GRE Exam: A Simple Guide To Solving Analytical Writing Problems

The first two sections of the GRE consist of two separately timed 30-minute writing tasks: Analyze an Issue and Analyze an Argument.

The Analyze an Issue task will present you with an opinion and ask you to articulate your perspective on the opinion expressed. To do so, you are expected to draw on personal experiences and knowledge to support your point. There is no correct answer to these questions, and you should not feel compelled to take a stance that you agree with. Instead, you should focus on crafting an argument for which you have the most evidence to reinforce your point.

The Analyze an Argument is complementary to the Analyze an Issue task. Whereas, the Analyze an Issue task expects you to bring in outside information to support your point, the Analyze an Argument task provides you with an argument and asks you to address its cogency. To do so, your focus should be on identifying assumptions within the argument and evidence that would be necessary to strengthen or weaken the argument. The argument provided will always have logical flaws in it, and your task is to critically analyze the argument, identify these flaws, and identify ways to eliminate these flaws.

Scoring Analytical Writing
Two graders will score each essay, with each grader assigning a score from 0 to 6. The average of these two scores will determine your score for each writing task. The score for each writing task will then be averaged to yield your overall Analytical Writing score.

For example, if one grader gives you a score of 5 on your first essay and the second grader gives you a score of 6, your score for the first essay is 5.5. If one grader gives you a score of 4 for your second essay and the second grader gives you a 5, then your score for the second essay is 4.5. Your overall score will then be the average of 5.5 and 4.5, which is 5.

What Are the Graders Looking For?
Essays that receive high scores tend to have several consistent features: fluid writing, complex sentence structure, organization, and sound reasoning.

Fluid Writing
To achieve fluid writing, you must create smooth and logical transitions among the different components of your essay. Doing so requires the use of rhetorical devices that link components of the essay together. Words such as indeed, furthermore, however, despite, nonetheless, since, and due to create internal logic among the different parts of the essay. They facilitate the reader’s ability to understand the information that you present and the point you are trying to make with this information. When you are writing, you should be concerned with making sure that you use the appropriate words or phrases to create a logical and smooth flow among the different parts of your essay.

Complex Sentence Structure
If you tend to write in short, choppy sentences, you will need to revise your writing to incorporate sentences that convey multiple thoughts at once. Though it’s not necessarily true, most readers tend to interpret short sentences as representative of shallow thinking and will grade your essays accordingly. One way to create more complex sentences is to introduce subordinate clauses into your writing.

For example, a choppy writer might write the following:

The above argument is wrong. It makes a lot of assumptions. We need to know a few things to make the argument stronger.

Writing with more complex sentence structures would rephrase the preceding into the following sentence:

Due to its several unfounded assumptions, the above argument is flawed. To strengthen the argument, several facts need to be addressed, otherwise the argument of the logic is porous.

Organization
You can have a groundbreaking idea, but if you don’t present the idea in a clear and logical way, then the reader will never grasp the point you are trying to make. As will be discussed later, organizing your thoughts into discrete paragraphs will be an essential component of achieving a good score on the essays.

Sound Reasoning
Remember: these are analytical tasks. To do well, you need to think critically about the information presented to you and provide arguments and insights that would not be obvious to someone who only superficially analyzes the information. As explained later, a large component of your essay-writing process will be the development of clear and logical arguments.

Simplified Scoring Rubrics
Here is a simplified version of the rubric used by the graders to score responses to the Analyze an Issue task:

Here is a simplified version of the rubric the graders use to score responses to the Analyze an Argument task:

How to Approach the “Analyze an Issue” Task
The Analyze an Issue task will present you with a one- or two-sentence claim and ask you to evaluate that claim by using outside evidence. The essay will be graded on your ability to:
- Understand the implications of the statement
- Develop a well-reasoned and organized line of thought
- Use relevant examples to support your point
- Present your ideas clearly and intelligibly

Here is a sample Analyze an Issue task:
The attention popular culture gives to celebrities has had a negative effect on the members of that culture.
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.

Follow these steps to tackle the Analyze an Issue task. Spending the amount of time indicated next to each step will help you pace yourself for each assignment.

Step 1: Brainstorm (3 Minutes)
Once you read the task, you should spend time determining what stance you will take on the issue and what evidence you will use to support that stance. It is important to note that you need not take a stance that you agree with! Because evidence is vital to the issue task, you should consider both sides of the issue and adopt the stance that you can provide more evidence for.

A typical brainstorm for the preceding prompt might look like the following:
Agree → Teenagers develop bad habits
People out of touch with high art
Disagree → Celebrities expose us to important ideas and issues, e.g., Magic Johnson, Angelina Jolie
Celebrity mistakes help us avoid our own mistakes, e.g., Amy Winehouse

In this brainstorm, the writer has come up with more evidence to argue against the statement in the task, so the writer should adopt that stance.

Step 2: Create Your Outline (3 Minutes)
A good issue essay should consist of (1) an introductory paragraph that states your main point, (2) body paragraphs providing examples that reinforce this main point, and (3) a concluding paragraph that summarizes your point and its implications. Your next step should be to draft an outline that follows this structure. In your outline, you should develop a rough sketch of what point you will make in each paragraph and how you will support that point.

For example:
Paragraph 1: Thesis: Attn to celebrities = good thing. Why?
1. Makes us aware of issues
2. Brings attn to important causes
3. Teaches us mistakes of others
Paragraph 2: Topic sentence: Makes us aware of issues
Example: Angelina Jolie helping malnourished children in Africa
Paragraph 3: Topic sentence: Brings attn to important causes
Example: Magic Johnson diagnosed with HIV led to more public awareness.
Paragraph 4: Topic sentence: Teaches us mistakes of others
Example: Amy Winehouse and drug abuse
Paragraph 5: Conclusion: Restate main ideas. Food for thought: even though so many people think social media is a bad thing, maybe it’s good for the above reasons.

Step 3: Write Your Body Paragraphs (5 Minutes per Paragraph)
Start with your body paragraphs because these constitute the most important part of your essay. Each body paragraph should take the following structure:
- Sentence 1: Topic sentence: State the point that you are trying to convey in the paragraph.
- Sentences 2 to 4: Example: Go into detail with the example that you are using to support your main point.
- Sentences 5 to 6. Reasoning: Explain how your example supports the topic sentence.

Here is a sample body paragraph for the prompt.
The attention our culture gives celebrities often highlights causes that society at large might otherwise be unaware of. For example, Angelina Jolie’s numerous trips to malnourished villages in Africa have been highly publicized by the news media. When this actress makes these trips, she focuses on the chronic impoverishment of these countries and the absence of many basic necessities that we take for granted in the Western world, such as readily available food, lodging, and sanitation. Because Jolie is so famous and her travels receive so much attention, the problems in these countries are broadcast to a wider audience than they would be through just a late-night infomercial or news segment. Thus it is evident that Jolie’s fame has had a positive impact on society. She has used the constant attention from the media to bring awareness to an important social issue that might otherwise have gone ignored by much of Western society. And though the problems that she addresses have certainly not been eradicated, her focus on them has put society in a better position to address some of the world’s inequalities.

Step 4: Write Your Introductory and Concluding Paragraphs (6 Minutes)
The goal of your introductory paragraph is twofold:
1.  Give context for the issue you are discussing.
2.  Clearly state your thesis—the stance that you will be trying to support in the essay.

To give context, you should first explain the larger relevance of the issue. To do so, it is oftentimes helpful to address the counterargument, a rhetorical strategy in which you provide the opposite side of the argument and then segue into your own opinion. Once you have addressed the counterargument and transitioned into your opinion, you should write a concluding sentence that clearly illustrates what you will be arguing in your essay.

Here is a sample introductory paragraph:
With society’s increasing emphasis and glorification of celebrity culture, it has become commonplace to regard this attention with suspicion and sometimes even downright derision. The constant barrage of reality TV shows has made everyone skeptical of the actual value that celebrity culture provides to society and has caused many critics to lament what they believe is the deterioration of American cultural life. Nonetheless, despite some apparent drawbacks of the attention that we give celebrities, this behavior has numerous benefits to our society. Specifically, the attention we give celebrities increases our awareness of societal problems, gives a large audience to important issues, and helps us learn from the publicized mistakes of celebrities.

The goal of your concluding paragraph is to summarize the points you made in your essay and to discuss the implications of your main point. When discussing the implications, you should focus on addressing the relevance of your thesis to issues outside the scope of the essay. Let’s look at an example of a concluding paragraph:

The examples illustrate the beneficial effects that our attention to celebrities can provide society. Because news and media coverage are so pervasive in our lives, and because these outlets so often cover celebrity life, celebrities can often use these outlets to advance social and cultural causes that the general population might otherwise neglect. Though many worry that the development of social media and the proliferation of celebrity websites have made celebrities into only a spectacle, the point still stands that celebrities can leverage their popularity to achieve goals that supersede their immediate self-interest and benefit society as a whole.

Step 5: Proofread (3 Minutes)
You should make sure to always leave yourself time at the end to proofread your essay. When proofreading, you should reread the essay carefully, focusing on any grammatical mistakes or typos you may have made. At this point, it’s often too late to dramatically alter the substance of the essay (hopefully, you would have done so during one of the earlier steps). So worry less about the content and more about the technical aspects of your writing—the grammar, spelling, and fluidity of the sentences.

How to Approach the “Analyze an Argument” Task
The Analyze an Argument task addresses your ability to understand and deconstruct an argument. The prompt for this essay will provide evidence and a claim drawn from that evidence. Your task is to critique the argument by identifying the major assumptions that the author makes.

In writing the essay, you will be tested on your:
- Logical reasoning skills
- Ability to analyze the components of an argument
- Mastery of technical English
- Ability to articulate your thoughts

Here is a sample Analyze an Argument task:
Ever since our company downsized in 2009 by reducing the number of customer support staff, we have seen a decrease in revenue. Customers have expressed frustration over the lack of available staff members, and customer surveys have shown that these customers wish we were available to help them outside of normal business hours. The obvious solution to our problem of decreasing revenues is to increase the size of the customer support staff to what it was before we downsized in 2009.
Write a response in which you examine the stated or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on the assumptions and what the implications are if the assumptions prove unwarranted.

Here’s how to tackle the Analyze an Argument task. Again, spending the amount of time indicated next to each step will help you pace yourself for each assignment.

Step 1: Read the Argument and Identify the Claim and Evidence (2 Minutes)
When reading the argument, your goal is to identify the main conclusion the author draws and the evidence that he or she uses to support this conclusion. It is essential that you identify the claim, because without doing so, you will not be able to analyze the cogency of the author’s argument. In the preceding example, the claim is, The obvious solution to our problem of decreasing revenues is to increase the size of the customer support staff to what it was before we downsized in 2009.

Step 2: Identify the Major Assumptions and Create Your Outline (3 Minutes)
Your next step is to think about the assumptions of the argument. An assumption is an unstated piece of information that must be true for an argument to be valid. The more assumptions the author makes, the more open to scrutiny the argument is.

In the preceding example, some major assumptions are:
- The loss in revenue was not caused by factors other than the decrease in customer support.
- Customer service is an important consideration that potential clients make when using the business.
- Repeat business is an important source of revenue for the business.
- The previous customer support staff was available outside of business hours.
- Any new customer support staff the business adds would provide a level of service comparable to that of the old staff.

Once you have identified the assumptions, draft your outline. In the outline, you should list the key assumptions you will address.

A typical outline might look like the following:
Paragraph 1: Argument flawed b/c many assumptions. Not obvious that more cust. supp. = more revenue
Paragraph 2: First assumption: How important is customer service to getting business? If people still give business despite bad customer service, then new support staff won’t matter.
Paragraph 3: Second assumption: Could the loss in revenue have been due to other factors? Was the economy bad? Did other parts of the company decline during this time period?
Paragraph 4: Third assumption: What was the previous customer support staff like? Were they better than the current ones? If so, would new ones be as good as the old ones? If new hires are not as good as the old staff, then hiring new personnel might not solve the problem.
Paragraph 5: Conclusion: Even though there’s a correlation b/w loss in staff and revenue, it’s not obvious that the loss in staff led to the loss in revenue. Need to address a lot of other factors before deciding that they should hire more customer support staff.

Step 3: Write Your Body Paragraphs (5 Minutes per Paragraph)
In each body paragraph, you should examine a major assumption in the argument. Start by introducing the assumption. Then state why the argument actually depends on this assumption.

Here is a writer’s paragraph 3 based on the preceding outline:
The author uses the correlation between the loss of revenue and decrease in customer support during the same time period to conclude that the business will benefit by hiring additional customer service employees. However, the author commits a logical fallacy by equating correlation and causation. The fact that the loss of revenue coincided with this decrease in staff is not enough to conclude that the loss in revenue was caused by the decrease in staff. Perhaps the economy was bad during this time period, and the company lost revenues because its clientele did not have as much disposable income. Or perhaps there were other segments of the company that were underperforming during this time period. Or perhaps one of its competitors had introduced a new product or service that took away some of the company’s business. Because the author leaves so many external variables unaddressed, it is not possible to draw a firm causal connection between the data in the argument.

Step 4: Write Your Introduction and Conclusion (7 Minutes)
In the introduction, focus on restating the author’s main point, and briefly summarize why you think the argument is flawed. You do not need to list the major assumptions that you will address. Just make it obvious that there are important assumptions and flaws in the argument. Here is an example:
Though it would appear that the company’s declining revenues would be bolstered by the addition of customer support staff, the author does not make a logical case for adding more customer support staff. On its face, it might appear that the provided data lead to the author’s conclusion, but there are several unwarranted assumptions that must be addressed to establish the soundness of the author’s case.
Your conclusion does not need to be long, nor does it need to include a restatement of the assumptions listed in your argument. Simply write a paragraph showing that you understand the author’s perspective but find it lacking.

Here is an example:
When addressing a loss in revenue, a desire to revert to previous structures and strategies is certainly reasonable and oftentimes beneficial. However, the author’s current plan, as based on the given data, suffers from too many flaws to be worthwhile. The existence of so many outside variables calls into question the soundness of the author’s reasoning. Until such variables are addressed, it cannot be established whether the addition of customer support staff will lead to an increase in revenue.

Step 5: Proofread (3 Minutes)
You should make sure to always leave yourself time at the end to proofread your essay. When proofreading, you should reread the essay carefully, focusing on any grammatical mistakes or typos you may have made. At this point, it is often too late to dramatically alter the substance of the essay (hopefully, you would have done so during one of the earlier steps). So worry less about the content and more about the technical aspects of your writing—the grammar, spelling, and fluidity of the sentences.