Overview of the ACT Writing section

What is the ACT Writing section?

The last section of the ACT is the Writing section. It’s also the only optional section of the test. If you choose to take it, you’ll have 40 minutes to write an argumentative essay in response to a prompt.

If the essay is optional, why take it? There are a couple reasons you might choose this:

1. Some universities require that you report a Writing Section Score. Be sure to check whether any of the schools you’re applying to require it.
2. If you do well on the Writing section, your university may allow you to test out of certain university courses or place into more advanced English courses instead of starting in beginner-level courses. The Writing, English, and Reading section scores combine to create an ELA (English Language Arts) subscore, which helps universities decide which classes you may be able to test out of. Without a Writing score, no ELA subscore is reported, and that opportunity is lost.

What is the essay like?

In the Writing section, you’ll be given a prompt about a complex issue. The prompt includes three different perspectives on that issue.

Your job is to develop your own perspective. Your perspective can:

• Match one of the three given perspectives, or
• Be different from all three

No matter which perspective you choose, your essay must analyze the relationship between your perspective and one or more of the other perspectives.

Here’s an example of an essay prompt you might see on the test:

Notice that under the “Essay Task” box, the prompt tells you exactly what your essay must do. There’s also a rubric that guides how your essay is scored, which is what we’ll cover next.

How is the essay scored?

Your essay is scored on a scale from 1 to 12 using the rubric shown below. The rubric itself goes up to 6, but two graders score your essay, and their scores are added together (so the maximum is 12).

Know that getting a perfect score on the essay is extremely rare, so don’t treat a 12 as the only “good” outcome.

You will be graded on four things:

1. Ideas and analysis
2. Development and support
3. Organization
4. Language use

Let’s talk a bit about each one.

Ideas and analysis

To get a top score in this area, you need to:

1. Create an argument from the given issue that critically engages with multiple perspectives
2. Create an argument that establishes and employs an insightful context for analysis of the issue and its perspectives
3. Create a thesis that reflects nuance and precision in thought and purpose
4. Create an analysis that examines implications, complexities and tensions, and/or underlying values and assumptions

In other words, your essay should make a clear argument and show thoughtful, purposeful analysis of the issue and perspectives.

Development and support

To get a top score in this area, you need to:

1. Develop your ideas and support the claims you make such that they deepen insight and broaden the context of what you’re discussing
2. Skillfully reason and effectively illustrate the significance of your argument
3. Support your ideas and analysis as well as provide counterarguments

This category is about how well you back up what you say. One important way to do that is through story-telling. We discuss this more in the [Know your audience] chapter.

Organization

To get a top score in this area, you need to:

1. Have a main idea or purpose that unifies everything you write
2. Present a logical progression of ideas throughout the essay that increases the effectiveness of your argument
3. Provide smooth transitions in and between paragraphs to strengthen the relationships among ideas.

Basically, your essay needs a clear, intentional structure so your argument builds logically from start to finish. The next chapter, “How to structure your ACT essay,” will teach you an effective way to organize your ideas.

Language use

To get a top score in this area, you need to:

1. Use language that enhances your argument
2. Choose precise and skillful words
3. Structure your sentences so they are consistently varied and clear
4. Write in a tone and voice that is strategic and effective
5. Not have any grammar errors that impede understanding

Use clear, effective language to strengthen your argument. Many students assume that sounding smart is the goal, so they reach for complicated, flowery wording. But if the point isn’t clear, that kind of language usually makes the essay weaker.

Instead, go for clarity. Clarity is what your audience is looking for, and it’s what the rubric rewards. Clear writing communicates your reasoning and makes your argument more convincing. Good writing isn’t complicated writing. Your goal is to answer the prompt, so cut the fluffy filler and get to the point. Clarity is key.

Common filler words to avoid putting in your essay:

• To a certain extent
• As a whole
• Additionally
• Perspective one, two, and three
  • It’s lazy to number the perspectives. Say what the perspectives are rather than labeling them “one, two, and three” in your essay
• I disagree/agree with…
  • You need evidence behind each claim you make, and agreeing or disagreeing with a perspective is not effective evidence. Even mentioning it often becomes nonessential filler.
• Good/bad
  • There are better, more descriptive words to convey your point. Get creative and don’t rely on cliches.

Now you know the framework for the ACT essay: what the prompt looks like, how the rubric works, and what graders are looking for in each category. Next, you’ll get a step-by-step guide to structuring your essay so you can perform well in all four areas on the rubric: Ideas and analysis, Development and support, Organization, and Language use.