Hi!
Well, as there are very few practice prompts out there for the new ACT essay, I decided to edit an old one to a more modern style. Here is the prompt (with three perspectives) and my try. It would help me so much if you could grade it, or provide any tips!
Here is the prompt:
At some high schools, teachers have considered allowing each student to choose the books he or she will read for English class rather than requiring all students in class to read the same books. Some teachers support such a policy because they think students will greatly improve their reading skills if they read books they find interesting. Other teachers do not support such a policy because they think that students will learn more by participating in class discussion with others who have read the same books. In your opinion, should each individual student be allowed to choose the books he or she reads for English class?
In your essay, take a position on this question, using the Perspectives given below.
Perspective 1: Picking your own books will motivate you to actually read it. Therefore, you will understand the content much more deeply.
Perspective 2: A class discussion is the most valuable for a student’s understanding of a book. Many students don’t know how to analyze a book fully on their own; together they can.
Perspective 3: By choosing a book him- or herself, a student will get to know his reading preferences. This is essential for later reading.
Here is my try (I wrote in in the 40-minute time limit, so it’s certainly not flawless. Any tips would help a lot!!).
Nowadays, many English teachers find it worth examining whether they should let their students free to choose the books they read, or not.
Although requiring students to read the same books might not be the most motivating option, it will ultimately generate a deeper understanding of literature through class discussions.
It is certainly true that you learn more from reading a book you like than from a novel you are forced to read. This is in agreement with Perspective 1. However, the freedom to choose any book they like will ultimately not benefit students’ literary understanding. To demonstrate this, several school libraries in The Netherlands counted how many books, written by the ‘Big Three writers’, were borrowed during a school year. It turned out that at school where students were free to choose their books, much fewer ‘Big Three novels’–which are considered very hard and time-consuming to read–were lent out. This shows that students prefer easier books over challenging ones, when they are given freedom of choice. In the end, this will result in only a superficial knowledge of literature.
Another often-heard point is that pupils still have to discover their reading preferences. Perspective 3 also takes this point of view. Although this might sometimes be the case, it is more often true that students do know their preferences. This can have devastating effects on one’s education. For instance, Lucy, a girl in my class, was a huge fan of fantasy novels. She would did every single English assignment on Harry Potter, The Hobbit or Avatar, to name a few. As a result, my teacher was flabbergasted when he evaluated her high school literary journey. Because Lucy had only traveled to fictitious places and times, she was unable to tell him anything whatsoever about F. Scott Fitzgerald. My teacher then realized that his book policy did not work.
It was no coincidence that this teacher then introduces the obligatory-book-rule. This means that every student reads the same book, and learns from it through a class discussion. As Perspective 2 states, this results in a much deeper understanding of a book. Thirty kids simply know more than one. The result is a process of synergy, where every student contributes to the discussion of the book. He might give a different point of view, or focus on a small but important detail few had noticed.
The shortcoming of this system is that some students will not read anything that differs from ‘their’ genre, some might say. However, a teacher can diminish this effect by letting the students vote. Consequently, they will not feel forced to read a dull novel. Rather, it would look like they still made their own choice.
Taking all this into consideration, I can say it is best to give the teacher the choice. Then the ‘Big Three’ books in The Netherlands will probably fly off the shelves.
Feel free to give any feedback, I would really appreciate it!