Esssssssssssssssssssay

nilkn
Mon, 04 Jun 2007 20:32:44 +0000

To the disgust of my English teacher (who hates my writing style), I got an 11 on the ACT essay my first (and only) try. Basically I agree with everything tubaman93 said.

Basically, the ACT people want you to establish what they call a “context for discussion.” This means they want you to start your essay in a broad context, then use your introductory paragraph to narrow the focus onto your thesis (so for example I put my thesis statement near the end of the first paragraph). Then, in your body paragraphs, maintain the tight focus on your thesis, and in the concluding paragraph, open discussion back up to the original broad context to give the reader something to think about when he’s done reading. It’s like an hourglass.

Make sure your thesis is extremely clear. Choose a side and stick to it. Do not hover about, supporting one side here and the other there. Stand firm in your position.

Some will probably disagree with me here, but I think you should consider choosing the side that you think the essay graders will think most students will avoid. This immediately makes your essay more interesting. Now, if you really can’t think of anyway to support this particular side, then of course don’t choose it. If however you can support it, choosing the less common side might help get the essay graders on your side because they’ll have grown sick of hearing the same arguments over and over again.

I don’t think there’s any need to follow the five-paragraph rule. Just have an intro and concluding paragraph, and have a body paragraph for each example/counter-example you wish to discuss.

Chock your paper full of examples, whether they’re from history or your personal life. They need not even be real; feel free to make something up if you can make it convincing. Try to take the topic a little further by adding in your own ideas. For example, if you think that an idea proposed in the prompt is wrong, explain why you think it’s wrong, and then propose an alternative. Even if you think your alternative idea is ■■■■■■■■, still put it in there, because it shows you gave the topic a lot more thought than the average essay writer is going to.

Finally, make sure you consider the opposition. You might devote one or two body paragraphs to nothing but refuting possible counter-arguments to your position. You basically must have this in your essay to get a high score.

And obviously grammar and spelling matter, but content is most important.

hope this helps,
nilkn