The Analytical Writing Section of the GRE consists of two tasks: the Issue Task and the Argument Task. The Issue Task measures your ability to express your thoughts on a given issue in a logical and critical manner. The Argument Task measures your ability to analyze and critique an argument.
You're required to type your essays, but it isn't necessary to be the world's greatest typist. Spelling, grammar and minor typographical mistakes are not counted to as great an extent as are the logic and arguments of your writing. However, chronic mistakes that detract from the overall coherence of your response could have a negative impact on your final score.
Issue Task
Two issues are presented as statements. You'll choose one and have 45 minutes to write an essay.
If neither topic strikes you immediately, select the topic where you can think of a greater number of reasons or examples for how you feel or one where you are more knowledgeable. Choose quickly to avoid wasting time you'll need to complete the essay. Whichever issue you choose, the task requires you to discuss where you agree or disagree, and to defend your position. Whether you agree or disagree is not that important-there is not a "right" way to think about the issue. Instead, concentrate on making a clear argument and on explaining how you feel in a concise and logical way.
Use these tips when constructing your essay:
- Understand what the issue is really about. Try not to confuse the subject of the issue with the central argument being made.
- Ask yourself whether you agree or disagree with the premise. You may agree or disagree with all or any part of the statement, but you must decide where you stand if you're going to effectively defend your position.
- Make a list of reasons why you agree or disagree. Your own personal experience and values may come into play. Figure out for yourself why you feel the way you do, then provide reasons and evidence to support those feelings.
The form of your final essay is up to you. There is no specific template that essay readers are looking for. If you start your preparation early enough, you may be able to show a practice essay to a professor or academic advisor who can give you feedback and recommend ways to improve.
Argument Task
Only one topic is presented for the 30-minute Argument Task
This task differs from the Issue Task in one important respect. In the Issue Task, you state your opinion in a logical way. In the Argument Task, you're presented with an opinion then asked to analyze and critique that opinion. Similar to the previous task, your own agreement or disagreement with the given argument is immaterial. Don't waste time presenting your own feelings. What matters is how you dissect and analyze the argument. Organize your thoughts around the central question: "Is this argument presented in a logical and sound manner, based on the information presented?"
Read the argument presented, next immediately identify and differentiate between:
- Evidence, support or proof
- Assumptions or suppositions made without proof
- What is explicitly stated
- What is not stated, but follows logically from statements given
Proof or evidence refers to what is stated in the example; you don't need to know any real world examples. Make a judgment only about how the above points fit together to make a logical argument. Use the following steps in your analysis:
- Identify the argument: Boil the argument down to its essentials. See if you can simplify the argument into a concise phrase.
- Separate evidence from assumptions: Ask yourself how well the evidence supports the conclusion of the argument. If there are statistics presented, do they bear any logical connection to the conclusion?
- What else might be going on? What the argument doesn't tell you can often be as important as what is presented. To that end, alternate examples are an important part of analyzing the logic of an argument. Try to come up with other possible contributing factors that could still make the conclusion true.
- How would you make the argument stronger? What is the argument missing? Where are there holes in the argument's logic? Where is the logic built more on assumption and opinion, rather than on evidence and fact? What additional information might be useful to know in order to make the argument stronger?
How you form your response is up to you. Similar to the Issue Task example, you may want to show your practice essays to a professor or academic advisor for feedback.
For more tips and tutorials across each section of the GRE check out GRE.org. Get more GRE Strategies:
- GRE Overview
- Analytical Writing Section
- Verbal Section
- Analogies
- Antonyms
- Sentence Completions
- Reading Comprehension
- Quantitative Section
- Quantitative Comparison
- Problem Solving
GRE Prep Books
Add to:
