Optional Writing: perspectives and argument
| English | 中文 | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| perspective/pəˈspektɪv/ | 视角 | shì jiǎo |
| counterargument/ˈkaʊntərɑːɡjuːmənt/ | 反论点 | fǎn lùn diǎn |
A decision before an answer
- Three perspectives on school technology may disagree about priorities while sharing a concern for learning.
- Your goal: Analyse multiple perspectives and develop a position.
Read the relationship
- The optional ACT Writing task gives an issue and three perspectives, with 40 minutes for the complete essay. Develop your own position and analyse its relationship to at least one supplied perspective. You may adopt, qualify or challenge a supplied view. Your stance itself is not a reason for a higher score; the quality of the argument matters.
- Support reasoning with relevant examples.
A strong relationship statement does what?
Analysis needs an explicit relationship and reasoning.
Use the defining rule
- Separate agreement about the goal from agreement about the method. Identify a perspective’s assumption, likely benefit and limitation. A relationship statement should say where your position agrees or differs and why. Do not spend the essay merely restating the three views, or assume that listing all three amounts to analysis.
- Organise and express an argument clearly.
Best support for a device policy?
Explain how the example supports the policy.
Check the conditions
- Development connects a reason to a specific example and explains its implications. A hypothetical example is acceptable as reasoning practice when it is clearly hypothetical; do not invent statistics and present them as measured evidence. Respond to a serious objection, including the conditions under which it would matter. A qualified policy can be stronger than an absolute claim unsupported by its examples.
- Organise and express an argument clearly.
Original issue: should a community learning centre require advance booking for all equipment? Perspective 1: required booking reduces queues and makes schedules predictable. Perspective 2: open access lets people respond to needs that arise unexpectedly. Perspective 3: a combined system should reserve some capacity while preserving walk-in access. A defensible position is to reserve high-demand machines in peak hours and leave a portion available for walk-ins. This agrees with predictability as a goal but limits compulsory booking because urgent repairs cannot always be planned. Model development: “A resident whose only printer fails before an interview needs access that evening. If every slot must have been reserved yesterday, a nominally fair rule prevents an urgent use. Keeping one walk-in slot per hour would protect such access, though staff would need a clear queue rule to avoid arbitrary exceptions.” The example explains the policy’s mechanism and trade-off; it does not establish a universal optimal percentage.
A reason challenging your position is a ____.
Responding to it can clarify limits or strengthen the position.
Apply the task format
- Organise paragraphs around the argument’s needs: position, developed reasons, engagement with another perspective and a coherent conclusion. This is a possible structure, not an official paragraph-count rule. A suggested practice budget is 6 minutes to plan, 29 to draft and 5 to revise; adjust it after timed trials. Revision checks reasoning, connections, precise wording and sentence control. Local checks teach these moves; the complete essay requires teacher review across four domains and is not exact-string graded or converted into an invented official score.
- Organise and express an argument clearly.
Mentioning a perspective without analysing its relationship to your argument is not enough.
Which answer fits this case?
Analyse multiple perspectives and develop a position
A teacher can infer an official ACT writing score from one automated grammar check.
The writing domains require human review and the official rubric.
Keep the distinctions
- perspective 视角 — A way of interpreting an issue.
- counterargument 反论点 — A reason challenging your position.
- Analyse multiple perspectives and develop a position.
- Support reasoning with relevant examples.
- Organise and express an argument clearly.
Match each term with its precise meaning in this lesson.
Keep the distinctions stated in the teaching example.
Put this lesson’s reasoning or event sequence in order.
The order follows the stated process; check each stage before the next.