- What high school writing standards ask for
- Argument prompts in a formal register
- Analytical prompts
- Personal essay prompts
- Research questions worth investigating
- How to get better writing from high schoolers
- Choosing prompts by grade
- Building a high school writing routine
- My advice for high school writing
- Frequently asked questions
Here are 24 writing prompts for high schoolers, written for what high school writing demands: arguments that treat counterclaims fairly in a formal style, analytical pieces that weigh evidence, personal essays with real reflection, and research questions worth investigating. Each one is ready to copy, and they suit students from ninth grade up to the end of twelfth.
High school writing isn't about having an opinion any more; it's about earning one. Students are expected to present the other side fairly, point out the limits of their own argument and write in a tone a stranger would take seriously. The prompts below are meant to give teenagers something worth thinking hard about, and they're deliberately open, so there isn't a single right answer to any of them,, whether you're a teacher, a tutor or a parent helping with homework.
What high school writing standards ask for
| Grades | Argument expectation in the Common Core | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| 9-10 | Develop claims and counterclaims fairly, pointing out the strengths and limitations of both | Balanced, evidence-led argument |
| 9-10 and 11-12 | Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone | No slang, no sarcasm, no 'I reckon' |
| 11-12 | Establish the significance of claims and anticipate the audience's knowledge, concerns, values and possible biases | Writing for a sceptical reader |
That last row is the step most students miss. By eleventh and twelfth grade, it isn't enough to answer the counterclaim; a strong essay predicts what the particular reader already believes and addresses it.
Argument prompts in a formal register
Ask for a formal tone and a counterclaim treated with respect, including its strengths.
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Should university education be free at the point of use? Present the strongest case on each side before reaching a conclusion.
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Should social media companies be legally responsible for content their algorithms promote? Write a formal argument.
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Is it ethical to keep animals in zoos when conservation can be done in the wild? Weigh the evidence on both sides.
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Should voting be compulsory? Develop your claim and counterclaims fairly, noting the limits of each.
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Should artificial intelligence be allowed to mark student essays? Argue your position for a sceptical school board.
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Should historic statues of controversial people be removed, kept or moved to museums? Make a balanced, formal case.
Analytical prompts
These ask students to examine evidence or a text rather than simply argue.
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Choose a speech that changed public opinion. Analyse three techniques the speaker used and why they worked.
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Compare how two news outlets reported the same event. What does each choice of language reveal?
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Analyse an advertisement aimed at teenagers. Who is it for, what does it promise and how?
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Pick a novel you studied recently and examine how one minor character changes the story.
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Analyse a set of statistics from a public source. What conclusions are justified and which aren't?
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Examine how a film adaptation changed a book's ending, and argue whether the change was justified.
Personal essay prompts
Reflective writing that shows how a student thinks. Useful practice for applications and personal statements.
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Describe a belief you held strongly and later changed. What made you reconsider?
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Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
Write about a time you failed at something that mattered to you, and what you did next.
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What's a problem in your community you'd like to solve, and what have you already tried?
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Describe someone who influenced how you think, without making the essay entirely about them.
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Write about an ordinary object that holds a story about who you are.
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What does it mean to you to be a good friend? Use one specific story to show it.
Research questions worth investigating
Open questions that need several authoritative sources and careful judgement about each one.
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Does a four-day school week improve learning? Research the evidence and assess the strengths and limitations of your sources.
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How has climate change affected a region you know? Use at least three authoritative sources.
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Why do some languages die out, and can they be revived? Research and present your findings.
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What does the research say about teenagers and sleep? Write a report for your school's leadership.
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How do recommendation algorithms decide what we see? Explain for a general reader.
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What makes a public health campaign succeed? Research two examples and compare them.
How to get better writing from high schoolers
- Ban 'I think' in formal arguments for a week; it forces evidence to do the work.
- Ask students to name the reader before they write, especially for eleventh and twelfth graders.
- Give counterclaims a full paragraph, with their strengths stated honestly.
- Require a short note on each source: why it's authoritative and what its limits are.
- Give timed single-sitting tasks alongside long projects, as the standards expect both.
For students heading towards college, my guide to writing a college essay on time helps with planning, and my tips on starting a research paper are a good companion to the research questions above.
Choosing prompts by grade
Ninth and tenth graders usually do best with the argument and personal essay prompts, where the focus is fairness to the other side and a steady formal tone. Eleventh and twelfth graders are ready for the analytical prompts and the research questions, which reward judgement about sources and an awareness of who'll be reading. That's not a strict rule, but it follows the shift in the standards between the two bands.
Building a high school writing routine
Teenagers improve fastest when writing is frequent and feedback is focused. One formal argument, one analytical piece and one personal essay each month, plus a short weekly timed write, covers everything. Give one piece of feedback per draft, not ten, and make the next draft about that single improvement. It's slower to start but far more effective than red ink everywhere.
My advice for high school writing
Treat teenagers as writers with something to say, and hold them to adult standards: fairness to the other side, a formal tone when it's called for, and sources they can defend. Mix serious arguments with personal essays so writing stays personal as well as academic, and they'll leave school able to write for any reader.
Frequently asked questions
What should high schoolers be able to write?
Formal arguments that develop claims and counterclaims fairly, analytical and informative essays, personal narratives, and research drawing on several authoritative sources.
What's the difference between 9th-10th and 11th-12th grade writing?
By eleventh and twelfth grade, the Common Core also asks students to establish the significance of their claims and anticipate the audience's knowledge, concerns, values and possible biases.
How do I make a high schooler's writing more formal?
Remove first-person opinion phrases, slang and sarcasm, and keep an objective tone, which the standards describe as a formal style.
Are these prompts good for college application practice?
The personal essay prompts are useful practice for reflective application writing.
How often should high schoolers write?
Frequently. The standards expect both extended projects and short pieces written in a single sitting or a day or two.
