gre argument essay television station

GRE Argument Essay #10

Aarya Mujumdar

The following is a memorandum from the business manager of a television station.

“Over the past year, our late-night news program has devoted increased time to national news and less time to weather and local news. During this time period, most of the complaints received from viewers were concerned with our station’s coverage of weather and local news. In addition, local businesses that used to advertise during our late-night news program have just canceled their advertising contracts with us. Therefore, in order to attract more viewers to the program and to avoid losing any further advertising revenues, we should restore the time devoted to weather and local news to its former level.”

Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.

While there may be some verity to the argument that the station should restore the time devoted to weather and local news, in order to attract more viewers and avoid losing any further revenues; there are several inconsistencies in the memorandum.

Several more pieces of evidence are required to evaluate the argument successfully and then accordingly a conclusion can be made. Various underlying assumptions need to be ascertained before coming to any conclusion.

The business manager mentions that over the past year, most of the complaints received were concerning the coverage of weather and local news. There is no reference to the exact number of complaints regarding the coverage. The station might receive 10 complaints and out of those 7 could be about the coverage. This is an inconsequential number. Additionally, nowhere is it specified that the complaints were made by local business owners. Furthermore, there is no account of the authenticity of these complaints. Also, the complaints do not specify that they were concerned about the late-night news program. The viewer could be concerned with the weather and local news coverage of the early-morning or the afternoon news program. The manager proposes to restore the time devoted to local news and weather to attract new viewers but the people who complained and still watch the station program could be very small.

Additionally, the memorandum does not mention if a significant number of local businesses have cancelled. There could be several other reasons to cancel their contracts — a competitor offered a better deal, the television station increased their rates, the television station has a poor viewer rate, and so on. Thus local businesses cancelling their contracts does not correlate to restoring the time devoted to weather and local news.

Therefore, evidence regarding the number of complaints, their authenticity, and whether they were from local business owners should be provided to strengthen the argument. The station should look into other reasons for which the local businesses might be cancelling their contracts. Evaluating these reasons would provide a better, stronger argument and better insight into the actual complaints and cancellation of contracts.

Written by Aarya Mujumdar

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The following is a memorandum from the business manager of a television station. "Over the past year, our late-night news program has devoted increased time to national news and less time to weather and local news. During this time period, most of the complaints received from viewers were concerned with our station's coverage of weather and local news. In addition, local businesses that used to advertise during our late-night news program have just canceled their advertising contracts with us. Therefore, in order to attract more viewers to the program and to avoid losing any further advertising revenues, we should restore the time devoted to weather and local news to its former level." Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.

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Overview of the Analytical Writing Measure

Analytical writing measure (beginning september 22, 2023).

The Analytical Writing measure of the GRE General Test administered beginning September 22, 2023, assesses your critical thinking and analytical writing skills by assessing your ability to:

• articulate and support complex ideas
• construct arguments
• sustain a focused and coherent discussion

It doesn’t assess specific content knowledge.

The Analytical Writing measure consists of a 30-minute “Analyze an Issue”  task. This task presents an opinion on an issue and instructions on how to respond. You’re required to evaluate the issue, consider its complexities and develop an argument with reasons and examples to support your views.

You’ll use a basic word processor developed by ETS to type your essay responses. The word processor contains the following functionalities: insert text, delete text, cut-and-paste and undo the previous action. Tools such as a spellchecker and grammar checker are not available.

Analytical Writing Measure before September 22, 2023

The Analytical Writing measure of the GRE General Test administered before September 22, 2023, assesses your critical thinking and analytical writing skills by assessing your ability to:

• construct and evaluate arguments

The Analytical Writing measure consists of two separately timed analytical writing tasks:

• The "Analyze an Issue" task presents an opinion on an issue and instructions on how to respond. You’re required to evaluate the issue, consider its complexities and develop an argument with reasons and examples to support your views.
• The "Analyze an Argument" task requires you to evaluate an argument according to specific instructions. You’ll need to consider the logical soundness of the argument rather than agree or disagree with the position it presents.

The two 30-minute tasks are complementary. The Issue task requires you to construct your own argument, while the Argument task requires you to evaluate someone else's argument.

Preparing for the Analytical Writing measure

Everyone — even the most practiced and confident of writers — should spend time preparing for the Analytical Writing measure to understand the skills measured and how the tasks are scored. It may also be useful to review the scoring guides, sample topics, scored sample essay responses and rater commentary for each task.

The tasks in the Analytical Writing measure relate to a broad range of subjects — from the fine arts and humanities to the social and physical sciences — but don’t require specific content knowledge. Each task has been tested by actual GRE test takers to ensure that it possesses several important characteristics, including the following:

• GRE test takers, regardless of their field of study or special interests, understood the task and could easily respond to it.
• The task elicited the kinds of complex thinking and persuasive writing that university faculty consider important for success in graduate school.
• The responses were varied in content and in the way the writers developed their ideas.

Published topic pools for the Analytical Writing measure

To help you prepare for the Analytical Writing measure, the GRE Program has published the entire pool of tasks from which your test tasks will be selected. You might find it helpful to review the Issue and Argument pools:

• Issue Topic Pool (PDF)
• Argument Topic Pool (PDF)  (the Argument task was removed from the General Test beginning September 22, 2023)

Test-taking strategies for the Analytical Writing measure (in the General Test beginning September 22, 2023)

• Before taking the GRE General Test, review the strategies, sample topics, sample essay responses with rater commentary, and scoring guide for the task. This will give you a deeper understanding of how raters evaluate essays and the elements they're looking for in an essay.
• It is important to budget your time. Within the 30-minute time limit, allow sufficient time to consider the issue and the specific instructions, plan a response, and compose your essay. You want your essay response to be the best possible example of your writing that you can produce under the testing conditions.
• Save a few minutes at the end of the timed task to check for obvious errors. An occasional spelling or grammatical error won’t affect your score, but serious and persistent errors detract from the overall effectiveness of your writing and lower your score accordingly.

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Argument Essay Evaluation

By ioke09 September 7, 2016 in GRE/GMAT/etc

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Could you please evaluate the argument essay below and provide feedback? Thanks.

The following is a memorandum from the business manager of a television station.

"Over the past year, our late-night news program has devoted increased time to national news and less time to weather and local news. During this time period, most of the complaints received from viewers were concerned with our station's coverage of weather and local news. In addition, local businesses that used to advertise during our late-night news program have just canceled their advertising contracts with us. Therefore, in order to attract more viewers to the program and to avoid losing any further advertising revenues, we should restore the time devoted to weather and local news to its former level."

Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.

The business manager of the television station states that in the past year the late-night news program has devoted increased time to national news and less time to weather and local news. In addition, most of the complaints received from viewers were concerned with the station's coverage of weather and local news. Furthermore, local businesses have canceled their advertising contracts with the late-night news program. The author asserts that in order to attract more viewers to the program and to avoid further losses, the time devoted to weather and local news should be restored to its previous level. It is understandable that the station business manager wants to prevent further losses and attract more viewers to the program, but it is not clear that restoring the time devoted to weather and local news would be sufficient for rectifying the situation.

Citing evidence over the past year, the author notes the change in the amount of time devoted to national news and less time to weather. It remains unclear the exact time when this change occurred and the effects the change would have over a longer period of time such as five years. For example, the late-night news program may see a surge in viewers to the program and increased advertising revenues after the first year. The trends over one year observed by the business manager may not be reflective of any longer-term trend in the number of viewers and advertising revenues of the late-night news program. Furthermore, trends among the viewers of news during different times of the day such as morning, evening, and late night could prove helpful in determining the need to increase the time devoted to weather and local news. The author should investigate into these matters further before restoring the time devoted to weather and local news.

In addition, the author does not address the reasons for the local businesses that canceled their advertising contracts with the late-night news program. The author makes the assumption that local businesses canceled their advertising contracts due to the decreased time of weather and local news. The advertising contracts could have been canceled for a multitude of reasons such as the local businesses decide to reduce their operating costs and therefore canceled the advertising contracts. Another possibility the local businesses pulled their advertisements could be due to the offensive language contained in the advertisements that the general public would find controversial. To strengthen the argument, the author should determine if the only reason the local businesses canceled the advertising contracts was due to less weather and local news coverage.    

Furthermore, we also need to find out the nature of the complaints about the local news and weather programming. The viewers may be complaining about the broadcasters reporting the weather and local news, rather than the decreased time allocated to weather and local news. It is not clear whether the complaints are only about the late-night news program or other programs during the day as well. A survey could be distributed to the viewers to collect data on what programs they like to watch and what they dislike about the programs. This data would help the business manager determine if increasing the time devoted to weather and local news is necessary.    

In conclusion, the business manager needs to determine the reason for fewer viewers watching the late-night program, perhaps they watch other programs during different times of the day. The author also needs to find out if the only reason local businesses canceled their advertising contracts is due to the shortened weather and local news coverage. For these reasons, the business manager should investigate the issue further before deciding to allocate more time to weather and local news.    

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GRE Essay: Tips to Approach the GRE Analytical Writing Section

Though the GRE used to have two essay questions on the Analytical Writing section (prior to 2024), nowadays there’s only one GRE essay. That means the original Argument Essay no longer exists, and the only thing you need to write is the Issue Essay. Great news! So, how do you prepare for the new GRE essay? Read on to find out.

What is the GRE Essay?

Where can i find sample issue topics, how is the gre essay scored, what do the graders look for, how do i practice for gre analytical writing, how do i improve my grammar and style, sample gre essays to study, how long should my gre essay be, where can i get my practice gre essays graded.

The GRE essay is a 30-minute task which requires reading an opinion of an issue and then crafting a well-supported argument. The GRE essay not only tests your ability to form a cogent thesis statement but also how well you defend your position over the course of several paragraphs. The clarity and organization of your writing also factor into your final score.

The GRE essay is also known as the Issue Task because you have to analyze a provided issue. What kinds of issues will you be asked to write about? The topics generally fall under categories such as education, technology, art, society, government, philosophy, and more. The following example prompt belongs to the technology category.

Example of a GRE Issue Essay Prompt Related to Technology

Prompt: It could be argued that the most important technological breakthroughs have happened by chance and through surprise discoveries. However, others argue that deliberate, well-planned research with specific goals is the only way to ensure technological advancement.

Instructions: Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position

ETS (the makers of the GRE) publishes the entire pools of Issue topics on its website. The topics you see on your exam will be drawn from those pools , so this is an essential resource.

The GRE Essay is scored on a scale from 0 to 6. This score is separate from and does not factor into your overall GRE scaled score (which considers only your performance on the math and verbal sections).

The majority of test takers end up with a score between 3.0 and 5.0. You can see the exact percentiles here in this article: GRE Score Percentiles – What Does Your Score Mean for You?

What exactly do those scores mean? Any essay scored a 2 or below has serious flaws. An essay that receives a 4 is adequate. And the rare essay that gets a 6 is truly outstanding. You can read more about each score level in ETS’s article on GRE Analytical Writing Scoring .

Note that your final GRE Analytical Writing section score is really the averaged score of two graders: a human grader and an AI grader. The human essay grader takes around 30 seconds to grade an essay. He or she scans to make sure that you have clearly organized your information, and that your paragraphs start with a topic sentence and flow into specific examples that support your analysis. The grader looks to make sure you have a conclusion that articulates what you’ve already stated. He or she gives you a score and they move on to the next essay.

And if for some reason the human and AI greatly disagree, a 2nd human is brought in to score your essay instead.

The graders look for the three C’s: clarity, coherency, and cogency.

First off, you must express your ideas in a clear manner. If you jumble your words, or simply throw in unnecessary words, doing so compromises clarity. But your essay is not just one sentence with a clearly expressed idea; it is a set of ideas that should logically connect to one another. That is coherency.

Next you want to provide convincing evidence to back up your thesis. You can throw in some vague example, but doing so means your essay will probably lack cogency. Develop an example that cogently reinforces your thesis is key to a high essay score.

Other Factors

There are some other factors that play into the human grader’s assessment of a GRE essay. Style is important; an essay with choppy sentences and unsophisticated vocabulary will be awarded a lower score, all other things being equal, than an essay with mature syntactical development and GRE-level vocabulary deployed felicitously.

There is also the issue of grammar. Even though the graders don’t set out to nitpick at grammar, as soon as you make the tiniest mistake, he or she will notice. Anything from improper use of pronouns to misspelling common words can negatively impact your score. At the same time, a grammatical flub or two won’t preclude an essay from getting a perfect score, as long as everything else about the essay is top-notch.

By simply writing often you will be able to write with greater command and facility. With diligent practice, words will not seem submerged deep in your subconscious but will instead spring to life on the page.

2. Don’t forget to outline/brainstorm

You must think about what you are going to write before you write. I’m sure many amongst you subscribe to the school of thought that if you write, they will come: the words, the compelling examples, and the nuanced logic. When practicing for the GRE essay, you must avoid this tendency and instead spend a few minutes coming up with a roadmap (either in your head or on the computer screen). At first this step will slow you down and you will want to go back to the old method. Be patient. Once you become adept at outlining, the essay will write itself.

3. Spend lots of time editing your practice essays

Though you won’t get much of an opportunity to edit your essay on test day, sedulously editing your practice essays will make you more aware of your mistakes, both grammatical and logical. Correcting these mistakes will not only help you anticipate them in the future, but will also make the writing and logic in your future essays clearer.

4. Constantly read sample essays

By reading other students’ essays , you will develop a sense of what ETS is looking for. You’ll also be able to better judge your own essays. Throughout practice sessions, you should keep tweaking your essays, so they get closer and closer to the next score up. So, if you started at a ‘3’, focus on getting to a ‘4.’

5. Improve grammar

ETS explicitly states that it is looking for the quality and clarity of thought and not grammar per se. Yet the two are closely related. If you struggle to articulate something—and in doing so break a grammatical rule (or three!)—you will sacrifice clarity. Even minor grammatical errors (faulty pronouns, subject/verb agreement) will mar the overall quality of your writing.

Between grammar and style, grammar is much easier to improve. Great style is much more elusive. Indeed, many writers have cultivated their prose style over years of assiduous practice. Rest assured though—to score well on the GRE your prose does not have to be fit for The New York Times . You do want to avoid choppy sentences by varying up your sentence structure. And you shouldn’t be averse to trading a simple word for a more complex one as long that word is appropriate for the context.

A great book that offers writing advice, from dangling modifiers to how to construct compelling, dynamic sentences, is William Zinsser’s On Writing Well .

For a more stern approach to writing, Strunk and White’s Elements of Style has helped students for over half a century.

The only reason I mention both of these books is they focus not only grammar but also on style. Many grammar books should suffice as far as grammar goes, but they fall short on teaching writing style, which is a great skill to have for the GRE (and beyond!).

It is one thing to read the guidelines for what constitutes a ‘6’ essay on the GRE Analytical Writing section. In essence, you are just interpreting the information. But by actually reading real essays, you learn what the graders are looking for.

The best source for sample essays are the released sample essays (completed with grader comments!) from ETS . The essays here are actual student essays. Use these essays to assess your own level of writing. In other words, determine where in the 0.0 – 6.0 range you fall, based on the scores given to the other essays.

Additionally, you can see sample GRE essays from Magoosh students along with our own commentary here: GRE Issue Essay: Strategies + 8 Real Student Essays with Scores

Believe it or not, out of two GRE essays that are identical, save for length, the longer will receive the higher score. That doesn’t mean you should frantically scribble away, hoping that a seven-paragraph essay will automatically confer the much coveted ‘6’. Substance matters greatly. But as long as all the parts of your essay are there, you should shoot for a five-paragraph essay: an intro, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

I should also point out that paragraph length matters, too. 5 two-sentence paragraphs is not really a long essay. And, of course, don’t forget that each of those paragraphs has to flow logically and clearly from your thesis.

While there is no better teacher than feedback, having someone give you an honest critique of your essay is difficult. ETS offers a service to score your practice GRE essays , but that’s all you will get. Just a score, no feedback.

Over the years, I’ve seen many students asking for feedback on forums—such as The GradCafe or Reddit—and sometimes munificent souls (usually GRE test takers with strong writing skills) provide insightful analysis. While that may not sound all that reassuring, remember that this feedback is free of charge and there really isn’t much else out there in terms of essay feedback.

Nowadays, you can try your luck with an AI—ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, etc.—to critique your writing. They may indeed be able to provide some general and useful insights into your writing quality, but just know that they are not going to grade in the same way as ETS’s.

Lastly, you yourself will want to critique your essays. Magoosh as a downloadable GRE essay rubric for you to use. And for even more writing tips, check out 12 Tips to Ace GRE Writing .

Chris graduated from UCLA with a BA in Psychology and has 20 years of experience in the test prep industry. He’s been quoted as a subject expert in many publications, including US News , GMAC , and Business Because .

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11 responses to “GRE Essay: Tips to Approach the GRE Analytical Writing Section”

Hi how much time does it take for the practice AWA to be graded?

Hi Gunjan, I’m not sure if I understand your question. Which practice AWA are you talking about? If you are asking about feedback from forums or other online resources, you’ll have to check with those websites or perhaps post your essay again. Please note that Magoosh does not provide essay grading and feedback at this time.

I got 2.5 score in awa how can i improve

These blog posts might be helpful for you: 12 tips to ace GRE Writing GRE Issue Strategies and practice essays

In order to improve in the AWA section, you should understand what the graders are looking for, have a strategy for writing a strong essay, and practice as MUCH as possible. I think these blog posts will help you to make a good strategy–don’t forget to keep practicing!

Thank you, Really it helps me a lot. but still i have confusion in argument Section, can you please tell me the deference between issue and argument

Hi Prachi! Sure 🙂 The Issue Task requires you to take a position and defend it. Usually it’s for or against some issue. The Argument Tasks asks you to read a short argument and then explain why it’s terrible. Hope that helps!

Hi! I got a poor score in AWA (2) and I did detect my fault that, in my issue task, I didn’t thoroughly agree or disagree, rather I agreed partially to the prompt and another mistake was I couldn’t conclude my essay with clear conclusive stand of mine, neither I finished my last sentence, let alone editing. Could u plz explain weather partially agree or disagree is allowed in issue task in AWA?

It sounds like you have done a good job of reflecting on your performance and identifying areas for improvement! That’s a great first step. In the AWA Issue task, it’s important to have a strong argument and clearly state your side. Your concession point shows that you have thought about the issue from different angles, but it’s important to stick to your argument and show how it is superior. We do not recommend that students take the “partially agree” approach, since it tends to ‘water down’ your argument and weaken your essay. Remember that this is an essay you are writing for a specific assignment–it doesn’t have to reflect your personal beliefs or ideas, as long as you can craft a strong argument. We have a lot of great resources for you to use to improve on the AWA, take a look 🙂

Thank you for this overall guide with lots of quality information for someone who is new to GRE like me. At the moment, this is quite sufficient for me to kick start my preparation for the test, which roughly happens in two weeks. Anyway, Thanks!

You’re welcome! Best of luck, Huy. 😀

i think it give us more idea in gre test.

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PrepScholar GRE Prep

Gre prep online guides and tips, 328 official gre essay topics to practice with.

ETS has published the complete pool of 328 GRE essay topics which will ever appear on the Analytical Writing section of the test. While these collections of prompts provide unparalleled Analytical Writing practice, some test takers may find the sheer number of possible essay topics to be a bit overwhelming.

In this article, we’ve assembled over 60 official GRE essay topics for both the Issue and Argument tasks and used them to illustrate the 14 different kinds of GRE writing prompts you could see on test day. With this expert analysis, you’ll know how to tackle any GRE essay prompt that comes your way.

feature image credit: Female Typing /used under CC BY 2.0 /Resized and cropped from original.

GRE Essay Topics Pool: How It Works

ETS has publicly listed all the essay topics that will ever appear on the GRE for both the Analyze an Issue and the Analyze an Argument Analytical Writing tasks.

There are 152 different possible GRE essay topics in the GRE Issue pool and 176 different GRE essay topics in the GRE Argument pool , which means it’s unlikely you’ll run out of official prompts to practice with. And while there’s only a 1/328 chance that one of the GRE writing prompts you practice with ends up being on the test, that’s still better odds than if you practiced with non-official prompts, especially if you end up using a lot of practice prompts.

Each set of GRE essay topics can further be broken down by the specific task you’re asked to complete in your answer . We’ll start by looking at the six different possible GRE Issue essay topics.

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GRE Issue Pool

Each Analyze an Issue essay topic “consists of an issue statement or statements followed by specific task instructions that tell you how to respond to the issue” (source: ETS ). The specific words used for the topics might be a little different on the test, but in general what you see in the GRE issue pool is what you’ll get.

ETS also warns test takers that there might be some mix-and-matching of different issues with different task instructions among the prompts , so don’t skip over the prompt if you recognize the issue; it’s possible that you’ll have written about the issue before in response to a different task.

The specifics of the task you’re asked to do differ depending on the prompt, but the core of all the Issue tasks is this one question: Do you agree or disagree with this (statement, view, claim, conclusion, recommendation, policy) and/or its basis?

There are 152 different pairings of issues and tasks in the GRE issue pool. Among these GRE essay topics, however, there are actually only six tasks you’ll be asked to perform , and not all tasks are equally common.

Below, we’ve analyzed these six GRE essay prompts. In addition to presenting each task as it will appear on the GRE , we’ve also determined the likelihood of the task showing up on the test and provided a sampling of the issues that you might see paired with the task.

Issue Task 1: Agree/Disagree With a Statement

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

What they’re really asking : Explain your reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with a given statement .

Number of topics in the GRE issue pool on this task : 54/152 ( 35.5% )

Examples of the statements to be analyzed

• To understand the most important characteristics of a society, one must study its major cities.
• In any field of inquiry, the beginner is more likely than the expert to make important contributions.
• There is little justification for society to make extraordinary efforts – especially at a great cost in money and jobs – to save endangered animal or plant species.
• Unfortunately, in contemporary society, creating an appealing image has become more important than the reality or truth behind that image.
• Government officials should rely on their own judgment rather than unquestioningly carry out the will of the people whom they serve.
• The best test of an argument is the argument’s ability to convince someone with an opposing viewpoint.
• If a goal is worthy, then any means taken to attain it are justifiable.
• The primary goal of technological advancement should be to increase people’s efficiency so that they have more leisure time.
• We can learn much more from people whose views we share than from people whose views contradict our own.
• Any leader who is quickly and easily influenced by shifts in popular opinion will accomplish little.
• True success can be measured primarily in terms of the goals one sets for oneself.

Issue Task 2: Agree/Disagree With a Recommendation

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, describe specific circumstances in which adopting the recommendation would or would not be advantageous and explain how these examples shape your position.

What they’re really asking : Explain your reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with a recommendation for a course of action .

Number of topics in the GRE issue pool on this task : 24/152 ( 15.8% )

Examples of the recommendations to be analyzed

• Governments should focus on solving the immediate problems of today rather than on trying to solve the anticipated problems of the future.
• College students should be encouraged to pursue subjects that interest them rather than the courses that seem most likely to lead to jobs.
• Scientists and other researchers should focus their research on areas that are likely to benefit the greatest number of people.
• Nations should suspend government funding for the arts when significant numbers of their citizens are hungry or unemployed.
• Educators should base their assessment of students’ learning not on students’ grasp of facts but on the ability to explain the ideas, trends, and concepts that those facts illustrate.

Issue Task 3: Agree/Disagree With a Claim

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position.

What they’re really asking : Explain your reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with a claim .

Number of topics in the GRE issue pool on this task : 25/152 ( 16.4% )

Examples of the claims to be analyzed

• Universities should require every student to take a variety of courses outside the student’s field of study.
• It is no longer possible for a society to regard any living man or woman as a hero.
• Critical judgment of work in any given field has little value unless it comes from someone who is an expert in that field.
• In most professions and academic fields, imagination is more important than knowledge.
• Nations should pass laws to preserve any remaining wilderness areas in their natural state.

Issue Task 4: Which view aligns with your own?

Write a response in which you discuss which view more closely aligns with your own position and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should address both of the views presented.

What they’re really asking : Explain which two views you most agree with and back it up with reasoning.

Number of topics in the GRE issue pool on this task : 18/152 ( 11.8% )

Examples of the views to be analyzed

• Some people believe it is often necessary, even desirable, for political leaders to withhold information from the public. Others believe that the public has a right to be fully informed.
• Some people claim that you can tell whether a nation is great by looking at the achievements of its rulers, artists, or scientists. Others argue that the surest indicator of a great nation is, in fact, the general welfare of all its people.
• Some people believe that corporations have a responsibility to promote the well-being of the societies and environments in which they operate. Others believe that the only responsibility of corporations, provided they operate within the law, is to make as much money as possible.

Issue Task 5: Agree/Disagree With a Claim and Its Basis

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim and the reason on which that claim is based.

What they’re really asking : Analyze an issue by explaining your reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with not just the claim, but the reason on which the claim is based .

Number of topics in the GRE issue pool on this task : 19/152 ( 12.5% )

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• Claim: When planning courses, educators should take into account the interests and suggestions of their students.Reason: Students are more motivated to learn when they are interested in what they are studying. Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim and the reason on which that claim is based.
• Claim: Any piece of information referred to as a fact should be mistrusted, since it may well be proven false in the future.Reason: Much of the information that people assume is factual actually turns out to be inaccurate.
• Claim: Imagination is a more valuable asset than experience.Reason: People who lack experience are free to imagine what is possible without the constraints of established habits and attitudes.
• Claim: Knowing about the past cannot help people to make important decisions today.Reason: We are not able to make connections between current events and past events until we have some distance from both.

Issue Task 6: Explain Your Views on a Policy

Write a response in which you discuss your views on the policy and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider the possible consequences of implementing the policy and explain how these consequences shape your position.

What they’re really asking : Explain your stance on a policy .

Number of topics in the GRE issue pool on this task : 12/152 ( 7.9% )

Example of a policy to be analyzed

• In any field – business, politics, education, government – those in power should be required to step down after five years. Write a response in which you discuss your views on the policy and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider the possible consequences of implementing the policy and explain how these consequences shape your position.

GRE Argument Pool

For the Argument task on the GRE, you’ll be asked to read a short passage containing an argument and then analyze that argument according to instructions.

As with the Issue task, there might be some very slight variations in wording between the way the tasks are written on the test as compared to the way they are online , but for the most part what you see online is what will be on the GRE. Similarly, there may be some arguments that are repeated across prompts in the GRE Argument pool, but they’ll each be followed by a different task, so it’s important to read the entire essay prompt (including the task) before beginning your analysis .

There are some commonalities across all of the essay prompts on the GRE Argument pool page, even beyond the fact that every task asks you to look at some kind of argument and analyze it. Of the 176 possible Argument topics , there are just eight different tasks you’ll be asked to perform, and of those eight tasks, numbers 3, 4, 6, 8 below are all basically different ways of asking you to “evaluate this stance and explain why you’ve determined whether or not it has a reasonable basis.”

Below, we’ve presented each of the eight GRE writing prompts  as they will appear on the exam, figured out how likely the task is to show up , and given some examples of arguments you might be asked to analyze.

Argument Task 1: Evaluate an Argument and Evidence

Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.

What they’re really asking : Discuss how different, specific evidence could weaken or strengthen the argument.

Number of topics in the GRE argument pool on this task : 52/176 ( 29.5% )

Examples of the arguments to be analyzed

• The following appeared in a letter from a firm providing investment advice to a client. “Homes in the northeastern United States, where winters are typically cold, have traditionally used oil as their major fuel for heating. Last year that region experienced twenty days with below-average temperatures, and local weather forecasters throughout the region predict that this weather pattern will continue for several more years. Furthermore, many new homes have been built in this region during the past year. Because of these developments, we predict an increased demand for heating oil and recommend investment in Consolidated Industries, one of whose major business operations is the retail sale of home heating oil.”
• The following appeared in a memorandum from the manager of WWAC radio station. “To reverse a decline in listener numbers, our owners have decided that WWAC must change from its current rock-music format. The decline has occurred despite population growth in our listening area, but that growth has resulted mainly from people moving here after their retirement. We must make listeners of these new residents. We could switch to a music format tailored to their tastes, but a continuing decline in local sales of recorded music suggests limited interest in music. Instead we should change to a news and talk format, a form of radio that is increasingly popular in our area.”
• Three years ago, because of flooding at the Western Palean Wildlife Preserve, 100 lions and 100 western gazelles were moved to the East Palean Preserve, an area that is home to most of the same species that are found in the western preserve, though in larger numbers, and to the eastern gazelle, a close relative of the western gazelle. The only difference in climate is that the eastern preserve typically has slightly less rainfall. Unfortunately, after three years in the eastern preserve, the imported western gazelle population has been virtually eliminated. Since the slight reduction in rainfall cannot be the cause of the virtual elimination of western gazelle, their disappearance must have been caused by the larger number of predators in the eastern preserve.
• The following appeared in a recommendation from the president of Amburg’s Chamber of Commerce. “Last October the city of Belleville installed high-intensity lighting in its central business district, and vandalism there declined within a month. The city of Amburg has recently begun police patrols on bicycles in its business district, but the rate of vandalism there remains constant. We should install high-intensity lighting throughout Amburg, then, because doing so is a more effective way to combat crime. By reducing crime in this way, we can revitalize the declining neighborhoods in our city.”
• The following appeared in a memo from the vice president of Butler Manufacturing. “During the past year, workers at Butler Manufacturing reported 30 percent more on-the-job accidents than workers at nearby Panoply Industries, where the work shifts are one hour shorter than ours. A recent government study reports that fatigue and sleep deprivation among workers are significant contributing factors in many on-the-job accidents. If we shorten each of our work shifts by one hour, we can improve Butler Manufacturing’s safety record by ensuring that our employees are adequately rested.”
• The following appeared in a letter to the editor of Parson City’s local newspaper. “In our region of Trillura, the majority of money spent on the schools that most students attend – the city-run public schools – comes from taxes that each city government collects. The region’s cities differ, however, in the budgetary priority they give to public education. For example, both as a proportion of its overall tax revenues and in absolute terms, Parson City has recently spent almost twice as much per year as Blue City has for its public schools – even though both cities have about the same number of residents. Clearly, Parson City residents place a higher value on providing a good education in public schools than Blue City residents do.”
• Milk and dairy products are rich in vitamin D and calcium – substances essential for building and maintaining bones. Many people therefore say that a diet rich in dairy products can help prevent osteoporosis, a disease that is linked to both environmental and genetic factors and that causes the bones to weaken significantly with age. But a long-term study of a large number of people found that those who consistently consumed dairy products throughout the years of the study have a higher rate of bone fractures than any other participants in the study. Since bone fractures are symptomatic of osteoporosis, this study result shows that a diet rich in dairy products may actually increase, rather than decrease, the risk of osteoporosis.
• The following appeared in a memo at XYZ company. “When XYZ lays off employees, it pays Delany Personnel Firm to offer those employees assistance in creating resumes and developing interviewing skills, if they so desire. Laid-off employees have benefited greatly from Delany’s services: last year those who used Delany found jobs much more quickly than did those who did not. Recently, it has been proposed that we use the less expensive Walsh Personnel Firm in place of Delany. This would be a mistake because eight years ago, when XYZ was using Walsh, only half of the workers we laid off at that time found jobs within a year. Moreover, Delany is clearly superior, as evidenced by its bigger staff and larger number of branch offices. After all, last year Delany’s clients took an average of six months to find jobs, whereas Walsh’s clients took nine.”
• An ancient, traditional remedy for insomnia – the scent of lavender flowers – has now been proved effective. In a recent study, 30 volunteers with chronic insomnia slept each night for three weeks on lavender-scented pillows in a controlled room where their sleep was monitored electronically. During the first week, volunteers continued to take their usual sleeping medication. They slept soundly but wakened feeling tired. At the beginning of the second week, the volunteers discontinued their sleeping medication. During that week, they slept less soundly than the previous week and felt even more tired. During the third week, the volunteers slept longer and more soundly than in the previous two weeks. Therefore, the study proves that lavender cures insomnia within a short period of time.

Argument Task 2: Examine Assumptions and Implications

Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions, and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.

What they’re really asking : Discuss assumptions made in the argument and how the argument would be strengthened or weakened if the assumptions are wrong .

Number of topics in the GRE argument pool on this task : 50/176 ( 28.4% )

• Nature’s Way, a chain of stores selling health food and other health-related products, is opening its next franchise in the town of Plainsville. The store should prove to be very successful: Nature’s Way franchises tend to be most profitable in areas where residents lead healthy lives, and clearly Plainsville is such an area. Plainsville merchants report that sales of running shoes and exercise clothing are at all-time highs. The local health club has more members than ever, and the weight training and aerobics classes are always full. Finally, Plainsville’s schoolchildren represent a new generation of potential customers: these schoolchildren are required to participate in a fitness-for-life program, which emphasizes the benefits of regular exercise at an early age.
• The following was written as a part of an application for a small-business loan by a group of developers in the city of Monroe. “Jazz music is extremely popular in the city of Monroe: over 100,000 people attended Monroe’s annual jazz festival last summer, and the highest-rated radio program in Monroe is ‘Jazz Nightly,’ which airs every weeknight. Also, a number of well-known jazz musicians own homes in Monroe. Nevertheless, the nearest jazz club is over an hour away. Given the popularity of jazz in Monroe and a recent nationwide study indicating that the typical jazz fan spends close to $1,000 per year on jazz entertainment, a jazz music club in Monroe would be tremendously profitable.”
• The following appeared in a letter to the editor of a journal on environmental issues. “Over the past year, the Crust Copper Company (CCC) has purchased over 10,000 square miles of land in the tropical nation of West Fredonia. Mining copper on this land will inevitably result in pollution and, since West Fredonia is the home of several endangered animal species, in environmental disaster. But such disasters can be prevented if consumers simply refuse to purchase products that are made with CCC’s copper unless the company abandons its mining plans.”
• Humans arrived in the Kaliko Islands about 7,000 years ago, and within 3,000 years most of the large mammal species that had lived in the forests of the Kaliko Islands had become extinct. Yet humans cannot have been a factor in the species’ extinctions, because there is no evidence that the humans had any significant contact with the mammals. Further, archaeologists have discovered numerous sites where the bones of fish had been discarded, but they found no such areas containing the bones of large mammals, so the humans cannot have hunted the mammals. Therefore, some climate change or other environmental factor must have caused the species’ extinctions.
• The following appeared in a memo from the vice president of marketing at Dura-Sock, Inc. “A recent study of our customers suggests that our company is wasting the money it spends on its patented Endure manufacturing process, which ensures that our socks are strong enough to last for two years. We have always advertised our use of the Endure process, but the new study shows that despite our socks’ durability, our average customer actually purchases new Dura-Socks every three months. Furthermore, our customers surveyed in our largest market, northeastern United States cities, say that they most value Dura-Socks’ stylish appearance and availability in many colors. These findings suggest that we can increase our profits by discontinuing use of the Endure manufacturing process.”
• When Stanley Park first opened, it was the largest, most heavily used public park in town. It is still the largest park, but it is no longer heavily used. Video cameras mounted in the park’s parking lots last month revealed the park’s drop in popularity: the recordings showed an average of only 50 cars per day. In contrast, tiny Carlton Park in the heart of the business district is visited by more than 150 people on a typical weekday. An obvious difference is that Carlton Park, unlike Stanley Park, provides ample seating. Thus, if Stanley Park is ever to be as popular with our citizens as Carlton Park, the town will obviously need to provide more benches, thereby converting some of the unused open areas into spaces suitable for socializing.
• While the Department of Education in the state of Attra recommends that high school students be assigned homework every day, the data from a recent statewide survey of high school math and science teachers give us reason to question the usefulness of daily homework. In the district of Sanlee, 86 percent of the teachers reported assigning homework three to five times a week, whereas in the district of Marlee, less than 25 percent of the teachers reported assigning homework three to five times a week. Yet the students in Marlee earn better grades overall and are less likely to be required to repeat a year of school than are the students in Sanlee. Therefore, all teachers in our high schools should assign homework no more than twice a week.
• The following appeared in a memo to the board of directors of Bargain Brand Cereals. “One year ago we introduced our first product, Bargain Brand breakfast cereal. Our very low prices quickly drew many customers away from the top-selling cereal companies. Although the companies producing the top brands have since tried to compete with us by lowering their prices and although several plan to introduce their own budget brands, not once have we needed to raise our prices to continue making a profit. Given our success in selling cereal, we recommend that Bargain Brand now expand its business and begin marketing other low-priced food products as quickly as possible.”
• The following is a recommendation from the personnel director to the president of Acme Publishing Company. “Many other companies have recently stated that having their employees take the Easy Read Speed-Reading Course has greatly improved productivity. One graduate of the course was able to read a 500-page report in only two hours; another graduate rose from an assistant manager to vice president of the company in under a year. Obviously, the faster you can read, the more information you can absorb in a single workday. Moreover, Easy Read would cost Acme only $500 per employee — a small price to pay when you consider the benefits. Included in this fee is a three-week seminar in Spruce City and a lifelong subscription to the Easy Read newsletter. Clearly, Acme would benefit greatly by requiring all of our employees to take the Easy Read course.”

Argument Task 3: Evaluate a Recommendation and Its Basis

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.

What they’re really asking : Discuss the different, specific questions that would need to be answered to determine how reasonable the recommendation is.

Number of topics in the GRE argument pool on this task : 24/176 ( 13.6% )

• The following appeared in a memo from a vice president of Alta Manufacturing. “During the past year, Alta Manufacturing had thirty percent more on-the-job accidents than nearby Panoply Industries, where the work shifts are one hour shorter than ours. Experts believe that a significant contributing factor in many accidents is fatigue caused by sleep deprivation among workers. Therefore, to reduce the number of on-the-job accidents at Alta, we recommend shortening each of our three work shifts by one hour. If we do this, our employees will get adequate amounts of sleep.” Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.
• Since those issues of Newsbeat magazine that featured political news on their front cover were the poorest-selling issues over the past three years, the publisher of Newsbeat has recommended that the magazine curtail its emphasis on politics to focus more exclusively on economics and personal finance. She points to a recent survey of readers of general interest magazines that indicates greater reader interest in economic issues than in political ones. Newsbeat ‘s editor, however, opposes the proposed shift in editorial policy, pointing out that very few magazines offer extensive political coverage anymore. Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.
• The following appeared in an article in the Grandview Beacon . “For many years the city of Grandview has provided annual funding for the Grandview Symphony. Last year, however, private contributions to the symphony increased by 200 percent and attendance at the symphony’s concerts-in-the-park series doubled. The symphony has also announced an increase in ticket prices for next year. Given such developments, some city commissioners argue that the symphony can now be fully self-supporting, and they recommend that funding for the symphony be eliminated from next year’s budget.” Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.
• Twenty years ago, Dr. Field, a noted anthropologist, visited the island of Tertia. Using an observation-centered approach to studying Tertian culture, he concluded from his observations that children in Tertia were reared by an entire village rather than by their own biological parents. Recently another anthropologist, Dr. Karp, visited the group of islands that includes Tertia and used the interview-centered method to study child-rearing practices. In the interviews that Dr. Karp conducted with children living in this group of islands, the children spent much more time talking about their biological parents than about other adults in the village. Dr. Karp decided that Dr. Field’s conclusion about Tertian village culture must be invalid. Some anthropologists recommend that to obtain accurate information on Tertian child-rearing practices, future research on the subject should be conducted via the interview-centered method.

Argument Task 4: Evaluate Advice and Questions

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the advice and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the advice.

What they’re really asking : Discuss the different, specific questions needed to determine if the advice and the argument it’s based on are reasonable .

This task is pretty much the same as task 3; the main difference is in the way the prompt is worded (as advice vs. a recommendation being given).

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Number of topics in the GRE argument pool on this task : 2/176 ( 1.1% )

Examples of the advice to be analyzed

• The following appeared in a newsletter offering advice to investors. “Over 80 percent of the respondents to a recent survey indicated a desire to reduce their intake of foods containing fats and cholesterol, and today low-fat products abound in many food stores. Since many of the food products currently marketed by Old Dairy Industries are high in fat and cholesterol, the company’s sales are likely to diminish greatly and company profits will no doubt decrease. We therefore advise Old Dairy stockholders to sell their shares, and other investors not to purchase stock in this company.”

Argument Task 5: Evaluate a Recommendation’s Likely Results

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation is likely to have the predicted result. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.

What they’re really asking : Discuss specific questions and information that would be needed to show the recommendation would have the expected outcome .

Number of topics in the GRE argument pool on this task : 21/176 ( 11.9% )

• The following appeared in a letter from the owner of the Sunnyside Towers apartment building to its manager. “One month ago, all the showerheads on the first five floors of Sunnyside Towers were modified to restrict the water flow to approximately one-third of its original flow. Although actual readings of water usage before and after the adjustment are not yet available, the change will obviously result in a considerable savings for Sunnyside Corporation, since the corporation must pay for water each month. Except for a few complaints about low water pressure, no problems with showers have been reported since the adjustment. Clearly, restricting water flow throughout all the twenty floors of Sunnyside Towers will increase our profits further.”
• The following memorandum is from the business manager of Happy Pancake House restaurants. “Butter has now been replaced by margarine in Happy Pancake House restaurants throughout the southwestern United States. Only about 2 percent of customers have complained, indicating that 98 people out of 100 are happy with the change. Furthermore, many servers have reported that a number of customers who ask for butter do not complain when they are given margarine instead. Clearly, either these customers cannot distinguish butter from margarine or they use the term ‘butter’ to refer to either butter or margarine. Thus, to avoid the expense of purchasing butter and to increase profitability, the Happy Pancake House should extend this cost-saving change to its restaurants in the southeast and northeast as well.”
• The following memo appeared in the newsletter of the West Meria Public Health Council. “An innovative treatment has come to our attention that promises to significantly reduce absenteeism in our schools and workplaces. A study reports that in nearby East Meria, where consumption of the plant beneficia is very high, people visit the doctor only once or twice per year for the treatment of colds. Clearly, eating a substantial amount of beneficia can prevent colds. Since colds are the reason most frequently given for absences from school and work, we recommend the daily use of nutritional supplements derived from beneficia. We predict this will dramatically reduce absenteeism in our schools and workplaces.”
• The following appeared in an e-mail sent by the marketing director of the Classical Shakespeare Theatre of Bardville. “Over the past ten years, there has been a 20 percent decline in the size of the average audience at Classical Shakespeare Theatre productions. In spite of increased advertising, we are attracting fewer and fewer people to our shows, causing our profits to decrease significantly. We must take action to attract new audience members. The best way to do so is by instituting a ‘Shakespeare in the Park’ program this summer. Two years ago the nearby Avon Repertory Company started a ‘Free Plays in the Park’ program, and its profits have increased 10 percent since then. If we start a ‘Shakespeare in the Park’ program, we can predict that our profits will increase, too.”

Argument Task 6: Evaluate a Prediction and Its Basis

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the prediction and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the prediction.

What they’re really asking : Discuss the specific questions that need to be answered to determine how reasonable the prediction and its basis are .

Number of topics in the GRE argument pool on this task : 14/176 ( 8.0% )

Examples of the predictions to be analyzed

• The following appeared in a memorandum from the manager of KNOW radio station. “Several factors indicate that KNOW radio can no longer succeed as a rock-and-roll music station. Consider, for example, that the number of people in our listening area over fifty years of age has increased dramatically, while our total number of listeners has declined. Also, music stores in our area report decreased sales of rock-and-roll music. Finally, continuous news stations in neighboring cities have been very successful. We predict that switching KNOW radio from rock-and-roll music to 24-hour news will allow the station to attract older listeners and make KNOW radio more profitable than ever.”
• The council of Maple County, concerned about the county’s becoming overdeveloped, is debating a proposed measure that would prevent the development of existing farmland in the county. But the council is also concerned that such a restriction, by limiting the supply of new housing, could lead to significant increases in the price of housing in the county. Proponents of the measure note that Chestnut County established a similar measure ten years ago, and its housing prices have increased only modestly since. However, opponents of the measure note that Pine County adopted restrictions on the development of new residential housing fifteen years ago, and its housing prices have since more than doubled. The council currently predicts that the proposed measure, if passed, will result in a significant increase in housing prices in Maple County.

Argument Task 7: Discuss Alternative Explanations

Write a response in which you discuss one or more alternative explanations that could rival the proposed explanation and explain how your explanation(s) can plausibly account for the facts presented in the argument.

What they’re really asking : Discuss alternative explanations that would reasonably explain the evidence discussed in the argument.

Number of topics in the GRE argument pool on this task : 11/176 ( 6.3% )

Examples of the explanation and argument to be analyzed

• The following appeared in a memo from the director of a large group of hospitals. “In a controlled laboratory study of liquid hand soaps, a concentrated solution of extra strength UltraClean hand soap produced a 40 percent greater reduction in harmful bacteria than did the liquid hand soaps currently used in our hospitals. During our recent test of regular-strength UltraClean with doctors, nurses, and visitors at our hospital in Worktown, the hospital reported significantly fewer cases of patient infection (a 20 percent reduction) than did any of the other hospitals in our group. The explanation for the 20 percent reduction in patient infections is the use of UltraClean soap.”
• There is now evidence that the relaxed pace of life in small towns promotes better health and greater longevity than does the hectic pace of life in big cities. Businesses in the small town of Leeville report fewer days of sick leave taken by individual workers than do businesses in the nearby large city of Masonton. Furthermore, Leeville has only one physician for its one thousand residents, but in Masonton the proportion of physicians to residents is five times as high. Finally, the average age of Leeville residents is significantly higher than that of Masonton residents. These findings suggest that the relaxed pace of life in Leeville allows residents to live longer, healthier lives.

Argument Task 8: Evaluate a Conclusion and Its Basis

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be addressed in order to decide whether the conclusion and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to the questions would help to evaluate the conclusion.

What they’re really asking : Discuss the specific questions that need to be answered to determine if the conclusion and its basis are reasonable .

Examples of conclusions to be analyzed

• A recent sales study indicates that consumption of seafood dishes in Bay City restaurants has increased by 30 percent during the past five years. Yet there are no currently operating city restaurants whose specialty is seafood. Moreover, the majority of families in Bay City are two-income families, and a nationwide study has shown that such families eat significantly fewer home-cooked meals than they did a decade ago but at the same time express more concern about healthful eating. Therefore, the new Captain Seafood restaurant that specializes in seafood should be quite popular and profitable.

GRE Essay Prompts: 3 Terrific Tips

No matter which of the GRE essay topics you encounter on test day, the following tips will help you prepare.

#1: Keep Strict Timing

When you’re working on practice GRE writing prompts, make sure you stick to a strict 30-minute time limit for each Analytical Writing prompt.

If you need to build up to writing within this time limit, you can start out by giving yourself extra time and then working your way down to 30 minutes. However, try not to only practice with extra time , or you’ll be unprepared for the real GRE Analytical Writing essays.

#2: Type Your Essays

To get the best practice for the computer-based GRE, you should write all your practice essays on a computer .

If possible, use the simple word processor in the PowerPrep Test Preview Tool or practice tests to do every practice essay. You’ll need to get used to the lack of spellcheck and familiar shortcuts or features of your own word processor that you might not realize how often you use, like select all, copy, cut, paste, or undo; it’s surprising to find how much not being able to use CTL+A to select all or CTL+V to paste can affect your writing and editing speed.

Even if you’re not writing about the GRE essay prompts given in PowerPrep, you can still use the text box and timer in the test preview tool or one of the practice tests to write practice essays on other prompts . Just be sure to save your essay into a separate document on your computer so you can go back and read and score it afterwards.

#3: Grade Your Essays

Once you’ve written your practice Issue and Argument essays, score them by using the essay rubrics and by comparing your writing to the sample essays ETS provides at each score point .

The rubrics for the Issue essay and the Argument essay are similar when it comes to the importance of clarity of writing and adherence to standard English grammar, spelling, and punctuation; they only really differ when it comes to assessing the specifics of the issue or argument analyses. You can try using the rubric yourself on your own essays and determine where on the rubric your essay fits; alternatively, you can see if you can find a GRE buddy who is willing to grade you and give you feedback based on the rubric, since it’s sometimes easier to be objective about someone else’s work.

While the rubrics are useful as guidelines for what to include in your essays, however, it can be difficult to envision what a perfect scoring essay might look like from the laundry list of qualities alone. That’s why the best way to learn what makes a difference between different essay scores is studying examples of high-scoring essays, analyzing what they do well, and finding the differences between them and lower-scoring essays on the same topic . We do this analysis for you in our articles on how to get a perfect 6 on the GRE Issue essay and Argument essay .

The object of grading your essays is not to feel bad that you didn’t live up to the ideals of a perfect essay score but instead to zero in on your weak spots so you can improve. Whether it’s disorganized writing, running out of time (and so not finishing your essay), insufficient analysis, or some other issue entirely, identify the main issues with your essay, then focus your practice on improving those areas.

What’s Next?

Looking for more great advice to increase your GRE AWA score? Read our article on GRE essay tips and strategies .

Want to find out more about what’s on the essay rubrics? We have a complete guide to how the GRE essays are scored here .

Learn more about what’s on the GRE and what a good GRE score is .

Ready to improve your GRE score by 7 points?

Author: Laura Staffaroni

Laura graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College with a BA in Music and Psychology, and earned a Master's degree in Composition from the Longy School of Music of Bard College. She scored 99 percentile scores on the SAT and GRE and loves advising students on how to excel and fulfill their college and grad school dreams. View all posts by Laura Staffaroni

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10.2: Introduction to Argumentative Thesis Statements

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What you’ll learn to do: evaluate argumentative thesis statements

An academic argument asserts a claim and supports that claim with evidence. The goal of an argument is to convince readers that the writer’s position is reasonable, valid, and worthy of consideration. Therefore, an argumentative thesis statement needs to be not only clear and focused, but also debatable, assertive, and reasoned. Additionally, an argumentative thesis must be able to be supported with evidence.

• Outcome: Argumentative Thesis Statements. Provided by : University of Mississippi. License : CC BY: Attribution

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How to Deal With the National Trauma of Jan. 6

More from our inbox:.

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To the Editor:

Re “ In Search of the Lost Altar of Oblivion ,” by Linda Kinstler (Opinion guest essay, June 16), about how America is still processing the events of Jan. 6 and other traumas:

Like Dr. Kinstler, I too have been unable to find any surviving trace of an “altar of oblivion” at the Acropolis in Athens. Perhaps the plain answer is that there never was one. After all, the ancient Athenians were far too smart to erect an architectural contradiction in terms — a memorial to the very act of forgetting.

But forgetting is what oblivion is all about, and oblivion — not for themselves but for inconvenient truths — is what careerist politicians then and now have always craved, eager as they are to sweep embarrassing facts under history’s carpet.

Indeed, the oblivion that Dr. Kinstler celebrates, claiming that it would serve as a fitting model for our own political behavior today, led to the execution of Socrates, a man many Athenians wanted out of the way because he believed in truth and didn’t readily suffer phoniness and fools.

Remembering the Jan. 6 insurrection in all its ugliness, not forgetting it and naïvely moving on, is precisely what America needs if we are to preserve a democracy worth saving.

Stephen Bertman West Bloomfield, Mich. The writer is professor emeritus of classics at the University of Windsor in Ontario and the author of “Cultural Amnesia: America’s Future and the Crisis of Memory.”

While Linda Kinstler’s essay is creative, it isn’t quite persuasive for several reasons. One is scale: Two examples she cites — the Revolutionary War and the Civil War — were yearslong conflicts that directly affected the entire country, so an act of oblivion could justly be seen as the only way that the nation could move on.

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How Vladimir Putin took control of Russian TV – and how that might be starting to crack

Associate Professor, International Development, School of Government, University of Birmingham

Disclosure statement

Adrian Campbell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

University of Birmingham provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation UK.

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On March 14, Russian state television’s peak-time news programme, Vremya (Time), was interrupted by Marina Ovsyannikova , carrying a homemade placard denouncing the war and accusing the station of lying to the Russian people. Her protest was only visible for a few seconds, but it has had immense impact both across Russia and internationally and has given Russian opposition to the war a defining image – from within the heart of the establishment.

Ovsyannikova was no student protester. The 43-year-old mother of two was a longstanding television editor at Channel 1, the Kremlin’s propaganda flagship for Russia’s domestic audience. Just before making her protest, Ovsyannikova recorded a statement in which she spoke of her shame, as a half-Ukrainian, at her years at the propagandist channel during which she said she allowed Russian people to be “zombified”. She denounced Vladimir Putin as wholly responsible for the conflict and called on fellow Russians to join the protests against the war.

This was an extraordinary act given that a recently imposed law means that simply referring to the conflict as a “war” could mean a five-year prison sentence, and inciting protest could mean 15 years. These new laws led to the closure of most remaining independent media and the emigration of many of those who worked in it.

During the silence that followed her arrest, many on Twitter speculated that she might even have been killed and there were protests demanding news of her whereabouts.

She emerged, after 14 hours under interrogation, to a brief press conference. The following day she was given a relatively light fine of 30,000 rubles (£210) . Three other journalists and presenters have resigned from Russian state television stations.

Although the court imposed the lightest possible penalty for the administrative offence, Ovsyannikova still faces the possibility of much more serious criminal charges based on the new article 276.3 of the Criminal Code, which could mean a sentence of between three and 15 years . Ovsyannikova has declared that she will not be leaving Russia, despite the possibility of jail .

Read more: Putin's Russia: how the ex-KGB strongman has gradually turned the clock back to Soviet repression

Putin’s mouthpiece

Ovsyannikova’s protest needs to be understood in the context of Channel 1’s special role in Russia. It is not simply a channel that presents the government’s point of view. It goes much further, applying sophisticated PR techniques that were developed in the frenetic election campaigns of Russia’s democratic interlude in the 1990s.

It regularly uses staged debates, usually on topics relating to Ukraine or the West. Stooges are hired to present liberal or western viewpoints unconvincingly so they can be shouted down by the presenters or invited audience. The debates usually build to a cacophonous climax with many raucous voices shouting at each other. The emotional effect is to confuse and excite viewers and play on their fears and anxieties through an addictive cocktail of patriotism and paranoia.

Over the years, the station has had a powerful brainwashing effect – hence recent cases of Ukraine residents being unable to convince relatives in Russia that a war is going on – they are living in the alternate reality created by the channel.

TV as a political weapon

Weaponised television has played a crucial role in Russian politics since the early 1990s. The attempted coup of 1993 culminated in a bloody battle for the Channel 1 station at Ostankino, the television centre in Moscow. The same station was the key instrument of power wielded by arch-oligarch Boris Berezovsky in the 1990s, while his rival Vladimir Gusinsky launched NTV (Independent Television). Unlike Channel 1, NTV was renowned for its objectivity. Putin organised the seizure of both stations immediately on becoming president and control of the media narrative via television became a defining feature of his rule.

Since the start of the invasion, there has been speculation over who within the Russian elite might be able to leverage an end to the war – this, rather than regime change, being the declared aim of sanctions . Some commentators have conjectured that sanctions would lead to the oligarchs exerting pressure on Putin. This was the model under Boris Yeltsin in the late 1990s when the president’s survival in power was seen to depend on a group of business leaders, notably Berezovsky. The subordination of the oligarchs was Putin’s main achievement in the early 2000s.

Others have wondered whether the siloviki , or security services, might intervene . But the siloviki are institutionally fragmented, and the sheer durability of the Putin regime has reinforced their conservatism and subordination to the president.

It is the state media that is the most powerful element in Putin’s system of government, applying its considerable artistry to secure the acquiescence of public opinion . Independent media have been marginalised as “foreign agents” and driven to broadcast from abroad or via social media, which in turn has increasingly been blocked by the authorities.

Read more: Russia: the west underestimates the power of state media

So it’s ironic that just as state TV attains a near monopoly over the dissemination of information, it one of their own who has used the station to promote the anti-war argument in the strongest possible terms and to the widest possible audience.

Putin is still in a position to command both oligarchs and siloviki . But the main anchor of his power is neither of these, but the state media. If elements in the state media begins to abandon or condemn the cause of war, then a tipping point in Russian opposition to the war may have been reached. Whether or when this will happen is another matter.

• Vladimir Putin
• Russian media
• Boris Yeltsin
• Ukraine invasion 2022

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