<p>I signed up for the february ACT and was prepping for it by taking a practice test. But when i got to the essay portion... i had no idea how i should write it.. </p>
<p>can anyone please give me any ideas on how to structure the essay?
and what do the graders particularly look for in the essay?
any tips?</p>
<p>thank you.
:)</p>
<ol>
<li> Structure it as a 5-paragraph essay with an intro, 3 bodies, and a conclusion.</li>
<li> Write A LOT.</li>
<li> Write clearly. Don't use any fancy passive voice structure to make your essay sound more formal. In fact, disregard the passive voice altogether.</li>
<li> Take a strong stance. Your position should be very obvious. Also, remember to show the other side of the argument, if only briefly. They actually look for this.</li>
<li> Use transition words, such as "moreover," "therefore," "thus," etc. often. Unbeknown to most students, each grader is given around a minute and a half to grade your essay. They look for these transition words as guides to lead them through it.</li>
<li> Use some colorful vocab and punctuation (dashes, semicolons, colons, etc.) but don't overdo it. The essay should flow; this may mean using more linking verbs than you want to, which was particularly painful for me.</li>
</ol>
<p>All-in-all... WRITE A LOT! :P</p>
<p>^a very helpful post, thank you.</p>
<p>thank you Marlow!
helpful tips
:]</p>
<p>np. I got a 7 on the writing section the first time I took the ACT. I, like many people on this website, are excellent writers given even an hour to revise our essays and use thesauruses, but are used to taking ~5 mins thinking of that "perfect sentence." Once I had analyzed 20-30 12 rated essays, and had written down everything I noticed they had in common, it was easy to practice. The second time I took the ACT I got an 11, and on the 2008 Dec. test I got a 12.</p>
<p>Oh, another thing I forgot to mention — be sure you can write fast! I'm a bit of a handwriting nitpick, in the sense that if a letter looks crooked/misshapen I'll start the word over. This isn't an option for the ACT. Unfortunately I still write fairly slowly, so instead of doing a pre-writing I start writing asap. I can formulate a focus as I go and still stay on topic rather well, but others find pre-writing essential. Whatever floats your boat I guess lol.</p>
<p>As far as punctuation, I try to steer clear of semicolons. If you know the real grammatical use of semicolons, you could have one after nearly every sentence, but the focus would lose coherency. When I read a sentence with a semicolon, the phrase post-semicolon leaves me with the "um, okay..." kind of feeling. That's generally a bad feeling for fluency :P Dashes are wonderful, since the ACT writing is moderately informal, but semicolons and colons are generally bad news. </p>
<p>I guess what really helped me was reading College Essay books. The language should be very similar to your Personal Statement — anecdotal, and maybe a bit quirky, but with sincere focus. For me, it was as simple as breaking apart my compound sentences. They may be great for AP essays, but the ACT looks for coherency first, and flashiness last. Just develop your point clearly and thoroughly so they aren't left with the "um, okay..." feeling, and you're good to go :P</p>
<p>thank you~
i'll try your method..
hopefully, i'll be able to get a good score.... ><</p>
<p>So helpful, Marlow!!! I really don't want to take this test too seriously but excellent tips such as yours are quite wonderful.</p>