For many students, the ACT is the one standardized test that is a real challenge. Because it is such a standardized test, the questions often focus on subjects that are almost exclusively tested in high school. These subjects include English composition, math, reading, and science. Each subject is administered three times, once in high school and once at the college level. There is an essay question in every section of the test.
The Common Essay Format (CFE) is the most frequently used ACT essay format. The three sections of the test, namely essay, written test, and practice test, are all part of the CFE format. The essay question is administered in the fourth section of the test, in the same order as each of the three other sections.
There are three parts to the essay question in the CFE format. The first part is called the Introduction. This is the first paragraph of the essay and the first paragraph of each individual essay. The second paragraph is called the Body. This is the second paragraph of the introduction. Each of these paragraphs has four paragraphs to it.
The third paragraph is the Discussion and Conclusion. The fourth paragraph is the Conclusion. It is typically the last paragraph of the essay and is typically the longest paragraph in the essay.
In the CFE, the first paragraph is usually about one-page long, but can vary depending on the topic of the test and the student’s composition skills. The second paragraph consists of the introduction to the subject and then follows the subject line. The introduction is also known as the “main body.” The third paragraph consists of the argument. The fourth paragraph is usually the conclusion. This paragraph summarizes what was discussed in the other three paragraphs.
The essay should not be longer than the recommended length of two pages. In fact, many professors may make the minimum length two hundred words. Some ACT test takers, however, like to add a personal note at the bottom of the page or on the essay itself to allow students to read their own notes as they review the essay.
Most ACT essay question formats require that the essay begin and end with the main body. {of the essay. In most cases, the introduction and body should be equal lengths. However, you will sometimes find that some ACT test writers will use different lengths for either the introduction and body or both.
In most cases, ACT test writers will use the Common format and the ACT writing sample format, which contains the same three-paragraph format. For the writing sample, the introduction is usually longer and more detailed than the writing sample format.
ACT is generally very open about the way that they review the essays they send out. When a professor asks the test taker to write an essay, many test takers will say that they cannot write the essay themselves because they are nervous. ACT, however, actually provides many sample essays for students to practice with.
In ACT tests, the essay should not be longer than 500 words and you should not include more than one paragraph per sentence. Although you can go beyond that length in some cases, many ACT writing samples recommend a much shorter length.
Most ACT writing samples require at least one paragraph for each paragraph, even when you are answering multiple choice questions. Many ACT essay questions have multiple choices, so if you have multiple choice answers, you are expected to give them to the essay administrator.
Although ACT has many examples of the format, do not hesitate to ask your ACT writing sample for help. ACT typically does not use the same format on all writing samples, but they usually have examples for many of the questions on their writing samples.