Strategies for Taking the
CUNY/ACT Writing Sample Essay

The Writing Sample Essay is a 60-minute test that measures your ability to write a college-level essay. When taking the Writing Sample Test, the following strategies may be helpful:

• You need to know that in evaluating your essay, readers focus on four elements of your writing: taking a position on the issue identified in the question; supporting the position with evidence; organizing ideas; and using language that clearly conveys the writer's ideas.
• The first choice you will be making is: which question do I want to write about? Questions are usually about school- or community-based issues. You will probably write a more effective essay if you choose the question you have more ideas and information about, or feel most comfortable with or interested in. Make this choice after reading both questions and thinking about them for a few minutes.
• Completing this writing task successfully is in large part a function of how you use the allotted time. You may want to spend your time this way:

Planning and pre-writing: Spend about 10 minutes planning. Your booklet gives you two blank pages for planning notes. Consider the position you are taking, a few good reasons for choosing the alternative you prefer, some evidence or explanation that support these reasons, some effective details you might include, and the order you might use to present your points most effectively. The planning work you do not these pages will not be evaluated.

Writing: Spend about 40 minutes writing your essay, being sure to use the lined pages in the booklet. Refer to your plan, remembering that the task requires you to take a position, explaining your reasoning in some detail. You need also to consider the criterion specified so that your essay is convincing to the audience you are addressing. The language you choose should communicate your ideas clearly and appropriately.

• Each question describes a situation involving a choice between two alternatives. You need to make clear the alternative you favor, offering a few good reasons for your choice and explaining your reasoning in some detail. That means that as you assert reasons for your choice, you should develop explanations for each, including such things as evidence, examples, or other suitable information. If you use specific examples, be sure you explain how these examples represent the group you are discussing. You are not required to discuss the other alternative, but if you chose to, you need to explain in some detail why you do not consider it as good a choice as the one you are supporting
• Each question specifies an audience, such as a City Council or a college or school official. Be sure to address your response to that audience, and remember that the purpose of your writing is to convince your audience that you have chosen the better alternative and that your advice is persuasive.
• Each question specifies a criterion for judgment which should guide your choice and your reasoning, for example: which alternative will best serve the community or which will enhance student life for the most students? Be sure to consider the criterion in your essay, so that your audience knows that you are not just thinking about the benefit to you:

for a community-based question, you might think about how your chosen alternative would affect different groups or what perspectives different people (such as old, young, male, female, parents, children) might have on the question.

for a school-based question, you might think about how your choice would benefit most students or different types of students (or even parents or teachers).

Revising and editing: Spend about 10 minutes reviewing your writing, adding or deleting as necessary and making any changes needed to enhance clarity.