Tips for a Perfect GRE Argument Essay
A lot of us dread writing, especially when it comes to writing for an exam. But worry not, because the GRE Analytical Writing can be aced with a few tips and strategies up your sleeve.
GRE Analytical Writing section:
Apart from the Verbal and Quantitative skills, the GRE also tests your ability to critically think about and analyze a given topic. They do not test content knowledge–for example, how much you know about the issue at hand. The topics are such that they are of general interest or issue to the public, such as education, healthcare, a philosophical view, etc.
They basically want to assess how well you can analyze a certain argument, evaluate and articulate your views, and sustain a coherent essay consisting of an introduction, body, and conclusion.
There are two tasks within the Analytical Writing section:
Analyze an Argument
Analyze an Issue
Time and Word Limit:
For each of the two tasks, you will be given 30 minutes. The GRE scorers consider the short time limit and assess your essay as a first draft. Nevertheless, you have to make sure that there are no persistent errors related to grammar, punctuation, or spelling. Occasional typos are okay and will not result in negative marking. However, always budget your time such that you have at least five minutes to go over any surface-level errors and typos.
Always spend the first 5–7 minutes planning your essay. Believe me, it will save you time later on. Moreover, it will make your essay more structurally sound and cohesive. Develop a rough structure of the essay on the spare sheets given to you during the exam. Also, remember you can always ask for more whenever you need it.
You will be given a ballpark word limit for each of your essays. Still, remember while practicing writing that ideal GRE essays (scored the highest by ETS) fall between a range of 600–750. So practice keeping a minimum of 600 as your word limit. And never exceed 1000.
Scoring:
Each of these writing tasks is scored within a range of 0–6, 6 being the highest score. More details on exactly what they put under each score are available on the ETS website: https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/issue/scoring_guide
Analyze an Argument:
This 30-minute task will have specific instructions you will have to follow. Basic guidelines are NOT to agree or disagree with a viewpoint, but critically assess the logic and soundness of the argument presented. Moreover, you are not to claim whether the arguments are true or not.
Below are some tips that will help you score high in your Analytical Writing section:
Tips:
In this task, you will be assessing someone else’s argument, so make sure that you do not focus on what or how you feel about the issue at hand.
Form your essay keeping the standard format in mind: start with an introduction, write separate arguments in each body paragraph, and finally, end with a conclusion paragraph.
Use transition words and phrases to link your essay together. These words are, however, in addition to, to begin with, in conclusion, etc. This signals to your scorer that you are capable of forming connections and articulating structured thoughts.
Even though the essay primarily evaluates critical thinking, grammar and punctuation are equally important. So make sure you proofread your essay at least once after writing it.
Do not start writing immediately after reading the essay prompt. Plan your essay before you begin writing. It saves time and results in fewer structural errors.
Now that you have these tips and tricks for the GRE Analytical Writing, it is time to practice some! There is an excellent pool of issue and argument topics on the ETS website itself that you can use to practice your writing.
You can find these here:
Analyze an Issue: https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/argument/pool
Analyze an Argument: https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/issue/pool
Finally, remember while preparing to read a lot of articles–this will help both in comprehension (which is good for the Verbal section) as well as in the Analytical Writing section.
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