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Writing Sample Essays
Write a unified, coherent essay about the increasing presence of intelligent machines. In your essay, be sure to:
- clearly state your own perspective on the issue and analyze the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective
- develop and support your ideas with reasoning and examples
- organize your ideas clearly and logically
- communicate your ideas effectively in standard written English
Your essay perspective may be in full agreement with any of those given, in partial agreement, or completely different.
Get more information about preparing for the writing test .
Sample Test Questions
Section 1 - 5 of 30
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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, how to get a perfect 12 on the act writing essay.
ACT , ACT Writing
There is no part of the ACT more mysterious to students than the essay, and very few people seem to know what exactly the ACT is looking for in a "perfect" essay (particularly since September 2015 was the new ACT Writing test's debut). Luckily, we've got the expertise to give you some insight into how the essay works and what you can do to push your score those extra few points up the scale.
Whether you're trying to impress your dream school or just want to boost your ACT score, the essay is a great thing to work on. Some of the tips below stand alone, while others are part of larger categories that have been assembled based our ACT expertise.
Important: If you haven't read these two other ACT Writing guides before , take a minute and read them now:
The ACT Writing Rubric: Analysis, Explanation, and Strategies
How to Write an ACT Essay, Step by Step
This will make the rest of the article make more sense.
Part I: What a 12 on the ACT Essay Means
If you're already scoring an 8 or above in every domain on practice (or real) ACT essays, you have a shot at completely nailing what the graders want, represented by a score of 12, with a little practice.
But there's something important to remember in your quest for perfection: on the ACT essay, a 12 is not always achievable. We've got good news and bad news for those of you who are determined to know how to get a 12 on the ACT essay.
The Big Secret
You'll have to practice this specific essay. The perfect ACT essay is like a puzzle that happens to be in writing form—it can be mastered, but to do it well and completely every time requires a few month's practice. Knowing how to write other kinds of essays will only help you a limited amount.
The Bad News
Because the whole essay must be written in 40 minutes, getting a 12 requires some luck. You have to pick a thesis and think of relevant and convincing evidence to support it before you can even start writing, so a lot depends on how quickly you can decided on a point of view and relevant support for whatever the prompt happens to be. And because perfect-scoring essays are almost always at least two pages long , you won't have any time to spare.
The Good News
Because the essay is so formulaic, it's always possible to get at least a 10 in each domain. And, on top of this, no college worth its salt is going to base your college admission on getting those last two points on an essay you had to write in 40 minutes. The goal, really, is to show that you can write a decent essay in that time, and a 10 in each domain shows that just as well as a 12 does.
Part II: The Difference Between a 10 and a 12
If we asked the ACT what the difference is between a 10 and a 12 ACT essay, they would direct us to their scoring criteria (replicated in the table below) that describes the difference between the 5 and 6 essay scores in each domain. As you may already know, a total domain score of 12 comes from two readers separately giving your essay a 6; the four domain scores are then averaged to calculate your total essay score of 12.
We've marked the differences between the 5 and 6 criteria in bold . Later, we'll look at these differences in the context of a sample essay.
| Responses at this scorepoint demonstrate well-developed skill in writing an argumentative essay. | Responses at this scorepoint demonstrate effective skill in writing an argumentative essay. | ||
| The writer generates an argument that productively engages with multiple perspectives on the given issue. The argument's thesis reflects precision in thought and purpose. The argument establishes and employs a thoughtful context for analysis of the issue and its perspectives. The analysis addresses implications, complexities and tensions, and/or underlying values and assumptions. | The writer generates an argument that with multiple perspectives on the given issue. The argument's thesis reflects in thought and purpose. The argument establishes and employs an for analysis of the issue and its perspectives. The analysis implications, complexities and tensions, and/or underlying values and assumptions. | The 6 essay gives a more specific and logically precise context. The thesis and argument show a deep understanding of the issue, while the analysis not only mentions, but also inspects the complexities and implications of the issue.
| |
| Development of ideas and support for claims deepen understanding. A mostly integrated line of purposeful reasoning and illustration capably conveys the significance of the argument. Qualifications and complications enrich ideas and analysis. | Development of ideas and support for claims . An integrated line of skillful reasoning and illustration conveys the significance of the argument. Qualifications and complications ideas and analysis. | The 6 essays develops its ideas and support for those ideas more thoroughly and examines the implications of the ideas and support in a larger context. In addition, the complexity of the discussion for each examples strengthens the essay's argument and the analysis of the issue at hand. | |
| The response exhibits a productive organizational strategy. The response is mostly unified by a controlling idea or purpose, and a logical sequencing of ideas contributes to the effectiveness of the argument. Transitions between and within paragraphs consistently clarify the relationships among ideas. | The response exhibits a . The response is unified by a controlling idea or purpose, and a logical progression of ideas of the writer's argument. Transitions between and within paragraphs the relationships among ideas. | The 6 essay is organized to enhance the logic and strength of the writer's argument, whereas the 5 essay is only organized clearly. | |
| The use of language works in service of the argument. Word choice is precise. Sentence structures are clear and varied often. Stylistic and register choices, including voice and tone, are purposeful and productive. While minor errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics may be present, they do not impede understanding. | The use of language the argument. Word choice is . Sentence structures are consistently varied and clear. Stylistic and register choices, including voice and tone, are . While a few minor errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics may be present, they do not impede understanding. | The 6 essay is written extremely well, whereas the 5 essay is written pretty well. This means getting creative and using advanced vocabulary appropriately if you want a 6. |
Part III: Applying the Criteria in a Real ACT Essay Example
Now we'll look at a sample essay and how it demonstrates the characteristics of the 6 essay above. First, let's look at the prompt:
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.
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.
Write a unified, coherent essay about the increasing presence of intelligent machines.
Now, read the ACT essay example below , and try to notice how it meets the criteria in the table above.
From the simplest system of pulleys and ropes to the most complex supercomputer in the world today, machines have had (and continue to have) a profound influence on the development of humanity. Whether it is taking over monotonous, low-skill tasks or removing that messy "human" element from our day-to-day interactions, machines have answered the call to duty. The increasing prevalence of intelligent machines challenges us to change long held beliefs about our limitations and to continue forward to new and even more advanced possibilities. One common argument against the increased presence of machines in our day to day lives is that machines leach from us our basic humanity. Indeed, certain people whose only social interactions are anonymous text-based conversations with other anonymous Internet forum dwellers over computers may begin to lose basic human courtesy and empathy. This is crystal clear with a glance at the comments section of any popular news article. Yet machines are also capable of enhancing people's abilities to communicate. An example of this can be found in Tod Machover's lab at MIT, where breakthroughs in neurotechnology have made it possible for quadripalegics to manipulate text on computers with their minds. Such interactions would be impossible without the existence of intelligent machines. Therefore, I must disagree with Perspective one. Rather than losing part of our own humanity to machines, we instead make that most-essential-to-humanity of acts, communication, possible. Another school of thought (Perspective Two) argues that machines are good at how and high skill repetitive jobs, which leads to a more prosperous and progressive world for everyone. This can be seen in the human work hours that are saved daily with automated phone menus. Before intelligent machines made automatic telephone menus possible, every customer service call ate up valuable employee time. Now, menus allow callers to choose the number that best suits their needs, routing calls to appropriate destinations without the need for human employees to waste time explaining for the hundredth time that "our business hours are 10am-6pm." On the other hand, no mechanized system of this kind is perfect, because it can't predict all future outcomes. In terms of automated telephone menus, this means that sometimes, no menu options are correct. While automated systems may take the burden off of human workers, it is a mistake to think that they can replace humans entirely. Why else would the last line of resort for most automated phone menus be "Dial "0" to speak to an operator/customer service representative?" Perspective Two is true, but it only goes so far. A final example will demonstrate how intelligent machines challenge longstanding ideas and push us towards new, unimagined possibilities (perspective three). At my high school, all students had to take diagnostic tests in every main subject to figure out our strengths and weaknesses, and we were then sorted into class by skill level. A truly remarkable pattern emerged as a result of this sorting: it turned out that every kid in my medium-level physics class was also a talented musician. The system that sorted us allowed us to find this underlying pattern, which changed the way our teachers taught us; we learned about mechanics through examples that were more relevant to our lives (answering questions like "how many pulleys are needed to lift a piano?"), which in turn made our classes both more enjoyable and also more effective. When before I had struggled with physics and simply assumed it was a subject I "wasn't good at," the intelligent, automated sorting system allowed me to discover that I could in fact understand mechanics if taught in the right way. This discovery pushed me toward previously unimagined academic possibilities. In conclusion, intelligent machines help us to move forward as a species to greater heights. While machines can cause problems and may in some cases need human input to function optimally, it is how we react and adapt to the machines that is the real takeaway.
This was a real essay written by me within the time limit. What do you think?
Now let's look at an annotated version of this ACT essay example that points out the essay's features.
What Makes This ACT Essay a 12, Rather Than an 8 or 10?
| The 6 essay gives a more specific and logically precise context. The thesis and argument show a deep understanding of the issue, while the analysis not only mentions, but also inspects the complexities and implications of the issue. | > The author , presenting aspects of the two perspectives she does not entirely agree with: " " | |
| The 6 essays develops its ideas and support for those ideas more thoroughly and examines the implications of the ideas and support in a larger context. In addition, the complexity of the discussion for each examples strengthens the essay's argument and the analysis of the issue at hand. | > The author gives both general ... > ...and specific that discuss both sides of the perspectives: | |
| The 6 essay is organized to enhance the logic and strength of the writer's argument, whereas the 5 essay is only organized clearly. | > The essay begins (after the introduction paragraph) by addressing opposing views and discussing their strengths and their limits. > Then it goes on in paragraphs 4 to explain a final reason why intelligent machines challenge ideas about humanity and push us towards new possibilities. | |
| The 6 essay is written extremely well, whereas the 5 essay is written pretty well. This means getting creative and using advanced vocabulary appropriately if you want a 6. | > The "advanced" vocabulary is highlighted in blue. > Sentence structure is varied, like here: |
Considerations That Aren't Included in the ACT's Published Guidelines
The essay is long enough to analyze and compare the author's perspective to other perspectives in a nuanced way (one positive example for each perspective with an addition negative example comparing two perspectives the author disagreed with to her own perspective) and include an introductory paragraph and a conclusion.
While ACT, Inc. doesn't acknowledge that length is a factor in scoring ACT essays , most experts agree that it is. But length means nothing if there isn't valuable information filling the space, so long ACT essays also need to be detailed—this author uses the space to give lots of analysis of and context for her examples.
Paragraph Breaks
You may have noticed that the essay is broken up into multiple paragraphs (into the standard five-paragraph format, in fact). This makes the essay easier to read, especially for the ACT readers who have about two to three minutes to read (and score!) each essay. If your points can easily be split up into small parts, then it makes sense to split it up into even more paragraphs, as long as your essay's organization and logical progression remains clear.
Content and Examples
This essay uses a personal example, which may or may not be made up (spoiler alert: it is). But the point is that it could be made up, as can anything you use in your essay. Being able to think of examples (that are not too obviously made up) can give you a huge advantage on the ACT essay.
Do's and Don'ts for a 12 ACT Essay
The key to a perfect score on the ACT essay is to use every second of your time wisely. To this end, here are a few tips to avoid common time-wasters and put your energy where it will get you the most points.
Do spend time:
#1: Writing as much as you can without including repetitive or irrelevant information.
#2: Revising the first and last paragraphs (they stand out in readers' minds).
#3: Making sure you have transitions.
Don't spend time:
#1: Thinking of 'smart' sounding evidence— examples from your own life (or made up about your own life) are just as viable as current events, as long as you keep your example focused and concise.
#2: Trying to correct every error—the grammar and spelling do not have to be perfect to score a 12 in the Language Use domain.
#3: Adding as many vocabulary words as you can—you only need enough to avoid repeating the same basic words or phrases multiple times; you'll max out fancy vocab's potential at two words per paragraph.
How To Practice Your Writing To Get A Perfect 12 In Each Domain
- Start with our list of ACT essay prompts.
- Create a list of evidence examples—from literature, history, or personal experience—that you can use for many or most prompt arguments.
- Practice first with extended time—50 minutes—so you can get an idea of what it takes to get a top-scoring essay.
- Find a way to grade your essay, using the ACT Writing Rubric . If you can be objective about your writing, you can notice weak spots, especially if you ran out of time but know what to do. Otherwise, try to get help from an English teacher or a friend who's a better writer than you are.
- Start narrowing the time down to 40 minutes to mirror the actual test.
- Stay confident! The ACT essay is just like a puzzle—every time you do one, you get better at doing it.
What's Next?
Find out more about how to write an ACT essay with this step-by-step example .
Use our analysis of the ACT Writing Rubric to learn about how your essay will be scored—and discover strategies you can use to get the score you want.
Want to aim for perfection on the ACT with a 36? Read our guide on how to score a perfect ACT score, written by our resident 36 scorer.
Make sure your ACT score is high enough for the schools you want to apply to. Find out how to find your ACT target score .
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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Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!
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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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Section 1 - 5 of 30
Writing Sample Essays
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ACT Essay Format: A Quick Recap. Remember, your essay should be in the following format: Introduction (with your thesis)—2-3 sentences. Your point of view on the essay topic (easiest to choose one of the three perspectives the ACT gives you). Body Paragraph 1 (Opposing perspective)—5-7 sentences
The ACT essay plan below has been modified from our ACT Essay Tips article to fit the new ACT Writing Test. The template includes three sections: planning, writing and revising. If you practice using this template to write ACT essays, you'll get much faster and (probably) more precise.
Six free ACT writing test sample essays that you can use to familiarize yourself with ACT test instructions, format, and test scoring.
If you're already scoring an 8 or above in every domain on practice (or real) ACT essays, you have a shot at completely nailing what the graders want, represented by a score of 12, with a little practice.
The following provides helpful suggestions for writing your essay. You do not need to copy this approach exactly; think of it as a framework. ACT Essay Template. ¶1: Introductory Paragraph. Introductory statement. Thesis. ¶2: First Body Paragraph. Describe your thesis. Provide 1st example/reasoning: include specific, relevant information.
Six free The ACT Writing test sample essays that you can use to familiarize yourself with the test instructions, format, and test scoring.