Journal #34

Writing a good argumentative essay for the standardized ACT test is truly not a complicated process, but some students may make it a complex procedure.The first thing which you must remember especially while taking the actual ACT test, is not to panic, and try to think clearly. This will certainly help your paper to be more organized. The first step that I take is to read the given prompt carefully. I feel as though I must fully understand my purpose. Then, I will organize my thoughts as to what i am going to write, but this must be done quickly because there is not a whole lot of time to make a detailed outline. Then, obviously, comes the actual writing of the essay in the normal order of introduction, body paragraphs, and finally the conclusion. According to the ACT Writing Rubric, one key thing to remember while writing is to take a clear position on the issue. This is very crucial because one must not flip flop in their opinions or their score may be dropped to as low as a 2. However, along with making your viewpoint clear, you must also provide an ample counterpoint. This is another key point in the essay because without a counterpoint at all, the score may only be as high as a 2. Personally, I make sure to incorporate some sort of counterargument in my introduction, then I elaborate on this throughout my essay. Once the paper is written completely, the next step is proofreading. Read back over the paper to check for any grammatical errors, incorrect spellings, or sloppy transitions. This will greatly help the score because grammar is in fact taken into account on the ACT Writing Rubric. After the proofreading phase is over, one must read over the writing rubric so as to compare their essay with it. Make sure to remember that the essay must fit all categories in the score to receive said score. Once the score has been decided, you should go back over the essay to spot the errors that may have decreased the score. Once these have been identified, you should revise the essay to fix these problems.