The ACT Writing Test

Steps to writing the ACT Essay1. Know Your Audience2. Understand the Directions3. Understand the Prompt4. Brainstorm/Pre-Write/Plan5. Position Statement6. Create a bare bones outline7. Introduction8. Body Paragraphs9. Counter Argument and Refute10.Conclusion11.Edit

The Fast Food Essay• Think about your essay as if you were working at

a fast food restaurant.• One of the best things about fast food is not just

that it’s quick, it’s consistent. Walk into a McDonald’s in Tosserdorf, Germany, and a Big Mac is still a robust, comforting Big Mac, just like at home. What makes fast food so consistent? Restaurants like McDonald’s use the same ingredients and preparation methods at every location.

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE• The essay-graders are

your customers, and you want to give them an essay that tastes just like what they’re expecting. How are you supposed to know what they’re expecting? You can learn exactly what ACT essay-raters expect by looking at the actual ACT essay directions.

Understand the Directions• 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.

• You are asked to take a position and provide arguments to persuade your reader (audience).

Understand the Prompt• 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?

• 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.

Understand the Prompt cont. KEY WORDS• KEY WORDS FROM THE PROMPT:• Extended to five years• Increasing demands from employers and colleges• Extracurricular activities• Community Service• Students lose interest• Drop in attendance

Understand the Prompt cont.• Focus on the question at hand: . In your opinion,

should high school be extended to five years?

• Look back to the prompt and the key words you underlined

• Next, create a Pro/Con chart to help you determine which side of the argument you will defend.

Brainstorm/Pre-Write/Plan

• Create a Pro/Con chart to help you organize your examples.

• Think about examples from a wide variety of sources such as history, art, politics, literature, and science, as well as your own life.

• Make sure that your examples are specific.

Brainstorm/Pre-Write/Plan cont. Pro/Con Chart

PRO CON

Remember to consider both sides of the argument.

Let’s write a Pro/Con Chart together

Brainstorm/Pre-Write/Plan cont. Pro/Con ChartAt this point, you may be thinking, “I could argue the ‘agree’ side pretty well, but I’m not sure that I totally believe in the agree side because . . .” Drop those thoughts. Using your Pro/Con chart, determine which side of the argument is easiest to argue.Identify your top three examples for the side you are going to argue, match them with three examples from the other side.Remember, you’re not going to have a week to write this essay. You need to keep it simple. And don’t take a position that straddles both sides of the issue.

WHICH SIDE WILL WE ARGUE? PRO _____ CON _____

REVIEW1. When you are writing the ACT essay, who is your

audience?2. How many arguments are presented in the

prompt?3. From what areas can you pull examples and

ideas?4. Why should you create a pro/con chart?

Position Statement• A position statement is a thesis statement.• A position statement states your argument clearly

and concisely.• Take your top three examples from your pro/con

chart and turn them into your thesis statement.• Our thesis/position statement:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Outline• Using your pro/con chart and your position

statement, create a bare bones outline for your essay.

• There are 3 different ways you can organize your essay.

Outline/Organize – Counter Argument within each paragraph

PARAGRAPH #

PURPOSE WHAT IT SHOULD CONTAIN

1INTRODUCTION HOOK, BACKGROUND INFORMATION,

THESIS STATEMENT/POSITION STATEMENT

2 EXAMPLE 1 TOPIC SENTENCE FOR EXAMPLE 1, EXPLAIN EXAMPLE 1, COUNTER ARGUMENT FOR EXAMPLE 1, REFUTE FOR COUNTER ARGUMENT

3 EXAMPLE 2 TOPIC SENTENCE FOR EXAMPLE 2, EXPLAIN EXAMPLE 2, COUNTER ARGUMENT FOR EXAMPLE 2, REFUTE FOR COUNTER ARGUMENT

4 EXAMPLE 3 TOPIC SENTENCE FOR EXAMPLE 3, EXPLAIN EXAMPLE 3, COUNTER ARGUMENT FOR EXAMPLE 3, REFUTE FOR COUNTER ARGUMENT

5 CONCLUSION RESTATE THESIS, SUM UP ARGUMENT, END WITH A CLINCHER STATEMENT (CALL TO ACTION)

Outline/Organize – Counter Argument as a separate paragraph

PARAGRAPH #

PURPOSE WHAT IT SHOULD CONTAIN

1INTRODUCTION HOOK, BACKGROUND INFORMATION,

THESIS STATEMENT/POSITION STATEMENT

2 EXAMPLE 1 TOPIC SENTENCE FOR EXAMPLE 1, EXPLAIN EXAMPLE 1

3 EXAMPLE 2 TOPIC SENTENCE FOR EXAMPLE 2, EXPLAIN EXAMPLE 2

4 EXAMPLE 3 TOPIC SENTENCE FOR EXAMPLE 3, EXPLAIN EXAMPLE 3 (Time Permitting)

5 COUNTER ARGUMENTS AND REFUTE

COUNTER ARGUMENTS, REFUTES

6 CONCLUSION RESTATE THESIS, SUM UP ARGUMENT, END WITH A CLINCHER STATEMENT (CALL TO ACTION)

Outline/Organize – Counter Argument as a separate paragraph

PARAGRAPH #

PURPOSE WHAT IT SHOULD CONTAIN

1INTRODUCTION HOOK, BACKGROUND INFORMATION,

THESIS STATEMENT/POSITION STATEMENT

2 COUNTER ARGUMENTS AND REFUTE

COUNTER ARGUMENTS, REFUTES

3 EXAMPLE 1 TOPIC SENTENCE FOR EXAMPLE 1, EXPLAIN EXAMPLE 1

4 EXAMPLE 2 TOPIC SENTENCE FOR EXAMPLE 2, EXPLAIN EXAMPLE 2

5 EXAMPLE 3 TOPIC SENTENCE FOR EXAMPLE 3, EXPLAIN EXAMPLE 3 (Time Permitting)

6 CONCLUSION RESTATE THESIS, SUM UP ARGUMENT, END WITH A CLINCHER STATEMENT (CALL TO ACTION)

INTRODUCTION• HOOK• EXAMPLES: FAMOUS QUOTE (BE ABLE TO CITE THE

AUTHOR), THOUGHTFUL QUESTION RELATED TO THE TOPIC, EXTREME STATEMENT, SHORT ANNECDOTE

• BACKGROUND INFORMATION/CONTEXT• USE THE PROMPT!!!! EXPLAIN THE PROBLEM

• THESIS STATEMENT/POSITION STATEMENT• YOU SHOULD ALREADY HAVE THIS WRITTEN! PLUG IT IN

INTRODUCTION

BODY PARAGRAPHS• Decide before you write which format you want to

use.• Follow your outline – stick with your plan.• Start with a topic sentence.• Follow with your example and elaborate on that

example.• A good paragraph has 6-8 sentences.• Remember to vary sentence structure as you

write.• Include buzz words from the prompt.

COUNTER ARGUMENT AND REFUTE• You MUST include counter arguments.• You turn against your argument and challenge it (Counter Argument), then turn back to your argument (Refute)• If you made a PRO/CON and matched up your arguments, you have these ready to go!• Use a transition to begin your Counter Argument.

• Come back to your argument – REFUTE the Counter Argument.• Use a transition to begin your Refute.

CONCLUSION• Restate your thesis (use slightly different

language if you can)• Sum up your paper in a few sentences.• Conclude with call to action or a clincher

statement• Call to action – what you think should be done to deal with

the problem presented in the prompt• Clincher statement – a final thought which should leave a

lasting impression with your reader• If you can, return to your hook and follow it up –

complete the anecdote, cite another quote or refer back to the quote, make a prediction based on your extreme statement, ask another thoughtful rhetorical question

• DO NOT introduce new examples in your conclusion!!!!!

EDIT• TIME PERMITTING:• Go back through your paper and first make sure that your writing is legible. If there are words that are difficult to read, erase and rewrite.• Edit for grammar and spelling, looking for common errors first. Mouth the words to yourself as you read to help you identify issues with grammar.• REMEMBER, if you make any additions after the fact, add them between the lines, not in the columns. Use a carrot ( ^) to indicate the addition.