What’s the difference between the old and new ACT essay question?

In short, the new ACT essay prompt asks students to do a lot more. The old essay asked test-takers
to consider issues such as whether or not students should be required to wear school uniforms or
whether or not fast food chains should be required to post nutrition information. In other words,
as the ACT puts it, it was an exercise in persuasion. The new essay is an exercise in both
persuasion and analysis. Students are given three perspectives on an issue and asked to “evaluate
and analyze” the three perspectives, “state and develop” their own perspective, and “explain the
relationship” between their perspective and the given perspectives. They can choose to agree with
one of the provided viewpoints or may come up with their own.
This is a lot to ask high school students to do! Particularly in a timed writing situation (the silver
lining is that the ACT is giving you a little more time to do it). This makes it all the more important
to have a strategic approach to make sure you hit all of the required parts of the question in an
organized, well-written essay. Keep reading for our best tips on how to do this.

What are your top tips for success on the new ACT essay?

After poring through the sample essays and grading guidelines for the new ACT essay, here are
my conclusions on what will help you get your best score:

 Make sure your introductory paragraph introduces the perspectives provided in the
prompt and ends with a thesis statement that states your own perspective and why you
believe it.

For example, based on the released ACT example prompt on Intelligent Machines, this could
potentially be your introduction:

Although intelligent machines might cause us to question what makes us human, it is too extreme
to say that they cause us to either to lose our humanity or push us to become super-human. Humans
and machines can work in concert: machines can be employed to take on tasks that are menial,
tedious, and time-consuming, leaving humans free to work on tasks that require a human mind
and spirit.

Notice that the first sentence summarizes the first and third perspectives in the prompt and the
thesis statement agrees with the second. This sets up a structure for your essay in which you will
evaluate the three perspectives and explain why you agree with one of them.

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 Choose one of the given three perspectives to agree with (at least mostly) and avoid the
option to present your own.

With three different perspectives to evaluate and a limited amount of time to write, you are going
to be able to cover more ground if you choose to agree with one of provided perspectives. Three
viewpoints is already a lot to evaluate. If you choose to present your own viewpoint, this means
you now have to elaborate on FOUR perspectives. You can get a perfect score by agreeing with
one of the given perspectives. Don’t make your life harder.

 Know your essay structure in advance. Here’s one organization strategy that should work
well if you follow my advice to agree with one of the perspectives.
 Brief intro paragraph (2-3 sentences)
 Evaluation of the first perspective you did not choose with specific examples
 Evaluation of other perspective you did not choose with specific examples
 Evaluation of the perspective you agree with and further development on why you
agree with it using specific examples (this should be a longer paragraph than the first
two, or it could be split into two paragraphs)
 Brief conclusion (approx. 2 sentences): make a final case for your argument

This structure ensures that you answer all three parts of the question: evaluating the three
perspectives, developing your own, and explaining the relationship between your perspective and
the others.

 Give VERY specific examples

This has always been the case on the ACT essay. For each of the three perspectives, make sure
you give specific examples. And the more specific they are, the better. You don’t need a lot–two
or three good ones do the trick. Examples from historical and contemporary events and
circumstances tend to go over best. Personal examples can also work, but graders seem to be biased
towards outside examples–they seem to carry more weight.

 Leave time to proofread at the end

Since “Language Use” is its own separate grading category now, it is worth your time to catch any
errors you may have inadvertently made while writing quickly.

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 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

E
increasing presence of intelligent machines.

Perspective One Perspective Two Perspective Three

What we lose with the

replacement of people
by machines is some part
of our own humanity.
Even our mundane
PL
M
daily encounters no
longer require from us
basic courtesy, respect,
SA
Machines are good at
low-skill, repetitive
jobs, and at high-speed,
extremely precise jobs.
In both cases they work
better than humans.
a more prosperous and
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

and tolerance for other progressive world for possibilities.

people. everyone.

Essay Task

increasing presence of intelligent machines. 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.

©2014 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved.

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 Planning Your Essay
Your work on these prewriting pages will not be scored.

Use the space below and on the back cover to generate ideas and plan your essay. You may wish to
consider the following as you think critically about the task:
Strengths and weaknesses of the three given perspectives
• What insights do they offer, and what do they fail to consider?
• Why might they be persuasive to others, or why might they fail to persuade?
Your own knowledge, experience, and values
• What is your perspective on this issue, and what are its strengths and weaknesses?
• How will you support your perspective in your essay?

If you need more space to plan, please continue on the back of this page.

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Sample Essay 6
Ideas and Analysis: Score = 6
Development and Support: Score = 6
Organization: Score = 6
Language Use and Conventions: Score = 6

As technology improves, and more and more tasks are completed by machines instead of humans, the question is
no longer about what we can do with machines, but rather what we should. Although the usage of machines increases
efficiency and our standard of living, it detracts from the value of human life.

As machines increasingly perform all our basic tasks, society is able to produce more. The additional production
adds material value to our society and frees people up from these low-skill tasks. This is in agreement with Perspective
Two which claims that this industrialization leads to more prosperity. For example, in the 18th century, short-staple
cotton that was grown in the Southern United States required an immense amount of labor in order to seperate the
seeds from the fiber to process the cotton to make it marketable. However, in the mid-19th century, Eli Whitney, an
American entrepreneur, invented the cotton gin, which allowed for automation of cotton processing. This machine
replaced the need of a large work force for the process and greatly improved production. As a result of the cotton gin,
short-staple cotton production skyrocketed, increasing by more than 10 times in the South while bringing prosperity
to the region and setting in motion a new industrial era in America. This is in agreement with Perspective Three, which
says that mechanization allows for “unimagined possibilities”. Although there are clearly many advantages to
industrialization, there are also some heavy drawbacks.

The replacement of humans by machines leads to the loss of value to human life, an effect that outweighs the
material gains of automation. The search to find human tasks that can be performed by machines inevitably leads to
comparisons between the human and the machine. If a company executive wants to see if a inventory management
team can be replaced by a robotic system, he will compare the two and determine which can do a better job. When
this occurs, the people on the team are evaluated not for their worth as human beings, but for their effectiveness at
performing a specific function—in essence, as we would evaluate a machine. In a larger sense, when we begin to think
about humans in this way, the worth of a person’s life becomes dependent on only what they can do and no longer has
any intrinsic value. As Perspective One states, we begin to lose our humanity. This new mindset and way of evaluating
people, though seemingly harmless in the workplace, is devastating when it begins to pervade a society. If a person is
judged only on his or her capability, there is no reason for a person to remain after they have served their function.
This would warrant genocide against the elderly and the disabled because their burden on society would not be made
up for by any production. Although the machines may seem to only fulfill the low skill jobs at the moment, there is
no barrier to prevent the machines from replacing more. As the machines increase in intelligence, they will replace
any tasks done by humans and render us unnecessary and worthless.

Due to the risks of dehumanization, the material benefits of machines are not enough to justify its increasing
presence.

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Scoring Explanation
Ideas and Analysis = 6

The writer generates an argument that engages critically with multiple perspectives. A nuanced, precise thesis—
efficiency afforded by intelligent machines is ultimately detrimental to a society and to the human race more
generally—propels the argument. In analyzing the issue and its perspectives, the argument employs a number of
insightful contexts, juxtaposing the historical against the contemporary and framing a number of ethical and abstract
tensions (prosperity and efficiency devalue human life; material benefits carry intangible costs). Against these
conceptual backdrops, the writer examines the positive and negative effects of the increasing presence of intelligent
machines, along with the implications and complexities of the given perspectives.

Development and Support = 6

The example of the cotton gin is simple yet effective at illustrating the writer’s concession that machines have indeed
contributed to the greater financial good. Elsewhere, development is oriented toward reasoning rather than driven by
example. The second body paragraph uses the concept of genocide, rather than a specific example of it, to refine and
support the idea that comparisons between human and machine, even in the name of prosperity, reduce and devalue
human qualities and pose a great danger to society. As the argument pushes forward, critical contexts broaden—the
tension is heightened when we must weigh the established benefits of mechanization, as seen through history, against
the risks of a future dominated by machines—and allow for deeper insight. All told, this integrated line of reasoning
and illustration effectively conveys the meaning and import of the argument.

Organization = 6

This response is unified by a clear purpose. The logic of the argument is immediately apparent—this writer’s strategy
is based on a framework of juxtaposition, one that sets out and explores two competing values in tension. This
straightforward strategy allows for a logical progression of ideas, which is realized due in part to effective transitions
that lead the reader to the writer’s conclusions. Examples, explanations, and references to the given perspectives are
skillfully interwoven, allowing for the argument to advance even as its scope expands.

Language Use = 6

Conveying nuanced ideas, marshalling evidence for those ideas, establishing logical relationships—all these skills
rely on the use of language. In this response, use of language is superior. Effective diction works in concert with varied
syntax to relay complex notions with clarity. The writer establishes a formal, academic voice tone that is occasionally
manipulated to persuasive effect—as the writer discusses the perceived dehumanizing effects of machines, her
language conveys an increasing sense of alarm (devastating, render us unnecessary and worthless). In all, the
command over language on display in this response enhances the argument and earns the highest possible score in this
domain.

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Sample Essay 5
Ideas and Analysis: Score = 5
Development and Support: Score = 5
Organization: Score = 5
Language Use and Conventions: Score = 5

It is no secret that today’s workforce no longer consists entirely of people. Rather, machines are being developed
to complete many of the tasks which humans have traditionally done. This can greatly increase productivity and
efficiency of simple, repetitive tasks. Many people view this as a great positive and point out that it leads to a more
uniform and less expensive product which is better for everyone. However, some people are more wary of this popular
trend of automating the workforce and question whether this progress is truely positive. Their concerns, though, are
outweighed by the benefits these machines offer.

It is the popular view among companies which are moving toward automation that robots can do many tasks better
than humans. For example, in the automotive industry, most of a car’s individual components are manufactured by
pre-programmed robots which have much greater and more precise output than would be possible for a human. In
addition, robots cut down the cost of production by a considerable amount. If a company hires an employee to complete
a simple task for $50,000 per year but could instead buy a machine for a one time purchase of $30,000, it is far more
cost effective to buy the machine. Lower cost of production means that the goods produced can now be sold at a lower
pricepoint which passes the savings on to the consumer. Companies producing goods rightly contend that the use of
machines to complete low-skill jobs has only positive impact for everyone.

Beyond these benefits for industry, some believe that machines will shape the future for the human race. Innovation
and invention of new more intelligent machines can push us as humans toward new, unimagined possibilities. For
example, before the first airplane was invented, people could only dream of human flight, but at the moment of takeoff,
a whole new world of unimaginable possibilities was suddenly within our grasp. Through even just that one invention,
an entire multi-billion dollar a year industry was born, and our lives improved and advanced in a multitude of ways.
Who can know what great advancements may be brought about by a more intelligent machine than what we possess
today? The possibilities are endless.

There are those who are less enthusiastic about all this progress and advancement. They argue that by not having
to interact with fellow humans, we no longer are required to be courteous and have tolerance for others. While this
may be true, this is a minor cost for a major increase in efficiency. Take the example of self checkout systems in
grocery stores. Self checkout permits consumers to procure their goods and get out of the store quickly. This might
seem like a small time-saver, but considering how often this experience is repeated reveals a cumulative effect. Across
time, consumers end up saving hours, which improves the efficiency of their daily lives, allowing them to spend time
on things that are of greater interest and meaning to them.

Whether humans like it or not, machines are becoming more and popular in the workplace and are decreasing the
need for humans to work those jobs. This can lead to advancement of society, a greater end product or service, and
even a lower consumer cost of goods. Many people are frightened of change, but unfortunately for them, the past is
gone and now we must look to the future.

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Scoring Explanation
Ideas and Analysis = 5

This argument engages productively with multiple perspectives. By viewing each perspective through the lens of a
particular ideology, the writer establishes and employs a thoughtful context for analysis. Within this context, the writer
articulates and addresses implications that range from benefits for industry to efficiencies for consumers. Competing
views are also evaluated within this framework of capitalist ideals. The writer grants that intelligent machines reduce
human interactions in places like the grocery store but argues that this is a good thing, as it allows for a more efficient
experience for the consumer. In this way, the writer has addressed two values in tension, and an evaluation of the
conflict serves to advance the argument.

Development and Support = 5

The essay is focused on its purpose throughout; the entire response works in service of the larger argument. The
reasoning and illustration in each body paragraph function to deepen understanding of why the writer believes that the
benefits of intelligent machines outweigh potential drawbacks. In using hypotheticals to explain her thinking, the
writer responds to anticipated questions. For example, when she claims that robots cut down the cost of production by
a considerable amount, she answers the question of how with an example that illustrates the difference between the
ongoing salary of a regular employee and the one-time cost of a machine. She extends the idea further by noting that
decreased cost of production means that the goods produced can now be sold at a lower pricepoint which passes the
savings on the consumer, making clear the larger significance of this point. This careful thought process makes for a
compelling, well-developed argument.

Organization = 5

The writer employs a productive organizational strategy. The introduction presents a roadmap for discussion, and this
outline serves as a unifying force for the argument. The argument progresses logically: the writer first establishes
benefits of the increasing presence of intelligent machines and then attempts to strengthen her case by acknowledging
and rebutting a counterargument. Transitions are used when necessary and appropriate, making the connections among
ideas readily apparent and contributing to a smooth, pleasurable read.

Language Use = 5

This response exhibits several markers of advanced language use. Word choice and sentence structures are precise
and diverse, and are used to communicate complex ideas with relative concision. A formal, academic tone
demonstrates strong comprehension of the rhetorical situation and works in service of the writer’s measured argument.

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Sample Essay 4
Ideas and Analysis: Score = 4
Development and Support: Score = 4
Organization: Score = 4
Language Use and Conventions: Score = 4

As modern civilized society progresses into the future, the less civilized we have become. Though machines may
benefit our society and growth, they also have important draw-backs. In relying on machines as employees, many
human employees suffer negative economic consequences. Robots built entirely for the purpose of bringing the future
of tomorrow into the present of today also eliminate opportunities of human-to-human interactions.

As the dream of tomorrow’s future becomes ever closer, machines have become more refined and civilized where
as humans have lost the ability to display even the most basic courtesy let alone show mutual respect to one another.
A variety of machines such as self-checkouts can perform simple tasks. These usually offer convenience and time to
their users, but the effect is lost opportunity for the human being to engage in civilized interaction. The more these
opportunities disappear, the less understanding and respect we have for one another. Convenience also is taking on
greater importance. As machines evolve and we devolve, there seems to be a greater push for machines to become
more innovative and precise, enabling their users to have everything at their finger tips. “Smart” phones, for example,
have made it very easy to participate in “social networking” which has led people to believe they are being more
social. But because interactions that require some “soul connection” are becoming harder and harder, this “social
networking” seems to de-socialize us as people.

Machines are increasingly popular in the workplace. Though there are financial benefits to machine labor, they
are restricted to a handful of people. And there are no benefits to those who lose their jobs. The increased job loss will
effect the overall economy, but it will also create more tension between people in society and mean more de-
socialization. Even though society itself has also benefited from advances in technology (from indoor plumbing to
instant communication), pursuing it too hard leads to an obsession that is harming humanity.

With more and more machines “making our lives easier” and promoting “progress,” there seems to be a decline
of growth in humanity. The role of machines should maintain a focus on those that are used to “help” us as a whole,
not “do” for us as individuals. Though machine have displayed superb ability for bringing us into the future, the loss
of human jobs as well as ettiquitte should not be swept aside. Too much of a good thing can in the end become bad.

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Scoring Explanation
Ideas and Analysis = 4

The writer advances a clear thesis by engaging with multiple perspectives. Evaluation of these perspectives follows a
pattern of concession and critique: We may concede that machines spur progress (as Perspective 2 believes) and that
new technologies drive the way we imagine the future (Perspective 3), but we must also recognize that our obsession
with the convenience technology affords has a dehumanizing effect (Perspective 1). In this way, the writer has
evaluated a number of assumptions that underlie the given perspectives, and has recognized the complexities that arise
in doing so. It is worth noting, too, that the writer does not make explicit mention of the given perspectives.
Nevertheless, their ideas clearly join the writer’s own in the analysis that drives this argument.

Development and Support = 4

Lines of clear reasoning run through the argument, strengthening and supporting its thesis. There are two essential
components to the writer’s point that human-to-machine interaction is detrimental to society, and each one receives
elaboration. The writer extends analysis by reasoning through a number of factors that complicate prevailing ideas
about new technologies. For example, the writer discusses the idea that social networking encourages more social
activity, and then complicates this notion by questioning whether the nature of the interactions on social media is truly
social. Throughout the response, the writer remains focused on consequences that come from machines receiving more
attention than humans. In this way, her ideas and their intended effect become clear to the reader.

Organization = 4

The writer employs a clear organizational strategy. The introduction identifies two main considerations for analysis—
benefits of intelligent machines and social and economic consequences. Through a discussion of these particular
considerations, the writer’s larger purpose—to argue that machines should play only a limited role in our lives—
emerges. Transitions connect ideas, particularly within paragraphs (Convenience also is taking on greater
importance; Even though society itself has also benefitted).

Language Use = 4

The writer’s facility with language contributes to the clarity of the overall argument. Word choices such
as civilized and social networking (alongside de-socialize) emphasize the writer’s thesis, creating a consistent
reference to it without simple repetition. Variety in sentence structure increases reading interest, and ironic turns of
phrase such as bringing the future of tomorrow into the present of today underscore the writer’s main critique.

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