perspective stands and then identify at least one shortcoming of each perspective. For the example above, ask yourself: 

• What does each perspective consider?
• What does each perspective overlook?

Read More: What's a Good ACT Score?

Step 3: Generate Your Own Perspective

Now it's time to come up with your own perspective! If you merely restate one of the three given perspectives, you won’t be able to get into the highest scoring ranges. You’ll draw from each of the perspectives, and you may side with one of them, but your perspective should have something unique about it.

Step 4: Put It All Together

Now that you have your ideas in order, here's a blueprint for how to organize the ACT essay. This blueprint works no matter what your prompt is.

Step 5: (If There's Time): Proofread

Spend one or two minutes on proofreading your essay if you have time. You’re looking for big, glaring errors. If you find one, erase it completely or cross it out neatly. Though neatness doesn’t necessarily affect your grade, it does make for a happy grader.

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Section 1 - 5 of 30

Writing Sample Essays

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New Act Essay Writing Section

The new act essay, your full guide to act writing section.

Since September of 2015, the ACT essay / writing section has gone through a radical change. And that’s amazing news for you.

The ACT essay was always easy to master with a bit of practice and the right techniques. However, the new ACT essay is even easier to perfect than the old one ever could have been . This short guide will teach you exactly what’s changing, how to prepare for the new essay, and how to take full advantage of this new format.

Quick side note: If you’re looking for a proven ACT prep system to help you write a flawless essay check out my ACT prep program . It is built on my proven tactics and methodologies and has an average user score improvement of over +4.66 points.

Why did ACT test change?

The new “CORE-friendly” ACT essay / writing portion just makes this test more beatable than it already was. I’ll leave the rest to the ACT’s PR team. For now, let’s get into what you should do about it.

What is Different?

The old ACT writing / essay section gave you a simple prompt, then asked you to take a side on that prompt and argue your point. The basic format looked something like this:

“Watching TV can be bad for your brain. However, sometimes it’s educational, so some people think it’s good for your brain. So in your opinion, do you think that TV is good or bad?

In your essay, take a position on this question. You may write about either one of the two points of view given, or you may present a different point of view on this question. Use specific reasons and examples to support your position.”

The old format couldn’t have been any simpler. “Here are two opinions on a topic. Pick one and then write about it for a few paragraphs.”

The new ACT writing / essay format is much more complicated. But here’s the funny thing: while the new ACT writing / essay FORMAT is much more complex, the process of WRITING these essays has become VASTLY SIMPLER .

Here’s what it looks like now: https://www.act.org/actnext/pdf/SampleWritingPrompt.pdf

Take the time to read through all of this and really get a feel for what the new ACT writing / essay section looks like. Once you do, we shall move on:

How Do You Write This Thing (and why is it so much easier)?

In the old ACT essay, you only had to do one thing – pick a side and argue it. Now, you have to do so much! You need to evaluate three different arguments, you need to come up with your own argument, and then you have to relate your argument to the three arguments given. Oh, the humanity!

But here’s the thing: in the old version of the ACT essay, you had to both come up with an argument and come up with the reasons why you support it. In the new ACT essay, all of the arguments and reasoning behind them is provided for you!

It’s the difference between being asked to “make lasagna or pizza for dinner tonight” and “grabbing something off the McDonald’s dollar menu.” Sure, there are more options on the McDonald’s menu – but they’re already cooked for you!

At first, it seems like there’s a ton more to do. In reality, the ACT is doing all of the hard work for you! All you need to do is read carefully, pick what you like, and then follow a simple process to “plug in your opinion.”

A reminder: If you’re eager to succeed with a proven ACT prep system to help you write a flawless essay check out my ACT prep program . It is built on my proven tactics and methodologies and has an average user score improvement of over +4.66 points .

Text, Call or Email:

Dr. robert d. kohen, college admissions consulting & test prep, ten new act essay question prompts.

The ACT recently changed the format of the optional essay, debuting the new essay on the September 2015 exam. From September on, all essay prompts will require you to not only respond to a specific question, but to also read and address three unique perspectives on the question.

While the new essay format is admittedly more complex than the earlier version, it’s still very predictable and you can do very well on it with the right preparation. For advice on how to approach the essay, check out my post  How To Write the New ACT Essay .

Unfortunately, the ACT has only released a meager two sample prompts for you to preview. The first one is available on the ACT’s website here . The second is included in the most recent practice ACT the test makers have released, available as a PDF  here .

In order to do your best on the essay, you’ll want to make sure you practice with more than just two essay question prompts. Here are ten additional new ACT sample essay question prompts I’ve written to help you prepare. You’ll have 40 minutes to complete each essay.

Accelerating Globalization (Sample Essay Prompt 1)

Only a few hundred years ago, communication between countries on opposite ends of the globe was painstakingly slow or non-existent. Most people knew little about distant lands, peoples and cultures. What they thought they knew was frequently erroneous or ill conceived. Within the past hundred years, however, the pace of globalization has accelerated rapidly. Today travel across the globe in less than 24 hours is a real possibility for many people. Individuals and nations can instantly communicate with one another across great distances. For better or worse, the world has become more connected than was ever imaginable before, and it continues to become more connected every day. Has globalization made the world a better or a worse place?

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about the effects of globalization.

Perspective 1

Globalization, despite its lustrous promises, has created more problems than it has solved. It has allowed rich countries to get richer at the expense of poorer countries, and it has increased, not decreased, the number of armed conflicts in the world.

Perspective 2

The world is undoubtedly a better place today because of globalization. It has allowed critical resources to be distributed to the governments and people that need them the most.

Perspective 3

While I celebrate the productive exchange of cultures globalization has facilitated, I worry about how globalization is homogenizing those cultures. Take languages—do we really want to live in a world where one day everyone only speaks only one global language?

Write a unified, coherent essay in which you evaluate multiple perspectives on the impact of globalization on the world. In your essay, be sure to:

• analyze and evaluate the perspectives given
• state and develop your own perspective on the issue
• explain the relationship between your perspective and those given

Your perspective may be in full agreement with any of the others, in partial agreement, or wholly different. Whatever the case, support your ideas with logical reasoning and detailed, persuasive examples.

Technology and Everyday Life (Sample Essay Prompt 2)

Technology has radically changed the way we interact with the world. Not long ago, individuals who wanted to get in touch had to do so either by meeting in person or sending messages through postal mail. In order to perform most types of research, people were forced to visit physical libraries, bookstores or archives. Over the past two decades, technology has rendered many of these time-consuming tasks obsolete. Messages can be sent anywhere in the world via email in only a matter of seconds. All sorts of information is available with the click of a smart phone button. People can not only call individuals anytime, but they can also access their geolocation on demand. It seems like everyone is on his or her smart phone every waking minute. Has this increase in the power and reach of technology bettered out lives?

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about the presence of technology in our lives.

Today’s technology has greatly bettered our lives. Individuals are more connected to the information and people they want to connect with, and the result is smarter, happier and more fulfilled human beings.

Technology promises to “connect” us with one another. But look around and you’ll see how disconnected it’s made us—individuals no longer interact with one another because they’ve become so consumed by their phones and devices.

Technology may have made the world a better place for those who have access to it, but its prohibitive costs have made it inaccessible, and consequently unhelpful, to too many people.

Write a unified, coherent essay in which you evaluate multiple perspectives on the impact of technology on our lives. In your essay, be sure to:

College Sports (Sample Essay Prompt 3)

College sports have become incredibly popular in the United States. Big games air on the most coveted TV channels at the most coveted times. Teams are followed not only by loyal students and alumni but also by diverse fans from across the country. Major athletic programs bring millions of dollars to university coffers. Star coaches can often earn more than university presidents, making them the highest paid employees on campus. Full scholarships are awarded to star athletes because of their athletic prowess rather than their academic record. In some instances, athletes are even given fake grades to help them stay on the team. Given all of this, should colleges continue to support their sports teams?

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about the role of athletics at colleges.

Colleges should strongly support their sports teams. These teams not only generate millions of dollars for schools, but they also help sell prospective students on attending the college.

Sports have no official place in college. Colleges are institutions created for learning, not for athletics. College sports compromise academic standards and disadvantage students who don’t participate.

While college sports play a valuable role on university campuses, it is important for administrators to not lose perspective. That some football coaches earn more than university presidents, for example, is clearly wrong.

Write a unified, coherent essay in which you evaluate multiple perspectives on college support for sports teams. In your essay, be sure to:

College Curricula (Sample Essay Prompt 4)

For years, American colleges have emphasized the liberal arts over more narrow technical and professional training. College students have been required to study a broad range of academic disciplines, such as literature, philosophy, history and mathematics. Today, however, a growing number of colleges and students have rejected the liberal arts in favor of what some consider to be more practical subjects, such as accounting, finance and nutrition. Global economic hardship has led many to question the value of a liberal arts education that, in their eyes, fails to adequately prepare students for the realities they will face after graduation. Is it important for colleges to promote the study of the liberal arts, or should they emphasize professional and technical training in its place?

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about college curricula.

The liberal arts are essential to a quality education because they teach students how to think critically about a broad range of topics, thus preparing them to tackle any issue that might arise in the workplace.

It is time to bury the liberal arts model at our colleges. Reading Shakespeare and studying pure mathematics will not help anyone be successful in any sort of business.

Colleges should closely integrate the liberal arts with professional studies, as each can benefit from the other. Business courses, for example, are enriched by the philosophical study of ethics.

Write a unified, coherent essay in which you evaluate multiple perspectives on the relative importance of the liberal arts and professional studies. In your essay, be sure to:

Arts Funding (Sample Essay Prompt 5)

Government funding for the arts is commonplace in many countries today. In the United States, the government funds writers, musicians and visual artists through a variety of initiatives. Critics of this type of funding argue that the government has no place in the arts. Why should taxpayers, the majority of whom have no interest in the works being supported by such funding, be forced to pay for those works? Others, however, argue that government funding for the arts is critical to the wellness of our society. Given the dismal financial prospects in the arts, many artists would be unable to support themselves without the type of funding that the government provides. Should the government continue to fund the arts?

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about the government funding for the arts.

The government has no place in the arts because the government is not qualified to judge which projects should receive funding and which should not.

Without financial support from the government, many great works of art would never be created. Government funding is thus essential.

The free marketplace, not the government, is the best source of arts funding. If an artist can’t get any money, the reason is simple—her work is not very good!

Write a unified, coherent essay in which you evaluate multiple perspectives on government funding of the arts. In your essay, be sure to:

Corporate Responsibility (Sample Essay Prompt 6)

Large corporations make up some of the wealthiest entities in the world today. Some see these corporations as engines of economic development and progress, bringing better products at better prices to a wider range of people every day. Others, however, criticize corporations for their shortcomings when it comes to social responsibility: failing to assist the less fortunate in our society, including their workers, while focusing too narrowly on profits at the expense of social welfare. Should corporations do more than simply aim to improve their profit margins? Is it important for large corporations to set aside profits from time to time in order to donate to charities and to help the needy?

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about corporate responsibility.

Corporations have only one responsibility: to make the greatest profit they possibly can. It is only by doing so that they can benefit their workers, shareholders, and society.

Profits often get in the way of doing the right thing. Large corporations should focus less on profits and more on developing meaningful ways of helping the disadvantaged.

It is important that corporations adhere to any and all laws that pertain to them. Beyond this, however, they are free to do as they please.

Write a unified, coherent essay in which you evaluate multiple perspectives on corporate responsibility. In your essay, be sure to:

The Federal Government (Sample Essay Prompt 7)

The United States government is made up of various national, state and local governing bodies. Certain responsibilities, like the building of interstate roadways, are looked after by the national, or federal, government, whereas more local issues are often overseen by local government bodies like state legislatures or city councils. Many argue that states and cities in the United States wield too much power, power that they believe should belong in the hands of the federal government. Others contend that the federal government is too large and is unresponsive to the particular needs of states and cities; they would like to see local government overtake many of the responsibilities now delegated to the federal government. Should the federal government or local governing bodies have more power?

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about the role of the federal government.

States and cities are ill-equipped to handle most of their own governing. The federal government can do not only a better job of governing them, but a faster and cheaper one.

The federal government is too big to adequately address the needs of individual states and cities. States and cities know what is best for them, not the federal government.

Local government fails only when it lacks the backing of the federal government. The federal government should provide logistical and financial support to states and cities in order to enable them to govern themselves effectively.

Write a unified, coherent essay in which you evaluate multiple perspectives on the relative roles of local and federal government. In your essay, be sure to:

Religious Liberty (Sample Essay Prompt 8)

The relationship between religious liberty and individual rights has often been a problematic one throughout American history. Today, for example, many businesses feel compelled to refuse service to homosexuals because of the religious beliefs of the business owners. Some argue that this refusal of service constitutes unlawful discrimination. Public school boards are often uncertain which religious holidays to add to the academic calendar. Should a Christian student, for instance, have to miss school because of a Jewish holiday? How should the state balance the need to respect religious liberty with need to preserve the rights of all members of society?

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about religious liberty and individual rights.

The state must accommodate all religions to the fullest extent possible. This means school days off for all major religious holidays and protecting the right of business owners to refuse service based on religious beliefs.

The government has no special obligation to protect religious liberties when they interfere with the freedoms and well-being of the public at large.

Government should seek, to the greatest extent possible, ways to accommodate both religious liberty and individual rights when the two find themselves in conflict.

Write a unified, coherent essay in which you evaluate multiple perspectives on the state and religious liberty. In your essay, be sure to:

Solving Society’s Problems (Sample Prompt 9)

The world today faces a wide range of challenges. Despite the great economic and scientific progress mankind has made, many in the world are still struggling to survive. Even in developed nations, individuals and communities face problems like poverty, disease and violence. Individuals and private organizations have done much to help alleviate many of these problems. Government have also played a role in addressing issues like poverty and public health. In your opinion, who has a bigger role to play in solving today’s problems: governments or individuals?

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about the role of government and individuals in solving today’s problems.

Individuals could not possibly hope to solve problems as large as the ones we face today. Only large governments with sizable resources can help.

Governments are, by nature, composed of individuals working as a team. Governments can solve major problems because they harness the power of individuals.

The best solutions to society’s problems always come from individuals, not governments. Governments lack the creativity and drive necessary to tackle major problems successfully.

Write a unified, coherent essay in which you evaluate multiple perspectives on the role of individuals and governments as problem solvers. In your essay, be sure to:

Avoiding Armed Conflicts (Sample Prompt 10)

Armed conflicts between nations have always been and remain, unfortunately, a constant fact of life. How politicians and governments seek to avoid of these conflicts, however, varies greatly. Many leaders and political thinkers insist on the importance of demonstrating military might in order to reduce the likelihood of such conflicts. Others argue that flexing military muscle is basically inviting armed conflict, and that the best way nations can avoid conflicts is simply by keeping an open line of communication with one another. When forced to choose between a strong showing of military might and diplomatic efforts, which should nations choose in order to avoid armed conflicts?

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about how military might and diplomatic efforts can prevent armed conflicts.

Without a strong showing of military might, a nation will lead its enemies to believe that it is weak and vulnerable to attack. The result is, inevitably, such an attack.

International conflicts can quickly escalate into full-blown armed conflicts unless the nations involved talk to one another and learn to settle their differences through words rather than bombs.

Demonstrating military might is always a better way to prevent armed conflict than diplomacy, because whereas military might is a deterrent to conflict, diplomacy rarely succeeds in resolving international disagreements.

Write a unified, coherent essay in which you evaluate multiple perspectives on the respective roles of diplomacy and military might. In your essay, be sure to:

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How to write your ACT essay

Published September 27, 2020. Updated August 16, 2021.

As if the ACT test wasn’t difficult enough, lo and behold, there’s a dreaded essay! But fear not; if you’ve written an expository essay – and you’ve likely completed several of these through your English literature and History courses – you already have the experience of investigating an issue, evaluating the evidence, and arguing for your preferred stance. In other words, you’re already on the right path to starting the essay!

Worried about your writing? Submit your paper for a Chegg Writing essay check , or for an Expert Check proofreading . Both can help you find and fix potential writing issues.

Overview of the ACT essay

The ACT essay, also known as the ACT Writing Test, is a 40-minute assessment of your writing skills. Test takers are given a prompt influenced by a current issue or debate, with three different perspectives. Each perspective presents a different view of the debate or subject. On average, the perspectives are brief – only about two or three sentences long – and require you to write an essay describing your own views in relation to the perspectives. In other words, one perspective is considered to be for the issue, one against it, and one is generally neutral but tends to shift towards supporting or criticizing the issue. There is no word minimum or maximum; however, the goal is to write between 400-700 words in order to have a strong essay.

• The ACT writing test is 40 minutes long.
• The writing prompt presents a current issue or debate, then three perspectives on the issue/debate.
• You choose one perspective to include in your argument.

Grading for the ACT Essay

The scoring criteria for the ACT essay are based on four categories:

Ideas and Analysis

Development and support, organization, language use and conventions.

Each category has a maximum score of 12 points, with the maximum grade earned on the essay being a 6. In other words, if you earn 12 points in each category, your total essay score will be 6.

For Ideas and Analysis, you are required to critically analyze the issue and develop a compelling, argumentative stance that avoids abstract ideas and instead utilizes precision and clarity. Your writing should examine the perspectives and connect them to your thesis statement, which develops your stance on the issue.

For Development and Support, you are required to provide excellent insight and reasoning in supporting your claims. This can be provided in numerous methods (statistics, examples, etc.) and doesn’t have to be true, since you aren’t expected to have prior knowledge of the topics. However, any exaggerated arguments will count against your score.

For Organization, you are required to organize your ideas in the proper structure of an argumentative or expository essay. This includes a thesis statement followed by paragraphs of evidence and support for your stance, with a conclusion. Proper transitions are essential for getting a top score.

For Language Use and Conventions, you are required to write without grammatical errors and to follow proper mechanics. An advanced vocabulary also earns points. This category sometimes overlaps with Organization.

Now, let’s put together a strategy for putting yourself in the best position possible to receive a top score, and to utilize the 40 minutes in the most efficient way possible.

Step 1: Spend 5-10 minutes planning and creating an outline

Prior to the exam, it’s helpful to keep yourself updated with current issues. Almost all previous ACT essay prompts were involved with a controversial topic, political debate, social issue, or related topic. This example is based on the current ACT essay practice prompt, Intelligent Machines .

First, note the question at hand . For example:

Automation is generally seen as a sign of progress, but what is lost when we replace humans with machines?

Then, review each perspective . Note that Perspective One is against the evolution of automation; in other words, the perspective is considered a con. Perspective Two supports automation due to the argument of efficiency. Perspective Three is also pro-automation, although it provides a much different idea compared to the other perspectives.

Now, you have to think: what’s your stance ? Do you support the advancement of automation? Why or why not? A good outline will connect your own ideas with at least one perspective, based on your stance. In the example essay, the writer agrees that automation is beneficial for humanity. Make a comment on each perspective to give yourself a head start. An example outline looks like this:

Perspective One

It is somewhat true that automation impacts people’s behavior negatively due to high expectations for speed of service and efficiency. Computers generally minimize the risk of error, and when humans make mistakes, people become impatient. However, this supports the idea that jobs that can be easily automated should not be done manually.

Perspective Two

Efficiency is extremely important in providing numerous services, such as ordering food from digital menus instead of talking to a person. Efficiency also reduces the costs of items, such as automobiles, which benefits the consumer.

Perspective Three

Modern automation is certainly unprecedented. it allows us to develop infrastructure and life-saving products quickly, grow food faster, and more. This frees up time for humans to pursue other interests, allowing culture to evolve in ways we could not fathom.

Once you’ve thought about each perspective and written down some notes, you’ll be ready to write your thesis statement.

Step 2: Write your thesis statement

Having a strong thesis statement sets the precedent for your body paragraphs and conclusion, while also adhering to every scoring criterion. Since you agree with the idea that automation provides a net benefit for humanity, your thesis needs to be clear on why and how, while also acknowledging the other side of the debate. By doing so, you set your paragraphs up for promoting productive arguments and evidence.

A thesis statement is included in the example essay:

While some argue that machines negatively impact humanity, the overall contribution of automation has resulted in additional productivity, a higher quality of life, and a more prosperous and progressive world for everyone.

Note that the beginning of the statement acknowledges the other side of the issue, followed by two reasons why you believe automation is beneficial. Each reason guides the rest of your essay, with the first reason being the topic of your first paragraph, the second reason the topic of your second paragraph, and the concluding thought – that automation will lead to a more prosperous and progressive world for everyone – the basis for your concluding paragraph.

As part of your introductory paragraph, you shouldn’t jump immediately to the thesis statement. In terms of Organization and essay structure, you are required to provide a lead-in to the thesis, also known as a bridge. This can be a general statement acknowledging your stance; in our example, we provide examples of automated technology that has improved everyday life for humanity. The lead-in to the thesis is not meant to be long, so keep it at one to three sentences maximum.

Also, ensure your thesis either rejects a perspective, agrees with a perspective, or provides an alternative. The example thesis agrees with two-thirds of the perspectives while acknowledging the negative Perspective One and promoting a counterexample to support automation.

Step 3: Ensure your body paragraphs analyze the perspectives while supporting your thesis statement

Remember, your thesis statement is technically your argument, so if you’re supporting the development of automation, the language in your body paragraphs should not be contradictory. Let’s say you disagree with Perspective One; the language in your paragraph should acknowledge the stance of the perspective with supporting facts, while turning it around to provide a counterargument. Since you’re limited on time, you may not be able to write a paragraph for each perspective, so you can merge two perspectives into one paragraph as long as you provide supporting evidence that will contribute to your argument.

Some methods of supporting your argument include:

• Anecdotal claims – Using the word “I” to use personal experience to support or critique the stance of a perspective
• Statistics – The statistics don’t have to be true, as you won’t have access to source material to confirm anything you say. However, you should be familiar with how the conclusions of statistics or research outcomes are written and put this information into your own words.
• Worldview – The prompt and perspectives are not fully rounded ideas, and you are encouraged to argue a completely different perspective in order to show that the criticisms or support for an idea are not fully developed.

The concluding sentence of each body paragraph should provide a transition into the next paragraph or conclusion.

Step 4: Write a conclusion that recapitulates your thesis statement and topic of your body paragraphs

Like any argumentative or expository essay, you need to provide a conclusion. In essence, the conclusion is a restatement of your thesis while including a reference to the main point of your body paragraphs. Similar to your introductory paragraph, the conclusion should begin with a statement that acknowledges the nature of the prompt.

Writing tips:

• Aim for at least 2-3 pages of writing.
• Brush up on your vocabulary – high-level words (when used correctly and appropriately) increase your score and add credibility to your reasoning.
• Don’t stretch out a single idea; doing so often leads to redundancy, which takes away from your argument.
• Planning is important. You might feel that 40 minutes isn’t enough time to write, but spending one-fourth of that time on planning will give you direction on your writing and time to…
• Make sure to spend a few minutes after you’ve finished to review your writing for any errors.

Before you turn in that paper, don’t forget to cite your sources in APA format , MLA format , or a style of your choice.

Example essays:

There are ACT essay two examples linked here :

• ACT Essay Example: Job Changes
• ACT Essay Example: Intelligent Machines  

Published September 1, 2020.

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ACT Writing Sample Essay Topics

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*Please Note! This information relates to the old ACT Writing Test. For information on the Enhanced ACT Writing Test, which began in the fall of 2015, please see here!

The ACT Writing Test prompt will do two things:

• Describe an issue that's relevant to a high schooler's life
• Ask the writer to write about the issue from his or her own perspective

Typically, the sample prompts will give two perspectives on the issue. The writer can decide to prove one of the perspectives or create and support a new perspective on the issue.

ACT Writing Sample Essay Prompt 1

Educators debate extending high school to five years because of increasing demands on students from employers and colleges to participate in extracurricular activities and community service in addition to having high grades . Some educators support extending high school to five years because they think students need more time to achieve all that is expected of them. Other educators do not support extending high school to five years because they think students would lose interest in school and attendance would drop in the fifth year. In your opinion, should high school be extended to five years?

ACT Writing Sample Essay Prompt 2

In some high schools, many teachers and parents have encouraged the school to adopt a dress code. Some teachers and parents support a dress code because they think it will improve the learning environment in the school. Other teachers and parents do not support a dress code because they believe it inhibits a student's individual expression. In your opinion, should high schools adopt dress codes for students?

Source: The Real ACT Prep Guide, 2008

ACT Writing Sample Essay Prompt 3

A school board is concerned that the state’s requirements for core courses in mathematics, English, science, and social studies may prevent students from taking important elective courses like music, other languages, and vocational education. The school board would like to encourage more high school students to take elective courses and is considering two proposals. One proposal is to lengthen the school day to provide students with the opportunity to take elective courses. The other proposal is to offer elective courses in the summer. Write a letter to the school board in which you argue for lengthening the school day or for offering elective courses during the summer. Explain why you think your choice will encourage more students to take elective courses. Begin your letter: “Dear School Board:”

Source: www.act.org, 2009

ACT Writing Sample Essay Prompt 4

The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires all school libraries receiving certain federal funds to install and use blocking software to prevent students from viewing material considered “harmful to minors.” However, some studies conclude that blocking software in schools damages educational opportunities for students, both by blocking access to Web pages that are directly related to the state-mandated curriculums and by restricting broader inquiries of both students and teachers. In your view, should the schools block access to certain Internet Web sites?

ACT Writing Sample Essay Prompt 5

Many communities are considering adopting curfews for high school students. Some educators and parents favor curfews because they believe it will encourage students to focus more on their homework and make them more responsible. Others feel curfews are up to families, not the community, and that students today need freedom to work and participate in social activities in order to mature properly. Do you think that communities should impose curfews on high school students? Source: The Princeton Review’s Cracking the ACT, 2008

• What is the ACT?
• How To Write a Top-Scoring ACT Essay for the Enhanced Writing Test
• What to Do If You Miss Your ACT Test
• ACT Format: What to Expect on the Exam
• What's a Good ACT Writing Score?
• What to Do About an ACT Score Mistake
• ACT Reading Test Questions, Content, and Scores
• The Top 5 ACT Apps
• ACT Score Comparison for Admission to Indiana Colleges
• ACT Test 101
• Colleges that Require the ACT Writing Test
• How to Improve Your ACT Scores
• How to Study for the ACT
• ACT Score Comparison for Top New York State Colleges and Universities
• ACT Scores for Admission to the Big East Conference
• ACT Scores for Admission to Selective Oregon Colleges

Your Magical Guide to Scoring a Perfect 12 on the ACT Essay

Look, I know that you might not be super excited to write the ACT Essay . In fact, your dread of the ACT Writing section may mean that you’re not even that excited about taking the ACT test .

But how would you feel if I told you that I’ve totally figured out how to change that?

Yup. Today, instead of talking about how to get a perfect 12 on the ACT Essay, we’re actually going to talk about how you can succeed at the universe’s all-time greatest school: Hogwarts .

Little-known fact: the 12 things you need to do to succeed at Hogwarts are exactly the 12 things you need to do to get a perfect 12 on the ACT Writing section .

Spooky, right?

Let’s take a quick look at them before diving in deeper:

• Know what you’re getting into.
• Take a look around the Hogwarts Express.
• Be assured that you CAN be 1 in 10,000.
• Get yourself a time-turner (but only if necessary!).
• Make sure you give the Sorting Hat options.
• Be a Gryffindor and take a risk!
• Be a Ravenclaw and be clever.
• Be a Hufflepuff and keep going.
• Be a Slytherin and be crafty.
• Know that the way you say something is just as important as what you say.
• Go into your O.W.L.s with a plan.
• Take a page from J.K. Rowling’s book and refuse to give up!

  Read on, future Griffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs! (Slytherins, I think we all know your deal. Go talk to a snake or something.)

How to Use This Post

So what can you expect from this post? We’ll look at an overview of the ACT Writing section, then go into how it’s scored and the skills it tests. We’ll compare the ACT Essay to the SAT Essay and help you decide whether you should take the ACT with Writing or without. If you do decide to take it, we have prompts and grading advice for you to use, as well as point-by-point guides to raising your score 2, 3, or 4 points. Finally, we’ll finish off by looking at a template for a 12-scoring essay.

If you’re new to the essay, you’ll want to start at the beginning with the overview of ACT Writing and possibly even try your first practice essay today with one of the prompts here.

On the other hand, if you already have some experience with the ACT Essay, you may want to start with the guide to improving your score, or even with the template for a high-scoring essay.

Just to make it easier on you, here are links to some of the exciting places in this post where you can start your journey to the perfect ACT Essay!

• Quiz: Should You Take the ACT with Writing?
• Template for a Perfect 12 on the ACT Essay
• The Step-by-Step Guide to Getting a Perfect Score

Table of Contents

The least you should know about act writing, how is the act essay scored, skills tested in the act writing section, act vs sat essays, giving the sorting hat options: should i take act writing, act writing prompts, for studious ravenclaws: how can you grade your practice act essay, act writing test struggles: be a hufflepuff and keep going, be as crafty as a slytherin: the ultimate guide to improving your act writing score by 2, 3, or 4 points, how to get a perfect 12 on the act essay, act essay template: guide to the perfect essay (aka go into your o.w.l.s with a plan).

Before you sit down with your quill and parchment, there are a few things that you definitely need to know about ACT Writing, even if you’re taking the exam tomorrow.

First of all, it’s the last section on the ACT (okay, that phrasing might be a little confusing). This means that after you show off your skills reading and interpreting passages, calculating the square root of x, correcting dangling modifiers, and proving your aptitude for Potions in the Science section , you’re going to sit down and write an essay, just to cap it all off.

The ACT Essay is not required; however, it’s a good idea to take it, for reasons we’ll look at a little later on. It’s important to realize this in any case, because you’ll need to register for the ACT with Writing to make sure you have the chance to take it on the official exam.

Once you’re facing the ACT Essay, what will you see? One prompt in your test booklet, which you’ll respond to on a provided answer sheet, in No. 2 pencil (no mechanical pencils here).

The essay is an exercise in both persuasion and analysis. Students are given three perspectives on an issue and asked to “evaluate and analyze” the three perspectives, “state and develop” their own perspective, and “explain the relationship” between their perspective and the given perspectives. They can choose to agree with one of the provided viewpoints or may come up with their own.

Timing for the ACT Essay

From the time you turn the page in your test booklet to the ACT Essay prompt, you’ll have exactly 40 minutes to write your essay. In this time, you’ll have a variety of tasks to accomplish: read the instructions, the prompt, the sample opinions (we’ll get to this a little later), brainstorm, outline and write your essay, and proofread it.

Unlike other sections on the ACT, the Essay is scored between 2 and 12, rather than between 1 and 36. Two graders will individually score students from 1-6 on the four domains: Ideas and Analysis, Development and Support, Organization, and Language Use and Conventions. These scores will be added together between the two graders, and the final ACT essay score from 2-12 is an AVERAGE of all the domain scores . Students will still receive an ELA score, which combines the essay score with their score on the ACT English multiple-choice section.

ACT Writing Subscores

Your ACT Writing score is made up of 4 subscores, in Ideas and Analysis, Development and Support, Organization, and Language Use and Conventions. Each of two graders will give you a score from 1-6 in each domain (giving you the opportunity to obtain a total score from 2-12 in each domain). Your four scores are then averaged to give you an overall score from 2-12. Your score report will reveal each of your domain scores, so you will get to see how much of an impact your grammar had on your composite score versus your ideas. You’re going to get a fair amount of feedback on why your essay received the score it did.

Who Does the ACT Writing Scoring?

Professors McGonagall and Flitwick, of course! No, sorry. In all seriousness: teachers trying to make the big bucks during their copious free time; retired teachers who want another income stream/to help humanity; experts in test prep who don’t have conflicting interests…you get the idea.

What if One of the Graders Doesn’t Like Me?

Well, first of all, I think you mean, “What if one of them doesn’t like your essay?”, but I get it. We take critiques of our writing rather personally. However, the ACT has a safety net in place for such a situation. If the graders disagree on your essay by more than one point on any domain score, a third grader (don’t worry, not a third-grader) will be brought in to settle the dispute.

How Is My Essay Graded?

Since, as we’ve seen, the ACT Essay is not graded on how much your graders like you, how is it graded? Using this very specific ACT Essay rubric . Again, you’ll be scored from 1-6 in each of the four categories (Ideas and Analysis, Development and Support, Organization, and Language Use and Conventions) by two graders, whose scores are then averaged.

Looking Around the Hogwarts Express: What Does my Score Mean Compared to Other Students’?

What is a good ACT Writing score ?

Well. It’s hard to quantify exactly what a “good” score on the ACT Writing section is, just as it’s hard to quantify exactly what a good ACT score is, as many factors can influence what you consider “good.”

With that said.

One of the best ways to see how you well you’ve scored objectively is to look at your ACT Writing percentiles. Your percentile score describes the percentage of students who scored lower than you on the essay. For example, if you’re in the 99th percentile, congrats! You scored better than 99 out of every 100 students taking the exam.

A quick note on decimals in percentiles: obviously, there is no such thing as .37 of a person (or if there was, I don’t think he/she/they would be taking the ACT). What this means is that you have to look at your score in a broader pool. For example, if you scored an 11 on ACT Writing, you scored better than 9,937 out of every 1,000 students taking the test.

Can You Be “The Chosen One”?

I know that a score of 12 = 100th percentile is confusing. You can’t score better than 100 out of every 100 students, right? You are one of those 100 students, after all.

All this means is that the decimal is so close to 1 that the ACT has rounded up. It’s likely that the actual situation is that those students scoring a 12 on the ACT Essay scored better than 9,999 out of every 10,000 students.

That alone should show you how tough it is to get a 12 on ACT Writing.

But can it be done? Well, someone has to be that 1 person in 10,000, right?

Why can’t it be you?

Let’s take a look at how you can get there, after we finish covering ACT Writing 101.

Ordering a Time-Turner: ACT Essay Rescores

Sometimes you’ll take a test, look at your score, and think “this can’t be right.” If this happens to you on the ACT Essay, you can request a rescore.

ACT scores for essays are graded by two professional scorers. Both of them use the ACT’s official Writing Test Rubric . The rescore follows the exact same procedure, but with two new scorers. If the two new people who score your ACT Essay get a different score than the original examiners, your ACT score will be updated. If your score changes, the new scorers can choose to raise your score from the original score you received, or lower it. There’s also a chance that the new scoring session could get the same result a second time. In that case, your ACT Essay score won’t change.

How Do You Request an ACT Essay Rescore, and How Much Does It Cost?

To get your ACT Essay rescored, submit a request for a rescore in writing. Your request will need to include the following: your name, as it appeared on your ACT exam registration forms, the ID on your ACT registration account, and the month, day, year, and location of your exam. You’ll also need to include a check for $50 made out to ACT Student Services. All rescore requests must be sent no later than three months after you received your initial ACT scores.

Written requests should be mailed to:

The ACT’s scoring team will notify you of any score changes within 3-5 weeks of the request.

Things to Consider Before Requesting a Rescore

Rescores are expensive and time-consuming. If you’re thinking of getting your ACT Essay rescored (or getting a rescore on the rest of the test), you want to be sure that it’s worth it. There’s a chance your score could go down. And if it does, the new, lower score will become your official score. Your score could also stay the same, which would mean you wasted $50 per rescore request.

As we’ve seen, your essay will be scored in four different categories: Ideas and Analysis, Development and Support, Organization, and Language Use and Conventions. But what does that mean for you in terms of preparation? After all, few (if any) of us have taken classes on “Ideas and Analysis.”

What Are the Goals of the ACT Essay?

We can infer the “goals” of the ACT Essay (or rather, the skills it’s asking you to demonstrate) from the four ACT Essay rubric categories we’ve already gone over. Ideas and Analysis means that the scorers are looking for you to demonstrate critical thinking at a reasonably high level; rather than just being able to understand a series of opinions, the ACT Writing section wants you to interpret them and come up with your own thesis.

The Development and Support aspect tells us that the ACT Essay is evaluating your ability to craft a whole argument, rather than just a thesis statement. Again, it’s testing your critical reasoning skills: can you determine, in a limited timeframe, what makes for convincing evidence for your argument? The Organization category indicates that the ACT is also testing how clearly you can present this information in a short essay, in a way that makes sense not just to you, but also to the reader.

Finally, you can look on Language Use and Conventions as ACT English in practice. How’s your vocabulary and grammar? Can you write in an efficient and readable way? How eloquent (to an extent) can you be?

Or, in other words, your ACT essay has four major goals:

• Make judgments : the graders evaluate how well you understand the perspectives, and their implications, values and assumptions. Did you understand the question they presented to you? Did you pick a side? Did you understand the strengths and weaknesses of different perspectives on an issue?
• Develop a position : the graders evaluate how well you supported the argument you made in your essay. Did you give clear facts and relevant details that really helped your argument be more persuasive? Did you vary the types of evidence you used? Did you show the graders that you know the difference between assertion (just saying something) and evidence (showing why that assertion is true)? The more specific you can be, the more you show the graders how well you understood the topic and its controversy, which helps out your ‘make judgments’ criterion as well.
• Organization and focus : the graders evaluate how logically you present your ideas. Did you have a clear introduction, body, and conclusion? Are your body paragraphs ordered in a way that makes sense? Can the graders follow your train of thought clearly from beginning to end? Did you use transitions between and among your paragraphs to show the readers how they all link together? Did you stay on topic?
• Communicate clearly : the graders also look at how well you express yourself, in accordance with the rules of Standard Written English, a.k.a. “School, Work, and Business English,” as far as you’re concerned. Did you vary your sentence structure so that some sentences are short and others are long? Is your word choice effective? How is your grammar? If there are errors, are they particularly distracting? Can the readers still get your point or can they not understand what you’re saying?

Why Do Colleges Care About the ACT Essay?

Admissions officers are interested in your ACT Essay scores precisely because they demonstrate, to a certain extent, your skills in the above areas. No matter what you end up majoring in, critical reasoning skills, as well as writing skills, will end up being important. While it can be difficult to judge these skills based on one 40-minute essay, the four categories of the rubric and corresponding scores give admissions officers at least some sense of your experience and skill in these areas.

Where’s That Ideas and Analysis Class Again?

I know it seems like your education might not have prepared you for the ACT Essay. However, you’d be surprised at how much you already know. Your English classes will have taught you a lot about all four categories, while essays you’ve written for History, Social Studies, and even Science classes will have helped you develop skills in the areas of Development and Support and Organization. All the better if you’ve taken a class on persuasive writing or speeches.

How to Study for the ACT Essay Without Studying

I mean…you should do some specific studying for the ACT Essay! But know that you’re already preparing for the essay in your everyday life, even if you don’t know it. Every time you listen to someone’s opinion and evaluate it, every time you respond with your own opinion, you’re using the exact critical reasoning skills that the ACT Writing section tests.

If you’re still on the fence about whether or not to take the ACT at all, and take the SAT instead , comparing the two essays might help. While there are a lot of factors to take into consideration when making this decision, knowing the differences in the essays may just prove to be the tipping factor that helps you decide in favor of one test .

Both the ACT and the SAT each have one essay. The ACT gives you 40 minutes to write it, while the SAT gives you 50 minutes to write it. The essay is optional on both tests. Furthermore, the essay is always the last section on each exam (this hasn’t always been the case with the SAT, but it is now!).

So what is the difference between the two essays? Well, it’s the type of assignment you’ll get.

On the ACT, as we’ve seen, you’ll see three different opinions on a debatable topic; the essay prompt will ask you to evaluate them and come up with your own opinion.

On the other hand, the SAT gives you a rather long (650-700 word) passage to read, then asks you to evaluate how the author develops his or her argument. Unlike the ACT, you do not include your own opinion or arguments on the SAT Essay.

So how to choose?

If you’re good at coming up with an opinion and developing strong examples quickly, the ACT Essay’s the one for on you. But

if you’re better at analyzing other people’s writing (the kind of work you do for most literature essays, for example), the SAT’s the better way to go.

If you’ve decided to take the ACT: awesome! I get it, though—you have enough decisions to make without throwing one more on top of the pile!

Still, you will have to decide whether or not to take the ACT with Writing.

While we don’t have Madame Trelawney’s crystal ball (which, let’s face it, was pretty useless for the most part), we DO have a way to help you decide whether or not to take the ACT Essay section or not: our very own, expertly written quiz!  

“Should I Take the ACT Writing Test?” Test

Question 1 of 5

Question 2 of 5

Question 3 of 5

Question 4 of 5

Question 5 of 5

The Final Word: Be a Gryffindor and Take a Risk

The final answer is, you should probably take the test.   The vast majority of colleges don’t require writing, but the majority of highly competitive colleges do, which means if you aren’t 100% sure where you want to apply yet (and most juniors taking the ACT are not), you might be limiting your options if you don’t take the optional essay.

If you can spare the fee and feel you can get a good score, a decent ACT Writing score opens a lot of doors to you. It certainly doesn’t hurt your odds of being accepted into any school, but of course, every test-taker has different needs and realistically there are some situations where taking the ACT Writing Test may not be practical.

But if you are very uncomfortable with writing or don’t plan to apply to schools that require the essay, well, there’s no need to put yourself through another 40 minutes of agony.

Let’s get into a little more detail. By now, you already know that you’re going to be evaluating three different perspectives on a debatable issue.

But what does that look like in practice?

Glad you asked! Here’s a Magoosh example of an ACT Essay prompt and stimulus.

ACT Essay Prompt: Censorship

Almost since human beings began sharing ideas, the issue of censorship (officially suppressing ideas or writing) has been debated. Proponents of censorship argue, for example, that offensive material might morally corrupt children or that governments have the right to protect their national secrets. Opponents argue that censorship infringes on individual freedom and hinders progress. Censorship has long been an issue regarding books and papers; now, it has become a critical issue concerning the great amount of information on the Internet. Given the continued impact of censorship on various aspects of our lives, it is an issue worth examining.

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about the impact of censorship.

Perspective One

Selective censorship prevents children from being exposed to offensive material. It allows parents and caretakers to determine what material children are ready for and when they are ready based on their maturity level.

Perspective Two

Censorship intrudes upon freedom of the press and freedom of speech. Individuals have the right to learn about their world, both its positive and negative aspects, and express their ideas on it.

Perspective Three

Censorship should not be condoned because it places too much power in the hands of a few: no government or leadership system should be allowed to decide what information should reach the public.

Write a unified, coherent essay in which you evaluate multiple perspectives on the impact of censorship on society. In your essay, be sure to:

• analyze and evaluate the perspectives given
• state and develop your own perspective on the issue
• explain the relationship between your perspective and those given

Your perspective may be in full agreement with any of the others, in partial agreement, or wholly different. Whatever the case, support your ideas with logical reasoning and detailed, persuasive examples.

…And that’s what an ACT Essay prompt looks like!

Want More ACT Essay Prompts?

If you went the extra mile and used one of the above prompts for practice, fantastic! What now, though? What do you do with this beautiful practice ACT essay you’ve just written?

The first thing to do is to edit it, particularly if you wrote it under timed conditions (remember: ACT Essay time = 40 minutes). Without the constraints of time, you may see points you wish you’d developed, examples that could have been better, or even ways in which you could have improved your thesis statement.

However, if you’re going to improve significantly, it’s best to get a helping hand for editing. English teachers are a great resource; guidance counselors may also have enough familiarity with the ACT to help edit your essays. In most high schools, one teacher or staff member is usually the point person for standardized tests, and they’re a good place to start.

They can also be useful when it comes to grading your essay. Of course, you can and should use the rubric to grade your essay yourself; however, on the official ACT exam, you’ll have two graders—neither of whom will be as hard (or as easy) on you as, well, you are!

After you’ve written a few practice essays (you can find even more prompts on full-length practice tests , which are a good idea to take regularly anyway!) and worked through scoring and edits with your designated ACT Writing expert, you may notice that you’re struggling in an area or two (or three, or four). That’s only natural—this is a new task for you, after all! And you may be relieved to find that several problems in particular crop up for students facing the ACT Writing test.

Where Most Students Struggle on the ACT Essay

In my experience, students struggle the most to:

• Pick an opinion to side with…
• …and to come up with creative examples to support it.

Notice that these are the first two categories of that good ol’ rubric, “Ideas and Analysis” and “Development and Support.” There are strategies you can use to work on your organization and language usage (and we’ll look at those in a little bit), but a lot of students just don’t trust their own ideas.

Choosing a Side

To help you with #1, Magoosh’s ACT expert David Recine did a little digging. Okay, a lot of digging. He called the ACT. Here’s what he found out:

There is a weird apparent contradiction between the ACT Essay requirements in the official ACT Essay score guide, and the requirements that appear in the ACT Essay examples on the official ACT website.

Remember how the ACT Essay prompt presents an issue and three opinions on the issue? Well, in the instructions for the sample ACT Essay prompt on the ACT website , it says you need to “analyze the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective .” Therein lies the contradiction. The official ACT Essay score guide emphasizes the importance of analyzing “multiple perspectives.”

So which is it? To find out, I contacted ACT customer service. The representative I spoke with said that the online essay prompt mentions “at least one perspective” because you need to analyze at least one of the three perspectives to have a chance at a score of more than 2. She then informed me that you need to analyze two or three of the given perspectives to have any chance at a score of 10 or higher. From there, ACT Customer service emphasized that including all three perspectives gives you the best possible chance at the full 12 points.

The customer service rep’s argument in favor of analyzing all three perspectives is supported in The Official ACT Prep Guide . Interestingly, the ACT Prep Guide’s prompts do not indicate that one perspective may be enough. Unlike the essay prompt on the ACT website, the writing instructions in the ACT OG tell you “evaluate multiple perspectives” and “evaluate perspectives given.”

So, if you want the best possible score (and who doesn’t?), you should include all three given perspectives — along with your own — in the new ACT Essay.

So that’s definitely something to keep in mind when you’re shaping your thesis statement.

Here’s some more food for thought, particularly if you’re aiming for that perfect 12 . Choose the option to provide your own perspective on the ACT essay, but only switch it up slightly.   Now, this is tricky. You can get a perfect score simply by completely agreeing with one of the three presented perspectives, and for the vast majority of students, this is the best course of action to make sure you don’t go completely off track and end up hurting your score. However, if you consider yourself to be a very strong writer, you might be able to truly impress by adding your own twist on the prompt. In most cases, the easiest way to do this is to narrow the scope of one of the perspectives. For example, if you look at ACT’s official sample essay #5 , you’ll see that the graders applauded the student for evaluating the perspectives through the “lens of a particular ideology”: capitalism.

The prompt is about a larger issue–the positive or negative impact of “intelligent machines” in our society–but this student has narrowed the scope, and in doing so, was able to provide a specific compelling argument that didn’t try to address all of life in a five-paragraph essay.

So for you ACT Writing superstars out there who are looking for a score in the 11 to 12 range, take these key tips to heart and get practicing with ACT Writing prompts. The new ACT essay prompt is tough, but practicing with sample prompts and coming up with arguments on the fly will help!

Examples on the ACT Essay

In terms of examples, thinking outside the box is always better. So if something kooky (but relevant) occurs to you, go ahead and use it!   On the first new essay on one ACT, a whole lot of students wrote about the Civil Rights movement. It really just was an obvious example that a lot of students had studied, and it was certainly the first thing that jumped to my mind as well. Now, technically, graders are not supposed to be punishing you for an unoriginal example as long as you do it well. But remember the golden rule: they are only human! If a grader reads 50 essays about the Civil Rights movement in a row, and then they get to yours, and you are writing about something totally different, they are going to sit up and pay attention. Not only that, but it will be more difficult to compare your essay to others. If you write about the same topic as everyone else, it is likely that some people won’t do it as well as you, but that others will do it better. So try not to open yourself to these comparisons. Be original.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t write about a common topic, but if you are going to do it, make sure you pick very specific examples within that topic to demonstrate your knowledge. But if you can think of something that would be less obvious—well, I would go that route.

Where Most Students Lose Points on the ACT Essay—and What to Do About It

Those are some common struggles students face when approaching the essay. But what causes them to lose the most points? Well…

• Unclear structure. To avoid this pitfall, know your essay structure in advance . We’ll get into the best organizational strategies a little later on.
• Vague examples . Give VERY specific examples.For each of the three perspectives, make sure you give specific examples. And the more specific they are, the better. You don’t need a lot–two or three good ones do the trick. Examples from historical and contemporary events and circumstances tend to go over best. Personal examples can also work, but graders seem to be biased towards outside examples they seem to carry more weight.

As with everything on the ACT, practice makes perfect ! That’s one reason why…

Now you know how not to lose points—let’s talk about how you can gain them. More specifically, let’s take a look at how you can bring your ACT Writing score up 2, 3, or 4 points.

What Does it Mean to Go up 2, 3, 4 Points on the ACT Essay?

To do this, let’s start by returning to that all-important official ACT Writing Test Rubric . Remember, because the ACT combines two graders’ evaluations for your final score, going up 2 points really means going up one category on the rubric (i.e. from a 5 to a 6); going up 3 points means going up between 1 and 2 categories (i.e. from a 4 to a 6); and going up 4 points means going up 2 categories (i.e. from a 3 to a 6).

So with that in mind, let’s quickly review what the ACT graders are looking for from a perfect 6 ACT essay:

ACT Writing: What You Need for a 12 Essay

Now, a few things to keep in mind. No essay is perfect, nor do the ACT graders expect it to be. The graders know you only have 40 minutes to respond to the prompt. They’re just looking for a good first draft.

Your essay does not have to DO ALL THE THINGS in each category in order to be given that score. If an essay meets most or almost all of the criteria for a 6, then it’s given a 6.

But remember, the ACT readers don’t expect perfection. If your grammar isn’t perfect, or if your essay doesn’t have paragraphs, it isn’t a deal-breaker. Your essay has to meet most or almost all of the criteria for each category to be given that score, not every single one .

Bringing Your ACT Essay Score Up 2 Points

You can gain 2 points on the ACT Essay with some adjustments to the way you think about the prompt and craft your argument. Generally, these adjustments are pretty minor. How minor, you may wonder? Let’s take a look at how a test-taker could move from a 5 to a 6 (and thus move from a 10 to a perfect 12) on the ACT Essay.

ACT Writing: What You Need to Go From a 10 to a 12

I’ll be the first one to admit that the differences between many of these criteria are subtle (if not, as in the case of the last, nonexistent!) However, if you examine them carefully, you’ll see that the main difference between an ACT essay that receives a 5 and an ACT essay that receives a 6 is that the 5 essay is competent and works well with the material that’s provided, while the 6 essay expands the ideas in thoughtful and nuanced ways. This principle goes for everything from the thesis itself to the word choice.

Bringing Your ACT Essay Score Up 3 Points

Bringing your ACT Essay score up by 3 points is a tricky goal. Why? Because raising your score by 3 points means that you’ll be attempting to move up by 2 points from one grader and 1 from the other.

Because you’ll need to bring your score up 2 points (for example, from a 4 to a 6) with one of your graders, it’s actually a good idea to aim for this 2-point raise in your score from both for an increase of 4 points. You may only end up getting a 3-point bump, but it’s better to aim too high than too low!

With that in mind, read on to learn more about…

Bringing Your ACT Essay Score Up 4 Points

While the 2-point jump may seem relatively easy (though it does definitely require both a perspective shift and practice!) a 4-point increase on the ACT Essay may seem more intimidating. Going from a 10 to a 12 on the essay sounds a lot easier than going from an 8 to a 12, after all.

But the biggest difference between an 8 essay and a 12 essay is the same difference that we can see between a 10 essay and a 12 essay, just of a different order of magnitude. While a 12 essay, as we just saw, is nuanced and the 10 essay is competent, the 8 essay is basically pretty good. An 8 essay does what the prompt asks, but that’s pretty much all it does.

To get those extra four points on the ACT Essay, you’ll need to consider exactly how you’re addressing each criterion. So let’s take a look at the precise differences between an 8 and a 12 essay:

ACT Writing: What You Need to Go From an 8 to a 12

Bringing Your ACT Essay Score Up Generally

That’s all well and good, I can hear you saying, but what if I’m not aiming for a perfect score on the ACT Essay? What if I’m currently writing 4 essays and I want to bring my score up to 8? Is that possible?

Oh, it’s possible. It’ll take practice and commitment, but you can get there in the end.

Here’s what you’ll need to do: look at the above shifts between a 10 and 12 essay, then between an 8 and a 12 essay. Notice that the lower the ACT essay scores get, the less precise and clear aspects of the writing are.

This is all the more true for an essay scoring 6 or below. If you’re scoring in this range, you need to think about specifics in every aspect of your essay. Make your thesis statement much more specific. Make your examples much more specific. Make your language choices much more specific (“violet” instead of “purple” or “colorful” or even “interesting,” depending on the context).  

We’ve seen how to boost your score to the perfect 12—but what if you’re just starting out? Or what if you’re current essay is a 6 or below, and you know that you’ll need to overhaul your approach to the essay to end up with that elite, perfect score?

In this section, we’ll take a look at exactly how you can start from scratch and build the perfect ACT essay (that gets that perfect ACT score)!  

ACT Writing: Breaking Down the Steps

First of all, perfect scorers on the ACT Essay are systematic in their approach to the Writing section. By that, I mean that they don’t rely on their existing writing skills and hope they can just wing it on test day. Instead, they plan ahead as much as possible, focusing not only on what they should be doing during each minute (yup!) of the writing section, but also on how they should be doing it.

In case you were wondering what you can do to become part of this elite group, I’ve got you covered. Here are the steps to writing the perfect ACT Essay!

Step 1: Break Down the Prompt (5 Minutes)

As you read the prompt and three opinions, two questions should be at the front of your mind:

• What is the prompt’s main idea?
• How can I summarize each of the three opinions?

Take a minute to write (or scribble) your answers to these two questions on the prompt itself. For the prompt’s main idea, you shouldn’t need to write more than three sentences . For the three opinions, one sentence each should do .

The reason it’s a good idea to take notes at this stage is so that you won’t forget these main ideas later. After all, these ideas will most likely show up (just with better handwriting and in your own words) in your actual essay.

Step 2: Develop Your Opinion (5 Minutes)

Okay, so you’ve broken down all the information. Now it’s time to come up with some opinion(s) of your own.

Take a moment to reread your summary of the prompt. It’s time to decide what you believe (or what’s easiest for you to argue). When you’ve come up with your opinion, write it on the prompt. Using arrows, point to the parts of the prompt that support your idea. The arrows will help you find this information (and save time) as you write your essay.

Step 3: Make Connections (5 Minutes)

You have your opinion and supporting information from the prompt. Now it’s time to make connections between your ideas and those in the three opinions. That’s right, we’re going to be drawing more arrows! Review the opinions for ideas/beliefs that are either close to your own opinion are dramatically opposite. These are the ideas you’re either going to be agreeing with or disproving in your essay, so you should know where they are.

Step 4: Put it all Together (20 Minutes)

Fortunately, the exam doesn’t have a set ACT Essay format for your essay. You get some freedom, but trust me, I’ve seen how freedom can become a double-edged sword. It’s easy to think “I’ve got this” and then go all over the place. Scores suffer, and I don’t want that to happen to you.

Step 5: Proofread—Don’t Edit! (5 Minutes)

Since “Language Use” is its own separate grading category, it is worth your time to catch any errors you may have inadvertently made while writing quickly. However, don’t be tempted to use this time to rewrite your essay! Accept the fact that you’re going to have to stick with the thesis and examples you chose, and focus on correcting spelling and grammar, and making your language choices more precise.

What Should the Introduction Do?

You want to make sure your introductory paragraph introduces the perspectives provided in the prompt and ends with a thesis statement that states your own perspective and why you believe it.

For example, based on the released ACT example prompt on Intelligent Machines here , this could potentially be your introduction:

Although intelligent machines might cause us to question what makes us human, it is too extreme to say that they cause us to either to lose our humanity or push us to become super-human. Humans and machines can work in concert: machines can be employed to take on tasks that are menial, tedious, and time-consuming, leaving humans free to work on tasks that require a human mind and spirit.

Notice that the first sentence summarizes the first and third perspectives in the prompt and the thesis statement agrees with the second. This sets up a structure for your essay in which you will evaluate the three perspectives and explain why you agree with one of them.

Okay…What About My Examples?

You have a certain level of “creative liberty” when it comes to your evidence. You can make up evidence and details if you need to, as long as they’re plausible. As far as the ACT is concerned, you can make up a book, survey, study, etc. that supports your argument. Just don’t give the author of your fictional study the name “Dr. J. Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmidt.”

Why is this okay on the ACT? Well, you’ve only got 40 minutes to come up with a clear, reasoned, well-supported, cogent, persuasive essay on the topic given to you. You don’t have the time or resources for research, but you have to make the argument somehow. If you had the ability to do even a quick Google search, you would. Since you can’t, make up something that sounds plausible if you have to. Just support your argument. That’s what the graders care about.

Writing Rules You Must Know to Get That Perfect Score

How can you do this? Get organized early and check out Magoosh’s guides to the finer points of English grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary that the ACT graders will be looking for. Here are the ACT writing tips you need before test day:

ACT English Writing Skills: Everything You Need to Know

• 19 ACT Grammar Rules You Need to Know to Get a Great Score
• ACT English Punctuation
• Writing Style

ACT English Vocabulary: Everything You Need to Know

• ACT Vocabulary
• Top Tips for ACT Vocabulary
• Boost Your Vocabulary, Boost Your ACT Score

ACT Test Day: Essay Timing

You know how you’re going to come up with your thesis. You know how you’re going to organize your essay. You even know how you’re going to use your vocab and grammar to your advantage…

…but can you do it in 40 minutes?

Timed practice is the key to mastering this, but even masters of the ACT essay will occasionally find that they’re running out of time.

It happens. You look at the clock, and you realize that time’s almost up. Don’t panic—there are ways to save your essay… and your score!

Here are some steps you can take to adjust your pace and writing when the clock is running down.

If you are running out of ACT writing time, stay focused. Running out of time can be very distracting. You may feel the urge to stop, take a deep breath, and think about what you should do. Any pause you make to just think should be minimal. Focus on continuing to write, while adjusting your pace and approach.

Adjust Your Pace

Write faster . If you’d been writing at a more careful pace to avoid errors and make good word choices, focus less on these minor aspects of writing. Speed up and just aim for getting the essay done. Word choice and errors do affect your score in some ways, but an incomplete essay will get a much lower score than an essay that just has a few mistakes.

When you speed up, you will naturally change your approach a little, because you won’t have time to check your writing for the smaller details, as I mentioned above. But there are other more substantial changes you can make as you approach the rest of your essay.

One thing you can do is develop your ideas less for the remainder of the essay. Suppose you have two paragraphs left to write. Maybe your previous paragraphs has three supporting ideas for each topic sentence. To save time, include just one or two supporting details in your remaining paragraphs.

The same goes for the remaining structure of your essay overall. If you used transitional phrases and sentences earlier in the essay, skip them for the rest of the essay. And even if your introductory paragraph was three, four, or even five sentences long, your concluding paragraph can be just one good sentence– or maybe two.

Quickly select your most important ideas. Look at the original passage in the ACT essay prompt. What are the main ideas in the introduction and the three perspectives given. How simply can you put those ideas? And which ideas can you ignore and leave out of your essay, while still making your essay as complete as possible?

Worry about completion, not perfection. If you try maintain top quality while rushing to beat the clock, you will fail. And as you feel yourself failing to write a perfect essay, you’ll start to feel upset and distracted, and you’ll slow down.

Instead focus on completing the essay, ensuring it contains every important key idea, some support for each of the key ideas, and a clear conclusion. With your eyes on that prize, distractions will melt away, and you’ll speed up instead of slowing down. In the best of scenarios, you may speed up enough that you still have at least a little time to go back and make a few last minute (or last second) improvements before your time is cut off.

A Note on the 5-Paragraph Essay

Should the ACT Essay be five paragraphs?   The short answer? Not necessarily. In theory, if you can make a coherent, persuasive argument within the time limit, it doesn’t matter how many or how few paragraphs you have (as long as you have some paragraphs–writing all in one big blob is no good).

The more practical answer, though, is ALL HAIL THE FIVE-PARAGRAPH ESSAY . And if you’re aiming for that perfect score, just make slight adjustments to the standard format; we’ll take a look at how to do this in the next section.

What is the Five Paragraph Essay Format?

In case you’re unfamiliar with it, the five-paragraph essay is a standard essay format that is taught in many, many schools. It’s essentially a framework that you can drape almost any topic over and still have a solid structure at the end. It also makes sense on an essay question that presents you with three different perspectives to analyze. You can devote one paragraph to each perspective and end on the one that most agrees with your own perspective, so you can develop it a little further.

Your basic five-paragraph essay starts with the introduction . Here, you introduce the debatable topic and state your thesis .

Your next three paragraphs are the body of your essay. On the old essay (and on many essays you write in school) this is where you put your examples, reasons, and evidence for your thesis. Since you’re provided with three perspectives to analyze, this actually makes your life quite a bit easier. You don’t even have to decide what each paragraph should be about! Each paragraph can be devoted to analyzing one of the three perspectives using solid, specific evidence and reasoning .

I suggest that you order the perspectives in the way that will best support your overall argument. This typically means putting the perspective you agree with most in the third body paragraph. Then you can further develop your own perspective within that paragraph or include it as a separate fourth body paragraph if appropriate. It also helps a lot to have a clear transition between each paragraph.

The final paragraph is the conclusion. You do not have to restate every argument you’ve made in the body, but you should summarize your argument and restate your thesis in different words. If you can, try to end with something that sounds like it ties everything together. For example, if you use a quote in the introduction, reference it in the conclusion. Little things like that make the essay feel more cohesive.

How to Use the 5-Paragraph Essay Format to Your Advantage

This may sound terribly boring. And, admittedly, it isn’t the most exciting way to write. But can you imagine walking into your ACT with the pre-write for your essay already half written ? All you have to do is get the specific topic and decide what your perspective is. You’re already ahead of the game!

What does this look like in practice? Here’s one organization strategy that should work well if you choose to agree with one of the perspectives.

• Brief intro paragraph (2-3 sentences)
• Evaluation of the first perspective you did not choose with specific examples
• Evaluation of other perspective you did not choose with specific examples
• Evaluation of the perspective you agree with and further development on why you agree with it using specific examples (this should be a longer paragraph than the first two, or it could be split into two paragraphs)
• Brief conclusion (approx 2 sentences): make a final case for your argument

This structure ensures that you answer all three parts of the question: evaluating the three perspectives, developing your own, and explaining the relationship between your perspective and the others.

And if you’re dying to see what this looks like in actual practice, wonder no more! Kristin will show you exactly how she’s going to write a great ACT essay from start to finish. In the video, Kristin is taking on the role of a student seeing an ACT essay question for the first time, evaluating the perspectives, brainstorming, outlining, and finally writing each paragraph of the essay. And she’ll give you all of her most important tips along the way, so stick it out :).

Remember, this is just one essay, and it is not necessarily perfect. But, hey, no one is perfect in 40 minutes! There are thousands of successful ways to approach this essay.

What differentiates a “perfect 12” essay? Primarily specificity and precision. However, those two qualities have to run deep, affecting everything from your thesis statement to your organization, from your choice (and explanation) of your examples to the mechanics and vocabulary you use.

But even if you don’t think of yourself as a great writer, remember that you can still get a perfect score on the ACT Essay: you just need to learn the conventions, practice a ton, and constantly evaluate your work so you can keep improving. Is it easy? No. But is it impossible? Also no.

On test day, let all thoughts of perfection fall away. Just focus on what you’ve learned in your practice, and on writing the best essay you possibly can. And be proud of yourself—you’ve earned it!

After all, some of the best ACT moments come after the test. As mega-scorer Magoosh student Ori C. tells us, “I’d say the best part [of the experience] was when I was sitting on the bus and got a Magoosh notification saying that my ACT scores had probably been posted. I went on the ACT website and screenshotted my scores to text to my parents. Finally seeing the scores verified that all my hard work had paid off.”

So the major takeaway here? If you want to get that perfect 12 on your ACT Essay…be like J.K. Rowling (who had the first Harry Potter book rejected by 12 publishers!) and refuse to give up!

Want to ace all sections of the ACT? Check out our posts:

• How to Get a Perfect 36 on ACT Reading: An Intergalactic Guide
• How to Get a Perfect 36 on ACT Math: The Jurassic Guide
• How to Get a Perfect 36 on ACT Science: The Dark Knight’s Guide
• How to Get a Perfect 36 on the ACT Reading Test: A Tropical Guide

With many thanks to Kristin Fracchia, Catrina Coffey, David Recine, and Thomas Broderick for their contributions to this post.

Rachel is a Magoosh Content Creator. She writes and updates content on our High School and GRE Blogs to ensure students are equipped with the best information during their test prep journey. As a test-prep instructor for more than five years in there different countries, Rachel has helped students around the world prepare for various standardized tests, including the SAT, ACT, TOEFL, GRE, and GMAT, and she is one of the authors of our Magoosh ACT Prep Book . Rachel has a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature from Brown University, an MA in Cinematography from the Université de Paris VII, and a Ph.D. in Film Studies from University College London. For over a decade, Rachel has honed her craft as a fiction and memoir writer and public speaker. Her novel, THE BALLERINAS , is forthcoming in December 2021 from St. Martin’s Press , while her memoir, GRADUATES IN WONDERLAND , co-written with Jessica Pan, was published in 2014 by Penguin Random House. Her work has appeared in over a dozen online and print publications, including Vanity Fair Hollywood. When she isn’t strategically stringing words together at Magoosh, you can find Rachel riding horses or with her nose in a book. Join her on Twitter , Instagram , or Facebook !

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Essay Papers Writing Online

Mastering the art of crafting an impressive act essay.

When it comes to taking the ACT, the essay section can be a daunting task for many students. Crafting a stellar ACT essay requires a combination of critical thinking, writing skills, and knowledge of what the examiners are looking for. In this article, we will provide you with valuable tips and strategies to help you ace the ACT essay section.

Understanding the Prompt: The first step in writing a top-notch ACT essay is to carefully read and understand the prompt. Take the time to analyze the prompt, identify the key points, and determine the perspective you want to take. Make sure to address all parts of the prompt in your essay to demonstrate your understanding of the topic.

Crafting a Strong Thesis: A well-crafted thesis statement is essential for a successful ACT essay. Your thesis should clearly state your perspective on the topic and provide a roadmap for the rest of your essay. Make sure your thesis is specific, concise, and supported by evidence from the reading passages provided.

Mastering the ACT Essay Format

When crafting your ACT essay, it is crucial to pay attention to the format in order to present your ideas clearly and effectively. Here are some tips to help you master the ACT essay format:

• Introduction: Start your essay with a clear introduction that introduces the topic and presents your thesis statement. The introduction should also provide some context for the issue being discussed.
• Body Paragraphs: The body of your essay should consist of three paragraphs, each presenting a separate argument or point of view. Make sure to support each argument with specific examples and evidence.
• Transition: Use transitional phrases to smoothly move from one paragraph to the next. This will help to maintain the flow of your essay and make it easier to follow.
• Conclusion: End your essay with a strong conclusion that restates your thesis and summarizes the main points of your argument. Avoid introducing new information in the conclusion.

By following these guidelines, you can ensure that your ACT essay is well-organized and effectively communicates your ideas to the reader. Practice writing essays in this format to improve your writing skills and boost your ACT essay score.

Understanding the Prompt

Before you start crafting your ACT essay, it’s essential to have a clear understanding of the prompt. Take the time to carefully read and analyze the prompt provided. Understand the main topic or issue being discussed, the specific question or directive you need to address, and any relevant context or background information provided.

Highlight key words or phrases in the prompt that can guide your essay writing. Pay close attention to any specific requirements or instructions included in the prompt, such as the need to take a specific stance, provide examples, or address multiple perspectives.

By thoroughly understanding the prompt, you’ll be better equipped to craft a focused and coherent response that directly addresses the question at hand. This will help ensure that your essay is well-structured, relevant, and meets the expectations of the ACT examiners.

Developing a Strong Thesis

One of the most important elements of a stellar ACT essay is a strong thesis statement. Your thesis is the central claim that you will be arguing for throughout your essay. It should be clear, specific, and concise, outlining the main point you will be making in your essay.

When developing your thesis, make sure to consider the prompt and the specific issue or topic at hand. Your thesis should directly address the question or problem presented in the prompt, and provide a clear stance on the issue. Avoid vague or generalized statements, and instead strive for a thesis that is focused and impactful.

Remember that your thesis sets the tone for the rest of your essay, so take the time to craft a strong and compelling statement that will guide your writing and help you stay on track as you develop your argument.

Structuring Your Essay

When crafting your ACT essay, it’s essential to have a clear and organized structure. A well-structured essay will not only help you express your ideas effectively but also make it easier for the reader to follow your arguments.

Start with a strong introduction that clearly states your thesis and provides a brief overview of the points you will discuss. This sets the tone for the rest of the essay and gives the reader a roadmap of what to expect.

Next, develop your body paragraphs, each focusing on a specific supporting point that relates back to your thesis. Make sure to provide evidence and examples to back up your claims and demonstrate critical thinking skills.

Conclude your essay with a strong conclusion that summarizes your main points and reinforces your thesis. This is your last chance to leave a lasting impression on the reader, so make it count!

Remember, a well-structured essay is not only about what you say but also how you say it. Pay attention to transitions between paragraphs, logical organization of ideas, and a cohesive flow throughout the essay. This will ensure that your ACT essay is not only well-written but also well-received by the readers.

Using Examples to Support Your Ideas

When crafting your ACT essay, it’s crucial to support your ideas with relevant examples. Providing examples not only strengthens your argument but also helps to illustrate your points clearly to the reader.

Choose Examples Wisely: Select examples that are specific, detailed, and directly relate to the topic at hand. Generic examples may weaken your argument, so be sure to choose examples that are compelling and relevant.

For instance, if you’re discussing the impact of technology on communication, providing a specific example of how social media has changed how people interact can strengthen your argument.

Provide Evidence: Back up your examples with solid evidence to lend credibility to your essay. Statistics, studies, and expert opinions can all serve as valuable evidence to support your claims.

Quoting a study that shows a correlation between excessive screen time and decreased face-to-face communication can add weight to your argument about the negative effects of technology.

Explain the Significance: After presenting your examples, be sure to explain their relevance to your thesis statement. Clearly connect the examples back to your main argument to show how they support your overall point.

By tying your examples back to your thesis, you ensure that your essay stays focused and cohesive, making a stronger case for your position.

Editing and Proofreading Your Essay

Once you’ve finished writing your ACT essay, it’s crucial to spend some time editing and proofreading it. This step is essential to ensure that your essay is clear, coherent, and error-free.

Start by reviewing your essay for overall structure and organization. Make sure your introduction and conclusion are strong and that your body paragraphs flow logically. Check for any gaps in your argument and make sure each paragraph contributes to your overall thesis.

Next, focus on sentence-level editing. Look for awkward phrasing, unclear sentences, and grammatical errors. Consider reading your essay out loud to catch any awkward or confusing passages.

Finally, proofread your essay for spelling and punctuation errors. Pay attention to commonly misused words, such as “there,” “their,” and “they’re.” Make sure your punctuation is consistent and appropriate.

Editing and proofreading may seem tedious, but they are essential steps in crafting a stellar ACT essay. Taking the time to polish your writing can make a significant difference in the clarity and effectiveness of your essay.

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Here Are the Olympic Moments We Won’t Forget

It doesn’t take a medal to make a lasting memory.

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By The New York Times

Success and failure. Exhilaration and agony. Gold, silver and bronze.

The Olympics will always turn on who won and who lost, how high and how fast and how far. But they linger in our minds long after they end for moments that might have little to do with the actual competitions.

Jordan Chiles and Simone Biles came up with the plan. They had both wanted to be on the top step of the medal stand after the final event of the women’s gymnastics competition, the floor exercise. But Biles, the favorite, had made a few mistakes, and Chiles had made a few more, so they instead became bookends to the true headliner: Rebeca Andrade of Brazil. And so a plan was hatched.

After Chiles accepted her bronze medal ( temporarily, it turned out ) and Biles her silver, Andrade was introduced as the Olympic champion. As she approached the podium — completing the first all-Black podium in Olympic gymnastics history — Biles and Chiles turned to Andrade, dropped to one knee and bowed. Afterward, they called her a queen. — JULIET MACUR

More Cowbell

After Bobby Finke won the 1,500-meter freestyle in world-record time — preserving American men’s 120-year streak of winning at least one individual swimming gold at the Olympic Games — the NBC cameras panned to a particularly excited fan. She screamed. She pumped her fists. She clanged her cowbell.

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What happened in the Kolkata rape case that triggered doctors’ protests?

Activists and doctors in India demand better safeguarding of women and medical professionals after a trainee medic was raped and murdered in Kolkata.

Activists and doctors across India continued to protest on Wednesday to demand justice for a female doctor, who was raped and murdered while on duty in a hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata.

Feminist groups rallied on the streets in protests titled “Reclaim the Night” in Kolkata overnight on Wednesday – on the eve of India’s independence day – in solidarity with the victim, demanding the principal of RG Kar Medical College resign. Some feminist protesters also marched well beyond Kolkata, including in the capital Delhi.

Keep reading

Doctors across india protest rape and murder of medic in kolkata, india supreme court to monitor investigations into manipur sexual violence, goals not guns: how a girls football team in india’s manipur beats violence, four arrested after spanish blogger on india motorcycle tour gangraped.

While the protests were largely peaceful, a small mob of men stormed the medical college and vandalised property. This group was dispersed by the police.

This comes after two days of nationwide protests by doctors following the incident at RG Kar Medical College in West Bengal’s capital city. “Sit-in demonstrations and agitation in the hospital campus will continue,” one of the protesting doctors, identified as Dr Mridul, told Al Jazeera.

Services in some medical centres were halted indefinitely, and marches and vigils shed light on issues of sexual violence, as well as doctors’ safety in the world’s most populous nation.

What happened to the doctor in Kolkata?

A 31-year-old trainee doctor’s dead body, bearing multiple injuries, was found on August 9 in a government teaching hospital in Kolkata.

The parents of the victim were initially told “by hospital authorities that their daughter had committed suicide,” lawyer and women’s rights activist Vrinda Grover told Al Jazeera. But an autopsy confirmed that the victim was raped and killed.

Grover has appeared for victims in sexual violence cases in India in the past, including Bilkis Bano , a Muslim woman who was gang-raped during the 2002 Gujarat riots, and Soni Sori, a tribal activist based in Chhattisgarh state.

Thousands of doctors marched in Kolkata on Monday, demanding better security measures and justice for the victim.

On Tuesday, the Kolkata High Court transferred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) called for a nationwide halting of elective services in hospitals starting on Monday. Elective services are medical treatments that can be deferred or are not deemed medically necessary.

On Tuesday, FORDA announced on its X account that it is calling off the strike after Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda accepted protest demands.

One of these demands was solidifying the Central Protection Act, intended to be a central law to protect medical professionals from violence, which was proposed in the parliament’s lower house in 2022, but has not yet been enacted.

FORDA said that the ministry would begin working on the Act within 15 days of the news release, and that a written statement from the ministry was expected to be released soon.

Press release regarding call off of strike. In our fight for the sad incident at R G Kar, the demands raised by us have been met in full by the @OfficeofJPNadda , with concrete steps in place, and not just verbal assurances. Central Healthcare Protection Act ratification… pic.twitter.com/OXdSZgM1Jc — FORDA INDIA (@FordaIndia) August 13, 2024

Why are some Indian doctors continuing to protest?

However, other doctors’ federations and hospitals have said they will not back down on the strike until a concrete solution is found, including a central law to curb attacks on doctors.

Those continuing to strike included the Federation of All India Medical Associations (FAIMA), Delhi-based All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Indira Gandhi Hospital, local media reported.

Ragunandan Dixit, the general secretary of the AIIMS Resident Doctors’ Association, said that the indefinite strike will continue until their demands are met, including a written guarantee of the implementation of the Central Protection Act.

Medical professionals in India want a central law that makes violence against doctors a non-bailable, punishable offence, in hopes that it deters such violent crimes against doctors in the future.

Those continuing to protest also call for the dismissal of the principal of the college, who was transferred. “We’re demanding his termination, not just transfer,” Dr Abdul Waqim Khan, a protesting doctor told ANI news agency. “We’re also demanding a death penalty for the criminal,” he added.

“Calling off the strike now would mean that female resident doctors might never receive justice,” Dr Dhruv Chauhan, member of the National Council of the Indian Medical Association’s Junior Doctors’ Network told local news agency Press Trust of India (PTI).

Which states in India saw doctors’ protests?

While the protests started in West Bengal’s Kolkata on Monday, they spread across the country on Tuesday.

The capital New Delhi, union territory Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow and city Prayagraj, Bihar capital Patna and southern state Goa also saw doctors’ protests.

Who is the suspect in the Kolkata rape case?

Local media reported that the police arrested suspect Sanjoy Roy, a civic volunteer who would visit the hospital often. He has unrestricted access to the ward and the police found compelling evidence against him.

The parents of the victim told the court that they suspect that it was a case of gang rape, local media reported.

Why is sexual violence on the rise in India?

Sexual violence is rampant in India, where 90 rapes were reported on average every day in 2022.

Laws against sexual violence were made stricter following a rape case in 2012, when a 22-year-old physiotherapy intern was brutally gang-raped and murdered on a bus in Delhi. Four men were hanged for the gang rape, which had triggered a nationwide protests.

But despite new laws in place, “the graph of sexual violence in India continues to spiral unabated,” said Grover.

She added that in her experience at most workplaces, scant attention is paid to diligent and rigorous enforcement of the laws.

“It is regrettable that government and institutions respond only after the woman has already suffered sexual assault and often succumbed to death in the incident,” she added, saying preventive measures are not taken.

In many rape cases in India, perpetrators have not been held accountable. In 2002, Bano was raped by 11 men, who were sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2022, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi authorised the release of the men, who were greeted with applause and garlands upon their release.

However, their remission was overruled and the Supreme Court sent the rapists back to jail after public outcry.

Grover believes that the death penalty will not deter rapists until India addresses the deeply entrenched problem of sexual violence. “For any change, India as a society will have to confront and challenge, patriarchy, discrimination and inequality that is embedded in our homes, families, cultural practices, social norms and religious traditions”.

What makes this case particularly prominent is that it happened in Kolkata, Sandip Roy, a freelance contributor to NPR, told Al Jazeera. “Kolkata actually prided itself for a long time on being really low in the case of violence against women and being relatively safe for women.”

A National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report said that Kolkata had the lowest number of rape cases in 2021 among 19 metropolitan cities, with 11 cases in the whole year. In comparison, New Delhi was reported to have recorded 1, 226 cases that year.

Prime Minister Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called for dismissing the government in West Bengal, where Kolkata is located, led by Mamata Banerjee of All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). Banerjee’s party is part of the opposition alliance.

Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in parliament, also called for justice for the victim.

“The attempt to save the accused instead of providing justice to the victim raises serious questions on the hospital and the local administration,” he posted on X on Wednesday.

Roy spoke about the politicisation of the case since an opposition party governs West Bengal. “The local government’s opposition will try to make this an issue of women’s safety in the state,” he said.

Have doctors in India protested before?

Roy explained to Al Jazeera that this case is an overlap of two kinds of violence, the violence against a woman, as well as violence against “an overworked medical professional”.

Doctors in India do not have sufficient workplace security, and attacks on doctors have started protests in India before.

In 2019, two junior doctors were physically assaulted in Kolkata’s Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital (NRSMCH) by a mob of people after a 75-year-old patient passed away in the hospital.

Those attacks set off doctors’ protests in Kolkata, and senior doctors in West Bengal offered to resign from their positions to express solidarity with the junior doctors who were attacked.

More than 75 percent of Indian doctors have faced some form of violence, according to a survey by the Indian Medical Association in 2015.

What happens next?

The case will now be handled by the CBI, which sent a team to the hospital premises to inspect the crime scene on Wednesday morning, local media reported.

According to Indian law, the investigation into a case of rape or gang rape is to be completed within two months from the date of lodging of the First Information Report (police complaint), according to Grover, the lawyer.

The highest court in West Bengal, which transferred the case from the local police to the CBI on Tuesday, has directed the central investigating agency to file periodic status reports regarding the progress of the investigation.

The FIR was filed on August 9, which means the investigation is expected to be completed by October 9.

Bengal women will create history with a night long protest in various major locations in the state for at 11.55pm on 14th of August’24,the night that’ll mark our 78th year as an independent country. The campaign, 'Women, Reclaim the Night: The Night is Ours', is aimed at seeking… pic.twitter.com/Si9fd6YGNb — purpleready (@epicnephrin_e) August 13, 2024

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ACT Writing Prompts: The Complete Guide

ACT Writing

It's pretty scary to walk into a room on ACT test day and with no idea what the essay question you're about to answer is about. Luckily, you don't need to know—the ACT essay prompts only ask about a teensy, tiny category of ideas. And the best part is, you already know all about the topics!

Keep reading to see sample ACT Writing prompts you can practice with. More importantly, we also teach you how to gather evidence before the test so you can walk in 100% prepared to answer any prompt they give you.

5 Sample ACT Essay Prompts

The idea behind the ACT essay is that it's a fair test of everyone's writing ability because nobody knows the topic or question before the test. In order for this to be true, the ACT actually has to choose from a pretty small sliver of questions (since the topics must be broad enough that all test takers can write about them).

ACT Inc. only offers one example prompt , on intelligent machines, though you can see others included with the official ACT practice tests .

Here are four other sample prompts that I've constructed, based on the core question and core perspectives extracted from the official prompts. What common features do you notice between all the prompts?

Globalization

Many of the goods and services we depend on daily have global sources. Where once you might speak with a customer service representative from across the country about your computer problems, your call now would most likely be routed across the world. In one grocery store, it can be possible to find a mixture of foods from multiple continents. Various pieces of culture can be instantaneously broadcast around the world via the Internet, enabling shared experiences among people of disparate geographic origins. Globalization is generally seen as a sign of progress, but what happens when we replace local interactions with global ones? Given the accelerating rate of globalization, it is worth examining the implications and meaning of its presence in our lives. Perspective One : Globalization requires a shift in the way we think about other people, other societies, and the world. This is good, because it will push humanity towards previously unimaginable possibilities and achievements. Perspective Two : Removing geographic boundaries from commerce means that the right people can be chosen for the right jobs at the right price. This efficiency leads to a more prosperous and progressive world for everyone. Perspective Three : The flourishing of a new, global society comes at the cost of local cultures. Less diversity leads to deficits in empathy and creativity, two of the most defining characteristics of humanity. Write a unified, coherent essay about the increasing presence of globalization.

Information Accessibility

At this moment in time, there is more information more readily available to more people than ever before. Smartphones can instantly provide directions to your destination, when even 10 years ago you had to look up directions before you left and/or bring along a map. Researchers from all over the world are able to pool their knowledge to advance their fields more quickly. Many libraries have broadened their collections to include subscriptions to online/electronic databases as well as printed works. Greater access to information is generally seen as a positive advance, but what are the consequences of making so much knowledge available to so many people? Based upon the ever-increasing amount of information in the world and the ever-broader access to it, it is worth examining the implications and meaning of easy access to information in our lives. Perspective One : With increased ease of access to information, we lose the incentive to gain knowledge ourselves. By outsourcing our memories of facts and other information, we are becoming less intelligent. Perspective Two : Greater access to information allows us to avoid memorizing facts and, instead, use our brains for higher-level thinking. This efficiency leads to a more prosperous and progressive world for everyone. Perspective Three : The more people who have access to more information, the greater the chances of collaboration and thus further advances in human knowledge. This is good because it pushes us toward new, unimagined possibilities. Write a unified, coherent essay about the increasing accessibility of information.

In the world today, newness is highly valued. Social media apps constantly update to make sure you’re shown the newest information or posts from those you follow. Many of the products we purchase today are purposefully created with short lifespans to encourage consumers to continue to get the newest, up-to-date versions. Subscription services for music and video make it possible to continuously listen to and watch new media. Novelty is generally seen as a positive characteristic, but what are we losing by constantly focusing on the new? Given its increasing prevalence, it is worth examining the implications and meaning of the growing emphasis on novelty in our lives. Perspective One : Change is the only constant in life, and to ignore this is to grow rigid and stagnate. More exposure to new ideas and ways of thinking can only lead to progress for society and for humanity as a whole. Perspective Two : By exclusively focusing on the new, we lose sight of what we already know. Instead of ignoring the old, we should be focusing more on past accomplishments and errors. The only way to move forward is to heed the lessons of the past. Perspective Three : Information, products, and ways of thinking should only be valued if they are useful and reliable, not just because they are new and exciting. New does not automatically equal improved. Write a unified, coherent essay about the increasing value assigned to novelty.

Job Changes

Fewer and fewer people are staying with the same job their entire lives. In the United States, the average person will switch jobs more than 10 times in over the course of his/her life. Some workers will make lateral, or even downward, moves in order to increase personal fulfillment. Others switch jobs in an effort to obtain the highest possible salary. Increasing personal autonomy is generally seen as a sign of progress, but what happens when length of experience is replaced with variety of experience? As the number of jobs people will hold over the course of their lives continues to climb, it is important to examine the implications and meaning of this trend for our lives. Perspective One : Because jobs are no longer a lifetime commitment, people will feel freer to accept a greater variety of positions. This increase in breadth of experience will in turn make job applicants more attractive to future employers. Perspective Two : As the frequency with which people change jobs increases, the loyalty of people to their employers will decrease. This in turn will lead to more fractured company cultures, as employees will only care about what’s best for them. Perspective Three : The disappearance of the stigma associated with frequent job switching will allow employees more leeway with employment decisions. Increased autonomy will lead to increased happiness and job satisfaction. Write a unified, coherent essay about the increasing frequency with which people switch jobs.

For additional Writing Prompts to practice with, you also might want to consider purchasing the most recent Official ACT Prep Guide , which includes five additional official essay prompts.

While you'll see many different topics asked about on the ACT essay section, there is in fact only one ACT Writing Prompt (and three types of perspectives) you have to know. We call these the Core Question and Core Perspectives . This question (and these perspectives) will run through each and every ACT Essay prompt you'll get.

The Reasoning Behind The Core Question

As you can see, all the ACT writing prompts are about how the world (and the people in it) is (are) changing. All of them boil down to the following question:

"What are your views on how humans are changing the world?"

or, even more broadly,

"What do you think about the way the world is changing?"

The ACT frames its prompts this way because ACT, Inc. wants to choose essay topics that all students can have an opinion on, rather than asking about something extremely specific for which some students are more prepared than others.

First Global Image from VIIRS by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , used under CC BY 2.0 /Resized from original.

Read through the official prompts again (above). Rather than asking about high school life (as the old ACT Writing prompts did), the current ACT essay prompts ask students to consider how changes in the world today affect all humanity, forcing the students to place the issue in a broader context .

While the topics may appear to be highly specific at first glance (e.g. "intelligent machines"), the explanatory paragraphs for each prompt make it clear that the topics can be parlayed in a number of different directions (and be accessible to most people) .

There won't be prompts about issues that mainly affect urban dwellers (e.g. subways), or only affect certain geographic areas (e.g. snow preparedness). Similarly, something like "smartphones," for instance, would never be a topic on its own; rather, it would be an example that could be used for the topic (as with the "intelligent machines" prompt).

When writing the ACT essay, it really helps to have strong opinions about the core question ("What do you think about the way humans are changing the world?"), but if you don't, no problem: it's easy to develop opinions! And we're here to give you a head start.

In the next section, we're going to give you three basic opinions related to the core ACT essay question. We'll show you how to apply these perspectives to specific prompts and tell you where you can find examples to support them.

The Reasoning Behind The Core Perspectives

The new ACT prompt has three different perspectives that you need to discuss during the course of your essay. To figure out the three core perspectives, I read and re-read the perspectives for all three of the official prompts, considering them in light of the informational paragraphs that preceded them. I ended up with these three basic opinions:

Core Perspective A : The changes caused by [Prompt topic] are not good and have negative results.

This perspective maps onto Perspective 1 of the first official ACT sample prompt above, Perspective 2 of the second and fourth official sample prompts, and Perspective 1 of the third official sample prompt. My nickname for this position is "conservatism," since this perspective wishes to be conservative and not change things.

Core Perspective B : The changes caused by [Prompt topic] will lead to greater (in)efficiency.

This perspective maps onto Perspective 2 of the first and third official ACT sample prompts above, Perspective 1 of the second official sample prompt, and Perspective 3 of the fourth official sample prompt. My nickname for this position is "utilitarianism," since this perspective is all about what will be more practical and lead to the greatest good for the greatest number of people (this is even explicitly spelled out in Perspective 1 of the second official sample prompt).

Core Perspective C : The changes caused by [Prompt topic] will yield positive future results because it will lead to improvements for all humanity.

This perspective maps onto Perspective 3 of the first and second official ACT sample prompts, Perspective 1 of the third official sample prompt, and Perspective 2 of the fourth official sample prompt. My nickname for this position is "progressivism," since this perspective argues that change = progress = good.

Building a Support Bank

Now you know that the ACT essay will only ever ask you to discuss one question: "How is the world changing?" If you prepare for this question with diverse evidence before the test, you'll be ready to answer the prompt no matter what it is.

To give yourself the most time to write and organize your argument, your thesis should match up with one of the three perspectives given (or at least take elements from one)—that way, you won't have to take the time to come up with a fourth, completely new perspective and compare it to at least one other perspective.

But it gets better! The internet (and society in general) is chock-full of theories and arguments about how the world is changing, and whether or not that's a good thing. All you have to do is read up on some of them and develop your own opinions.

Opinions on the World

Your ACT essay thesis should basically be one of the three perspectives, but you have to support that opinion with evidence—the answer to the question "why?" (or "why not"?). Look over these sets of three opinions and try to think of reasons or examples to support each.

The world is changing to be worse than it was before. (because...)

The world is changing to be better than it was before. (because...)

The world is changing to be more (in)efficient than ever before. (because...)

Research and Brainstorming Ideas

Unlike with the SAT essay, you can use abstract reasoning to develop your point on the ACT. This means that you don't necessarily have to come to the test pre-loaded with specific examples: if you can't think of a concrete example that will support your point, you can make one up as you go along while constructing your argument.

Below are a few sample internet resources that could serve as support (or brainstorming assistance) for the opinions above. You can use the general ideas from these resources, but you may also find some useful specific examples for when you face your real ACT Writing prompt.

News sources such as the New York Times , Washington Post , LA Times , Al Jazeera , Time , The Atlantic, Slate, The Economist, Wired, New York Magazine, Popular Science, Psychology Today, Vox, Mic , and even Buzzfeed News will have information about current events that you can use.

If you prefer listening/watching the news, you can always try that as a source of current events information as well watching or listening to television, radio, or podcasts .

How Do I Use This Article?

Just knowing what the ACT Writing prompts are likely to be about may lead you to think about the way you interact with the world somewhat differently. Keep your eyes peeled and your ears open for anything that could be fodder to answer a question about the way the world is changing—anything you learn about in history/social studies, read/hear about in the news, or even encounter in a futuristic novel can be added to your support bank.

But, of course, the more effective way to use the information in this article is to practice both planning and writing ACT essays. We have another article with ACT essay tips , which can give you more information on how to practice the actual writing process, but knowing about the prompt types can get you thinking about your own opinions on how the world is changing. After all, you're being asked about this because you have a lot of experience with it, living in the world as you do.

So, using the prompts at the beginning of this article, or another group of questions about issues having to do with change (some items on this list of debate topics , for example), start planning hypothetical writing ACT essay responses. Try reading our step-by-step ACT essay example if you're stumped about where to begin.

For each issue, planning involves picking a side, supporting it with one to two reasons or examples, and deciding how to discuss at least one other perspective in relation to the one you've picked (including arguments both for and against that other perspective).

If you really want to max out your ACT essay score, you should practice planning essays about how the world is changing until you can do it in 8-10 minutes reliably. If you're curious about where that 8-10 minute estimate comes from, check out our ACT essay tips article .

What's Next?

Check out our comprehensive collection of ACT Writing guides , including a detailed analysis of  the ACT Writing Rubric that includes explanations and strategies and our explanation of the differences between the old and new ACT Writing Test .

Find out how to get a perfect score on ACT Writing.

Follow along as I construct a top-scoring essay step-by-step , or check out our list of tips to raise your ACT Writing score.

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Laura graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College with a BA in Music and Psychology, and earned a Master's degree in Composition from the Longy School of Music of Bard College. She scored 99 percentile scores on the SAT and GRE and loves advising students on how to excel in high school.

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The 30 Best Documentaries of All Time, Ranked

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The documentary genre is a more varied one than many people give it credit for. As a type of film, documentaries do usually aim to inform or educate about some kind of non-fiction story or topic, but that's not their sole purpose. Some aim to evoke certain feelings or experiences more than anything else, others aim to present an argument or point of view in a persuasive manner, and others are mostly concerned with simply entertaining audiences the way a work of fiction might. Furthermore, some documentaries aim to do a combination of the above, or maybe even none of the above, instead opting to do something else entirely

Exploring the world of documentary filmmaking can be a truly eye-opening thing to do, and reveal worlds or unique perspectives that aren't as easy to explore through other genres. It's safe to assume that documentary movies will never go out of style, which makes keeping track of the best documentaries out there worthwhile. Some of the best documentaries of all time have been around for decades, while others are more recent, and deal with ongoing, ever-topical issues. The films below aren't merely good documentaries; they're largely considered all-timers within the genre, and can all be described quite reasonably as the best documentaries ever. What follows are some of the finest documentary films of all time, ranked below from great to greatest.

30 'Bowling for Columbine' (2002)

Director: michael moore.

Coming out years before crime documentaries became Netflix's bread and butter, Bowling for Columbine uses a horrific crime spree as a jumping-off point to explore American culture, and its seemingly unending love of firearms. The event it's all framed around is the Columbine High School massacre of 1999, which claimed more than 20 victims.

In one of the best movies of 2002 , Michael Moore made arguably his most passionate and emotional movie with Bowling for Columbine , with the editing and presentation making the arguments put forward quite persuasive. It's in-your-face and uncompromising as a documentary, and it works well as something that clearly wants to start a conversation about a serious topic.

bowling for columbine

Watch on Tubi

29 'Sans Soleil' (1983)

Director: chris marker.

Sans Soleil is a documentary that's hard to summarize, and has a rather experimental approach to the format/genre. It has little by way of narrative or a direct argument that it wants to present, instead being an artistically presented odyssey through a woman's abstract thoughts, often relating to the meaning of life and human existence.

Sans Soleil feels broad and open to interpretation, but it's the kind of thing where someone could watch it and have it fully click , gaining an entirely different understanding than other viewers. This might make Sans Soleil something of an acquired taste, but it's worth at least one watch for those who appreciate unconventional and adventurous documentary movies .

Watch on Criterion

28 '13th' (2016)

Director: ava duvernay.

Standing as one of the most important cultural/political documentaries in recent memory, 13th is a difficult yet essential watch. It tackles the U.S. prison system with a particular focus on the racial inequality present within it, tying the way prisons function in modern times to the way slavery functioned back during the nation's earlier days.

It might be a difficult thing for some viewers to hear and grapple with, but 13th is persuasive and remarkably good at presenting the case for this claim. It's all assembled amazingly well, and makes for the kind of film that wants to frustrate, get people thinking, and have viewers reassess what they thought they knew. In these ways, 13th is a resoundingly successful documentary.

Watch on Netflix

27 'Gimme Shelter' (1970)

Directors: albert and david maysles, charlotte zwerin.

It's no secret that Martin Scorsese loves The Rolling Stones , having directed his own documentary about them and using their songs throughout his films. He seems particularly fond of the song "Gimme Shelter," which is also the name of this 1970 documentary about The Rolling Stones, focusing on one particularly infamous concert they performed in 1969.

Gimme Shelter is one of the few concert movies that could be described as nightmarish , because even if you enjoy some of the music on offer, the stark presentation of a tragic event is ultimately what's most memorable. It's an intense watch that's probably not for everyone, but it certainly stands as one of the most distinct - and harrowing - music documentaries of all time .

Watch on Max

26 'Man on Wire' (2008)

Director: james marsh.

Somehow functioning as both a documentary and a heist movie at the same time, Man on Wire tells a wild true story that was also adapted into a feature film with 2015's The Walk . It's about daredevil/tightrope walker Philippe Petit , and the way he managed to execute a stunt in 1974 that involved walking between the two towers of the World Trade Center, which had then only recently been built.

Man on Wire 's pacing makes it feel more dynamic and thrilling than many other documentaries out there , and some of the footage/photographs captured prove awe-inspiring to look at. It's artistically presented and genuinely exciting, serving as both a psychological exploration of a rather unique man while also celebrating the absolutely wild feat he managed to pull off.

Man on Wire

Watch on Hulu

25 'Grey Gardens' (1975)

Directors: david maysles, albert maysles, ellen hovde, muffie meyer.

For better or worse, Grey Gardens feels like a proto-reality TV show, arguably leading the way for the genre to exist in all its wild , uncomfortable, and sometimes exploitative glory. This is because Grey Gardens simply observes two real-life people who live strange lives, and may or may not be exaggerating their odd behavior because cameras are present.

The two women at the center of Grey Gardens are relatives of Jackie Kennedy Onassis , and they live in a large yet rundown house, and have very isolated lives. It's an unsettling and uncomfortable film that blurs the line between documentary and drama , but ultimately one that's proven influential within the genre, and a somewhat haunting watch that has resonated with many viewers since its 1975 release.

24 'They Shall Not Grow Old' (2018)

Director: peter jackson.

There have been many great films about the First World War , and among them would have to be They Shall Not Grow Old . It was released on the 100th anniversary of the conflict's end, and uses colorized and meticulously restored footage to depict the harrowing experience of trench warfare in a way that's never been shown before in previous WW1 documentaries.

It was an ambitious project directed by Peter Jackson , and though getting the footage to look so striking would have taken a great deal of work, the results speak for themselves. They Shall Not Grow Old isn't an easy watch, but it is an essential one , and recontextualizes a century-old conflict by presenting an emotional and intimately personal look at the horrors of war.

23 'Life of Crime: 1984-2020' (2021)

Director: jon alpert.

Life of Crime: 1984-2020 may have a bit of a clunky title, but as a film, it's anything but clunky. It's the third and final installment in a series of documentaries that follow several individuals who engage in petty crime and/or struggle with drug addictions, with it all being filmed in an uncompromising and very raw fashion.

This 2021 film spends one hour recapping the first and second documentaries in the series (which covered the 1980s and 1990s respectively) before moving on to what happened to the subjects at its center in the 21st century. Life of Crime: 1984-2020 sheds light on a group of people who've seemingly been forgotten by society, showing their flaws while also being empathetic. It's devastating, proving hard to watch, and maybe even harder to forget.

22 'The Act of Killing' (2012)

Director: joshua oppenheimer.

Though The Act of Killing isn't a horror movie by any means, it feels more brutal and terrifying than most could ever hope to be. It covers a difficult subject in a unique yet stomach-churning way, focusing on the Indonesian mass killings of 1965-1966 which saw somewhere between 500,000 and 1 million people being killed (mostly people associated with communism, or believed to be).

It follows various people who participated in these killings more than 40 years on from the events, with the filmmakers getting these individuals to recreate what they did through the guise of "making a film" in the hope they'll realize the brutality of their past actions. The Act of Killing is a daunting look at the dark side of human nature , as well as a terrible period in history that's still in living memory for many people living today.

The Act of Killing

A documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.

Watch on Peacock

21 'The Thin Blue Line' (1988)

Director: errol morris.

The true crime genre has experienced a boom in the last five to 10 years, and on a streaming service like Netflix in particular, it seems difficult to avoid documentaries about crime. Many documentaries that are definable as true-crime owe a great deal to 1988's The Thin Blue Line , which was revolutionary for documentary filmmaking as a whole.

It follows the investigation surrounding the murder of a police officer in Dallas, criticizing certain aspects of how it was done, and arguing that the primary suspect might not have been as guilty as detectives believed. The Thin Blue Line was influential enough to impact criminal proceedings, ultimately highlighting how powerful a well-argued and intelligently presented documentary can be.

20 'Harlan County, USA' (1976)

Director: barbara kopple.

While Harlan County, USA may be almost 50 years old, it remains relevant, and will continue to feel vital for as long as workers don't feel fairly compensated for their work. It focuses on a specific 1973 strike in Harlan County, but the ideas and struggles explored here are relevant to various industries and groups of workers.

The "USA" part of the title could be referring to Harlan County, or it could be read as emphasizing that the sort of conflict here is something felt throughout the USA, back in the 1970s and to this day, too, with the recent Writer's Guild of America strike . The presentation in Harlan County, USA is simple, no-nonsense, and ultimately persuasive, ensuring it stands as a classic - and essential - work of documentary filmmaking.

19 'The Times of Harvey Milk' (1984)

Director: rob epstein.

Biographical stories can often be told more powerfully through documentaries than in traditional feature films (though the former isn't likely to earn as many Oscar nominations as the latter). This is demonstrated by 1984's The Times of Harvey Milk , because while the 2008 film Milk covers similar ground and is compelling, seeing it play out in a documentary is even more powerful.

As the title implies, this documentary covers the life and career of Harvey Milk - both cut tragically short by his assassination in 1978. The Times of Harvey Milk aims to celebrate what he accomplished for gay rights in America while mourning his untimely passing , and serves as an emotional and extremely well-presented look at Milk and his life.

18 'Free Solo' (2018)

Directors: jimmy chin, elizabeth chai vasarhelyi.

Viewers with acrophobia should stay well away from Free Solo , because it can be genuinely hard to watch for anyone who has even a slight fear of heights. It follows Alex Honnold as he attempts to climb a 3000-foot-high rock face by himself, and without the safeguards of ropes or safety gear.

As far as "man versus nature" documentary movies go, this is easily one of the greatest of all time, and in a way, ends up being more heart-racing than the vast majority of blockbuster thrillers out there (even the great ones). As far as adrenaline-rush documentaries go, few can compete with what Free Solo pulls off.

Alex Honnold faces the biggest challenge of his career, climbing El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. He pursues it Free Solo, which means climbing without a rope and alone.

Watch on Disney+

17 'American Movie' (1999)

Director: chris smith.

A heartwarming and funny documentary , American Movie is one of the essential documentaries about the filmmaking process of the last few decades . It centers on independent filmmaker Mark Borchardt and his attempts to complete his movie, an unusual horror film about addiction and demonic cults called Coven .

It's one of those films that's likely to hit home for anyone who's undertaken a daunting creative project before, or even those who've ever dreamed of fulfilling their creative desires. It celebrates art - no matter the budget or the technical qualities - and even for non-creatives, is likely to provide plenty of entertainment value thanks to its humor and down-to-earth charms.

Rent on Apple TV

16 'Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse' (1991)

Directors: eleanor coppola, fax bahr, george hickenlooper.

While American Movie shows the struggles of independent filmmaking, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse - released at the other end of the 1990s - looks at the struggles of big-budget filmmaking. It follows the infamous production of Apocalypse Now , a film that ended up being a classic, but was plagued with just about every problem under the sun before release.

For as harrowing as the psychologically tense and violent war film is, Hearts of Darkness makes the fight to get the film made look equally brutal and mentally devastating . Francis Ford Coppola and the rest of the cast and crew went to hell and back to make one of the greatest films of the 1970s, and this documentary captures that nightmarish production in stark, eye-opening detail.

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

15 'the beaches of agnès' (2008), director: agnès varda.

Agnès Varda was one of the greatest and most creative French filmmakers of all time. She was known for both her feature films and her documentary work, and while titles like Cléo from 5 to 7 and Vagabond are her best-known when it comes to the former, 2008's The Beaches of Agnès is probably her greatest achievement for the latter.

It plays out like a visual autobiography, with Varda reflecting on her youth, her filmmaking career, and her relationship with fellow French filmmaker Jacques Demy . The Beaches of Agnès is touching, entertaining, visually dazzling, and thought-provoking , all thanks to Varda's unique outlook on life, and could serve as a good introduction to the filmmaker's immense body of work.

14 'Man with a Movie Camera' (1929)

Director: dziga vertov.

Without Man with a Movie Camera , the entire documentary format may look entirely different today. It's likely one of the most important and influential documentaries of all time, using inventive visuals and creative editing techniques to show how life was in the Soviet Union during the 1920s.

Beyond that premise, there isn't really a whole to this silent film. Yet the style is what makes it dazzling and engaging to this day, and even if it doesn't grab all modern viewers, surely everyone can recognize its significance for the documentary format as a whole. At only 68 minutes long, documentary fans don't exactly have an excuse not to at least give it a shot.

Watch on Vudu

13 'Woodstock' (1970)

Director: michael wadleigh.

Woodstock is far from the only iconic concert film (more on those below), but it covers what many would argue was the most significant live music event of all time. That was 1969's Woodstock Music & Art Festival, an event that went for three days, saw 32 different musical acts perform, and was attended by more than 400,000 people.

A huge film is needed to capture such a large-scale event, and Woodstock is more than up to the task. The theatrical cut runs for over three hours, and a director's cut runs for almost four, with it capturing some iconic live music (including performances by Jimi Hendrix , Janis Joplin , and The Who ) as well as documenting what the festival was like for those attending, and the ways organizers dealt with certain issues that came about while the festival was underway.

12 'Stop Making Sense' (1984)

Director: jonathan demme.

Stop Making Sense isn't just one of the best films of 1984 ; it's right up there as one of the best concert films of all time. It documents new wave band Talking Heads at their creative and commercial peak, going through an excellent tracklist over 88 glorious, upbeat, entertaining minutes.

There isn't much of a message or story here, of course, but the way it's shot, edited, and paced is certainly more intricate than most concert films. Stop Making Sense is the gold standard for how music documentaries about concerts should look and feel , and an essential watch, regardless of whether you're a big Talking Heads fan.

Watch in Cinemas

11 'Paris Is Burning' (1990)

Director: jennie livingston.

Despite only running for about 70 minutes, Paris Is Burning covers many years, focusing on the New York drag scene throughout much of the 1980s. It looks at a subculture that was likely underground and unseen for many people during that time, and gives those who belong to it a chance in the spotlight.

Paris Is Burning holds up as one of the most important documentaries of the 1990s, and one that is still relevant today , even if these sorts of subcultures are a little more well-known today. It shows the power that documentary films have when it comes to raising awareness for different people and groups, and for doing so here with an LGBTQ subculture, Paris Is Burning is a landmark.