<p>I've identified my main struggle with the english sections of ACT and SAT. It's the essay. I have a 9 right now. What books/preps/things can I do/read to improve my essay to a 10 or maybe (if I have some luck on my side) 11. </p>
<p>Start a list where examples are sorted by literature, history, current events and people. Under each category, write down examples plus a general summary and list of themes/characteristics specific to each book/piece of history/current event/person. Most SAT essay topics are pretty general so you should be able to adapt at least two of these examples to any prompt. If you find that your content knowledge is lacking, brush up by reading/recollecting some classics (Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet, Fahrenheit 451, Frankenstein, 1984, etc. - you have probably already read some of these in school), history (think of major events like wars) and important people (MLK Jr., Gandhi, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Obama, Washington, Jefferson…you get the gist). Do this before the test and try to master this list; you’ll be less likely to be confronted with writer’s block during the test.</p>
<p>For the ACT, you could try the aforementioned tips, but the prompts are more related to high school/daily life and less likely to be connected with history and literature so I think it’s more about generality. Perhaps someone else could post about mastering the ACT essay because I personally never did (although I got a 10 all three times on the SAT essay, I got a 9 on the three times that I took the ACT essay).</p>
<p>For the ACT essay, I recommend taking a couple of minutes to plan the essay after reading the prompt if you don’t already do that. Don’t make it too detailed and elaborate, just write the general points of what you want to say in your essay. Also, don’t try using big words and making your essay fancy. Simple writing that flows can be more appealing than writing with fancy words that no one uses. Have an organized essay with an introduction, a body (do as many paragraphs that you think is needed), and a conclusion. Personally, I like using anecdotes because they give my essay a personalized touch. I think using different punctuation marks like semi-colons, quotations, and dashes in sentences can make the sentence structure more sophisticated and make your essay seem more mature. These are all the things I’ve done in the ACT essay. I’ve taken it twice and both times I got an 11. I do not consider myself to be a gifted writer in any way, my math and science scores are significantly higher than my reading and english scores. Getting a 9 is a very good score but I wish you the best of luck on your future tests, I hope this helps!</p>