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ACT Essay Format and Templates You Can Use

ACT Writing

Most of the ACT is entirely multiple choice. All you have to worry about when answering the questions is that you're filling in the correct answer bubble!

But then there's that (optional) Writing section, which requires you to give your answer in words. How are you supposed to write a persuasive essay in 40 minutes? What format should your essay have? Is there an ACT essay template that can guarantee you a high score? We'll answer these questions in this article.

feature image credit: homework ritual by woodleywonderworks , used under CC BY 2.0 /Cropped from original.

What Does Your ACT Essay Need? 5 Key Elements

In order to do well on ACT Writing, your essay will need to have the following five elements (not necessarily in this order):

#1: An Introduction

The first thing the grader will see is your opening paragraph, so you should make a good impression. Don't just jump right into the meat of your essay— introduce your perspective (your thesis statement) and how it relates to the other perspective(s) you'll be discussing. You don't necessarily have to start out by writing your introduction (you can always leave a few lines blank at the top of your essay and come back to it after you've written your example paragraphs), but you MUST include it.

#2: Your Thesis Statement (should be in your introduction)

You must take a perspective on the issue presented in the prompt paragraph and state it clearly . I advise using one of the three perspectives the ACT gives you as your position/perspective; you can come up with your own perspective, but then you'll have less time to spend on writing the essay (which is not ideal with a time constraint). Your thesis statement (the statement of your perspective) should go in the introduction of your essay.

#3: A Discussion of the Relationship Between Perspectives

In your essay, you must discuss the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective . Make sure to discuss pros as well as cons for the perspectives you don't agree with to show you understand the complexities of the issue.

#4: Examples or Reasoning to Support Each Point

To support your arguments for and against each perspective, you need to draw on reasoning or specific examples . This reasoning should be in the same paragraph as the arguments. For instance, if your argument is about how globalization leads to greater efficiency, you should include your support for this argument in the same paragraph.

And it's not enough to just say "Because freedom" or "Because Stalin" or something like that as your support and leave it at that. You need to actually explain how your reasoning or examples support your point.

#5: Clear Organization

Avoid discussing multiple points in one paragraph. Instead, our recommended strategy is to discuss one perspective per paragraph . This organization will not only make it easier for you to stay on track, but will also make it easier for your essay's scorers to follow your reasoning (always a good thing).

ACT Essay Outline

The 5-paragraph structure might seem boring, but it is a good way to keep your points organized when writing an essay. For the ACT essay, you'll need an introduction, two to three body paragraphs (at least one paragraph for each perspective), and a conclusion . You should state your thesis in your introduction and conclusion (using different words in your conclusion so that you're not repeating yourself exactly).

So how do you write in this five paragraph structure on the ACT? I'll show you how to put the plan into action with an essay template that can be used for any ACT essay question. First, here's the prompt I'll be using:

Public Health and Individual Freedom

Most people want to be healthy, and most people want as much freedom as possible to do the things they want. Unfortunately, these two desires sometimes conflict. For example, smoking is prohibited from most public places, which restricts the freedom of some individuals for the sake of the health of others. Likewise, car emissions are regulated in many areas in order to reduce pollution and its health risks to others, which in turn restricts some people's freedom to drive the vehicles they want. In a society that values both health and freedom, how do we best balance the two? How should we think about conflicts between public health and individual freedom?

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about the conflict between public health and individual freedom.


Our society should strive to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of people. When the freedom of the individual interferes with that principle, freedom must be restricted.	Nothing in society is more valuable than freedom. Perhaps physical health is sometimes improved by restricting freedom, but the cost to the health of our free society is far too great to justify it.	The right to avoid health risks is a freedom, too. When we allow individual behavior to endanger others, we've damaged both freedom and health.

Write a unified, coherent essay about the conflict between public health and individual freedom. 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
organize your ideas clearly and logically
explain the relationship between your perspective and those given
communicate your ideas effectively in standard written English

Your perspective may be in full agreement with any of the others, in partial agreement, or wholly different.

Next, I'll break down the ACT essay into its individual parts (introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion) and give examples for what each should look like. Because I'm writing in response to a specific prompt, some of the information may not translate exactly from essay to essay; instead, focus on the structure of the paragraphs. I've bolded key structural words and phrases for you to focus on.

Introduction (2-3 sentences)

Begin your introduction with a general statement about the topic that draws the reader in; should provide some context for what you'll be discussing in the essay. Can be omitted if you're short on time (1-2 sentences).

As society progresses into the 21 st century, there are some pundits who create a false two-sided fight between individual liberty and complete dependence on the government.

Next comes your thesis statement that includes a clear position on the issue. For the highest score, you should also mention the other perspectives you'll be discussing in contrast to the position you've chosen (1 sentence).

While individual freedom is essential to society, the freedom to avoid health risks should supersede freedom of the individual when individual behavior endangers others.

Sample ACT essay introduction:

As society progresses into the 21 st century, there are some pundits who create a false two-sided fight between individual liberty and complete dependence on the government. While individual freedom is essential to society, the freedom to avoid health risks should supersede freedom of the individual when individual behavior endangers others.

Body Paragraph 1 (Opposing perspective) (5-7 sentences)

Open with a transition to a different perspective (1 sentence).

Perspective Two espouses the view that "[t]hose who give up freedom in order to gain security deserve neither."

Alternatively, if you don't want to name the specific perspective that opposes yours (or if you can't because you're comparing your perspective to a combination of ones given by the ACT):

Proponents of freedom of the individual above all else espouse the view that "[t]hose who give up freedom in order to gain security deserve neither."

Next, provide an example of how this perspective is somewhat true and explain why (2-3 sentences).

This perspective is true to some extent. For instance, in the Civil Rights movement, schools were integrated at the cost of both the mental well-being of racists, who had to deal with the blow to their world view, and the physical and emotional well-being of those being integrated, who had to deal with the abuse flung upon them by said racists. The freedom to attend any public school was deemed more important to society than the temporary mental, emotional, and in some cases physical health risks caused by that freedom.

Provide an example of how this perspective is mostly false when compared to the perspective you agree with and explain why (2-3 sentences).

However, Perspective Two[/this absolutist perspective] is not always a useful way to think about the world, particularly when life and death is at stake. During the Civil Rights movement, parents who were afraid their children might incur physical or even fatal harm from being forced to integrate still had the freedom to homeschool; the same goes for parents who were racist and did not wish their children to interact with children of "lesser" races. While the government pushed the issue of freedom of all people to attend all public schools, it could not make it mandatory for every child to attend a public school (rather than being homeschooled, or attending private or church school) and risk physical injury or worse.

Sample Body Paragraph (Opposing Perspective):

Perspective Two espouses the view that "[t]hose who give up freedom in order to gain security deserve neither." This perspective is true to some extent. For instance, in the Civil Rights movement, schools were integrated at the cost of both the mental well-being of racists, who had to deal with the blow to their world view, and the physical and emotional well-being of those being integrated, who had to deal with the abuse flung upon them by said racists. The freedom to attend any public school was deemed more important to society than the temporary mental, emotional, and in some cases physical health risks caused by that freedom. However, Perspective Two is not always a useful way to think about the world, particularly when life and death is at stake. During the Civil Rights movement, parents who were afraid their children might incur physical or even fatal harm from being forced to integrate still had the freedom to homeschool; the same goes for parents who were racist and did not wish their children to interact with children of "lesser" races. While the government pushed the issue of freedom of all people to attend all public schools, it could not make it mandatory for every child to attend a public school (rather than being homeschooled, or attending private or church school) and risk physical injury or worse.

Body Paragraph 2 (Opposing perspective) (5-7 sentences)

Same as above, except with another perspective you disagree with/don't entirely agree with. Make sure to use transition words so that the change of topic (from the previous perspective) isn't abrupt or unexpected.

To make your example of the Spanish Inquisition less unexpected, make sure to use transitions.

As of September 2016, the ACT no longer requires you to discuss all three perspectives in your essay; instead, you need only "clearly state your own perspective on the issue and analyze the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective."

If you've chosen only to discuss the relationship between your perspective and one other perspective, then this second body paragraph is optional . However, if you're limiting your analysis to one other perspective , then in order to fully explore the relationship between this other perspective and your own point of view you'll most likely need a second paragraph . In that case, this body paragraph should be similar in structure to the previous body paragraph.

Body Paragraph 3 (Your perspective) (5-7 sentences)

Acknowledge the value of the other perspective(s) you discussed, but affirm that your perspective is the truest one (1-2 sentences).

Provide one final example of why this perspective is true (3-5 sentences).

Some parents worry that vaccines contain toxic chemicals and so have fought for the right to not vaccinate their children against once deadly diseases like measles. By being allowed this freedom, however, these parents are not only putting their children at risk of catching these virulent diseases, but are risking the life of anyone with a compromised immune system who comes into contact with a non-vaccinated child. The results of the anti-vaccination movement can be seen in cases like the recent measles outbreak at Disneyland and the mumps outbreak at a New York City daycare company; both of these outbreaks unfortunately led to fatalities. When the health risks caused by personal freedom reach life-and-death stakes, it is necessary to restrict individual freedom in favor of freedom to avoid preventable health risks.

Sample Body Paragraph (Your Perspective):

As can be seen from the examples above, sometimes the greater good means individual freedom is more important than personal health. For the most part, however, allowing individual behavior to harm others damages both freedom and health. Some parents worry that vaccines contain toxic chemicals and so have fought for the right to not vaccinate their children against once deadly diseases like measles. By being allowed this freedom, however, these parents are not only putting their children at risk of catching these virulent diseases, but are risking the life of anyone with a compromised immune system who comes into contact with a non-vaccinated child. The results of the anti-vaccination movement can be seen in cases like the recent measles outbreak at Disneyland and the mumps outbreak at a New York City daycare company; both of these outbreaks unfortunately led to fatalities. When the health risks caused by personal freedom reach life-and-death stakes, it is necessary to restrict individual freedom in favor of freedom to avoid preventable health risks.

Conclusion (1-2 sentences)

Transition into restating your thesis, using different words (1-2 sentences).

Sample ACT Essay conclusion:

America was built on the idea that there is a fundamental right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—in that order. When individual behavior puts others' lives at risk, it must be curtailed.

Putting Your Essay Together

Here is my final ACT essay template (excluding the second body paragraph):

[Body paragraph two on the other opposing perspective would go here]

Even though there are some minor grammatical issues in this essay, because they don't significantly affect the readability of the essay they don't matter. There are also some factual inaccuracies in this essay (as far as I know, there haven't been any reports of a mumps outbreak in NYC daycare facilities), but that doesn't matter for the ACT as long as the facts are persuasive and make sense in the context of the essay . Adding false information about a mumps outbreak added to the persuasive impact of the essay, so I put it in, whereas I couldn't figure out a way to work dinosaurs into this essay, and so they were not included.

Next essay, my velociraptor friend. Next essay.

How Do You Write Essays In This Format?

Now that you have a structural template for your ACT essay, how and when do you use it?

An essay template is most helpful during the planning phase of your essay. Whether you're writing a practice essay or taking the test for real, it's important to take the time to plan out your essay before you start writing. I personally believe 8-10 minutes is a good amount of planning time to start out with, although you may get faster at planning as you practice, leaving more time for writing and revising.

It might be tempting to leave out this planning stage so that you have more time to read the prompt or write. Don't fall into this trap! If you don't take the time to plan, you run the risk of writing a disorganized essay that doesn't really support your argument or omits how one of the other perspectives relates to yours. If you're struggling with decoding the prompts, be sure to read my article on how to attack ACT Writing prompts ; it'll help you break down every ACT Writing prompt so that you can extract the information you need to write your essay.

In addition to using this essay template when you're planning out your essay, you also need to make sure you practice writing this kind of essay before you take the real ACT Plus Writing. Don't expect to just memorize this outline and be good to go on test day—you'll need to practice putting the template to good use. Practice with as many ACT Writing prompts as you can—our complete guide to ACT Writing prompts will get you started.

ACT Essay Format: A Quick Recap

Remember, your essay should be in the following format:

Your point of view on the essay topic (easiest to choose one of the three perspectives the ACT gives you).
Reason why it's true (with reasoning or examples for support)
Reason why it's not as true as your perspective (with reasoning or examples for support)
One last reason why your perspective is true (with reasoning or examples for support).
Conclusion (with your thesis restated)—1-2 sentences

What's Next?

Want to learn more about how to write a top-scoring ACT essay? Watch as I construct an ACT essay, step-by-step .

Looking to put the icing on your ACT essay cake? Check out our top 15 ACT Writing tips and strategies .

Wondering how much you have to write to do well on ACT Writing? Read this article on essay length and your ACT Writing score .

Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? We have the industry's leading ACT prep program. Built by Harvard grads and ACT full scorers, the program learns your strengths and weaknesses through advanced statistics, then customizes your prep program to you so you get the most effective prep possible. Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial today:

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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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Enter your email to unlock an extra $25 off an sat or act program, by submitting my email address. i certify that i am 13 years of age or older, agree to recieve marketing email messages from the princeton review, and agree to terms of use., sample act essay prompt (and how to tackle it).

Are you taking the ACT with Writing? No need to stress! The ACT essay follows a predictable format, which means you can practice and prepare beforehand. Take a look at a sample ACT writing prompt and learn five key steps to penning a high-scoring essay.

Keep in mind: The ACT writing essay is optional. Currently, only 27 colleges and universities require the ACT with Writing. You can see the complete list here . If there is any chance that you might apply to one of those schools, you should register for the ACT with Writing. Not sure where you will apply? You should strongly consider signing up for the essay and keep your options open.

ACT with Writing: Sample Prompt

This example writing prompt comes straight from our book ACT Prep :

Education and the Workplace

Many colleges and universities have cut their humanities departments, and high schools have started to shift their attention much more definitively toward STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and away from ELA (English, Language Arts). Representatives from both school boards and government organizations suggest that the move toward STEM is necessary in helping students to participate in a meaningful way in the American workplace. Given the urgency of this debate for the future of education and society as a whole, it is worth examining the potential consequences of this shift in how students are educated in the United States.

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about the shift in American education.


ELA programs should be emphasized over STEM programs. Education is not merely a means to employment: ELA education helps students to live more meaningful lives. In addition, an exclusively STEM-based program cannot help but limit students’ creativity and lead them to overemphasize the importance of money and other tangible gains.	ELA programs should be eradicated entirely, except to establish the basic literacy necessary to engage in the hard sciences, mathematics, and business. Reading and writing are activities that are best saved for the leisure of students who enjoy them.	ELA and STEM programs should always be in equal balance with one another. Both are necessary to providing a student with a well-rounded education. Moreover, equal emphasis will allow the fullest possible exposure to many subjects before students choose their majors and careers

Write a unified, coherent essay in which you evaluate multiple perspectives on the issue of how schools should balance STEM and ELA subjects. In your essay, be sure to:

analyze and evaluate the perspectives given
state and develop your own perspective on the issue
explain the relationship between your perspective and those given

Your perspective may be in full agreement with any of the others, in partial agreement, or wholly different. Whatever the case, support your ideas with logical reasoning and detailed, persuasive examples.

How to Write the ACT Essay

Your job is to write an essay in which you take some sort of position on the prompt, all while assessing the three perspectives provided in the boxes. Find a way to anchor your essay with a unique perspective of your own that can be defended and debated, and you are already in the upper echelon of scorers.

Step 1: Work the Prompt

What in the prompt requires you to weigh in? Why is this issue still the subject of debate and not a done deal?

Step 2: Work the Perspectives

Typically, the three perspectives will be split: one for , one against , and one in the middle . Your goal in Step 2 is to figure out where each perspective stands and then identify at least one shortcoming of each perspective. For the example above, ask yourself:

What does each perspective consider?
What does each perspective overlook?

Step 3: Generate Your Own Perspective

Now it's time to come up with your own perspective! If you merely restate one of the three given perspectives, you won’t be able to get into the highest scoring ranges. You’ll draw from each of the perspectives, and you may side with one of them, but your perspective should have something unique about it.

Step 4: Put It All Together

Now that you have your ideas in order, here's a blueprint for how to organize the ACT essay. This blueprint works no matter what your prompt is.

Step 5: (If There's Time): Proofread

Spend one or two minutes on proofreading your essay if you have time. You’re looking for big, glaring errors. If you find one, erase it completely or cross it out neatly. Though neatness doesn’t necessarily affect your grade, it does make for a happy grader.

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ACT Essay Samples | Good vs Bad Examples

The ACT Essay option is a great way to impress college admissions officers with your writing ability. But what does a good essay look like vs a bad one? Thankfully, ACT has provided some helpful ACT essay samples that you can study based on good vs not-so-good examples.

In addition, here are 10 helpful ACT Essay prep tips to practice before test day.

ACT Essay Samples Prompt

This provided prompt, Intelligent Machines, is a good representation of how prompts are provided to you on the actual test.

“The test describes an issue and provides three different perspectives on the issue. You are asked to read and consider the issue and perspectives, state your own perspective on the issue, and analyze the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective on the issue. Your score will not be affected by the perspective you take on the issue.”

ACT Essay Samples Passage

Here is the actual passage that students drew from when writing the sample essays below.

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.

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about the increasing presence of intelligent machines.”

ACT Essay Samples Perspective Choices

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.”

ACT Essay Sample 1 (Low-Scoring)

“Well Machines are good but they take people jobs like if they don’t know how to use it they get fired and they’ll find someone else and it’s more easyer with machines but sometimes they don’t need people because of this machines do there own job and there be many people that lack on there job but the intelligent machines sometimes may not work or they’ll brake easy and it’s waste of money on this machines and there really expensive to buy but they help alot at the same time it help alot but at the same time this intelligent machines work and some don’t work but many store buy them and end up broken or not working but many stores gets them and end up wasting money on this intelligent machines’ but how does it help us and the comunity because some people get fired because they do not need him because of this machines many people are losing job’s because of this machines.”

Sample Essay 2 (High-Scoring)

“Should machines be used to do good and services instead of humans? I believe they should not for many reasons. Machines can not be smart unless a human is controlling it. So it would not matter if it’s an intelligent machine or not a human is still controlling it to do everything.

When using a machine it could easily malfunction and it could be hard to fix the problem or it will just take a while to fix it. If a human is taking over instead of the machine there may be fewer problems. Machines have so many problems that it would not be worth having.

Also, the more machines you have the fewer jobs there are for people because everyone thinks it would be better to have machines instead of people. When fewer people are out of work that means less money for those people and sometimes they will lose their homes or cars because they can not afford anything.

Sometimes working with machines can be very stressful because they may not work at times or they could be running extremely slow and won’t get anything done. Machines are not smart at all, only when people are controlling them they are but not all the time. It may seem smart but it’s really not.

In conclusion, I think machines should not be used to take over a human job because machines can not think only humans can think and make right or wrong decisions. Machines do not have brains, they’re not wired to think so why have them do stuff that we can do ourselves.”

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