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Of all the various types of questions on the GRE, Analytical Writing questions can seem like the trickiest ones to answer perfectly. Not only do you have to write hundreds of words to answer the Argument essay GRE question, but there’s also no one set correct answer that you can give and automatically get it right.

So how do you reliably score well on the GRE Argument essay? In this article, we’ll focus in on what goes into a high-scoring response and offer some GRE Argument essay tips to help you consistently write essays that meet those standards.

Do You Need a Perfect GRE Argument Essay Score?

Practically speaking, no, you don’t need a perfect 6.0 on the Argument essay. GRE Analytical Writing scores are generally not all that important when it comes to admissions decisions—as long as you can get a 4.5, you’ll be set for most schools.

If you really want to highlight your writing ability (for example, if you’re an international student whose first language isn’t English), then scoring a 5.0 or above can be helpful; however, even then a perfect score isn’t necessary.

Some writing intensive programs do have GRE Writing score cutoffs, but none of these cutoffs are going to be above a 4.5 . You can get a better idea of what GRE Writing score cutoffs for different programs are with our article about what makes a good GRE Writing score .

There are a few doctoral programs (e.g. UChicago’s PoliSci Ph.D. ) that have higher average GRE scores, but that’s more of a side-effect of the applicant pool than because that’s something the admissions committees look for. Students applying to top-notch doctoral programs in the humanities and social sciences will need to have strong analytical writing skills, yes, but this is usually presented through writing portfolios or other materials required by grad schools .

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What Makes a Perfect-Scoring GRE Argument Essay?

To get the most accurate picture of what goes into a perfect GRE Argument essay, we’ll turn to the official scoring rubric . This is the chart that the human GRE essay graders use for scoring the Argument essay on the real test, so it’s the best standard against which to hold your own practice essays.

Below, I’ve done a side-by-side comparison of the different criteria needed to get a 4.0 vs. a 6.0 on the Argument essay GRE question.

I know there is a  lot of information to process in that chart, so I’ve summarized it below by extracting the most important points. A good GRE Argument essay:

• Must limit its discussion to identifying and explaining the parts of the argument that are relevant to the essay task
• Must develop its ideas logically
• Must be organized and connect ideas smoothly
• Must include support for the main points of the author’s analysis
• Must be well-written

To get a perfect score on the Argument essay, you must display mastery with each one of these items .

Official GRE Argument Essay, Analyzed

Now that we’ve gone over the rubric in the abstract, it’s time to apply it to a high-scoring essay. By taking the rubric criteria and looking at how they are exemplified by a real essay, you’ll be able to get a better feel for what exactly it takes to get a perfect score .

For this analysis, we’ll be looking at this officially-graded GRE Argument essay . Here’s the prompt the essay was written in response to:

In surveys Mason City residents rank water sports (swimming, boating and fishing) among their favorite recreational activities. The Mason River flowing through the city is rarely used for these pursuits, however, and the city park department devotes little of its budget to maintaining riverside recreational facilities. For years there have been complaints from residents about the quality of the river’s water and the river’s smell. In response, the state has recently announced plans to clean up Mason River. Use of the river for water sports is therefore sure to increase. The city government should for that reason devote more money in this year’s budget to riverside recreational facilities.

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 the assumptions and what the implications are if the assumptions prove unwarranted.

The sample Argument essay we’ll be looking at discusses and disputes three different assumptions made by the argument :

• That the survey is a reliable measure of preferences and should be used as a source of information to inform budget planning.
• That there is a link between the river’s odor and pollution and the lack of residents’ recreational use of the river.
• That plans to clean up Mason River will be effective.

To analyze this essay, I’ll highlight places where the essay fulfills each of the criteria for the 6.0 GRE Writing score level. The first of these rubric criteria is a description of what a perfect-scoring Argument essay should look like overall:

Rubric description : In addressing the specific task directions, a 6 response presents a cogent, well-articulated examination of the argument and conveys meaning skillfully.

This description of what a perfect Argument essay should look like is much more general than the rest of the other rubric items and is more meant as a summary of what the other four items indicate than as a specific criterion in and of itself. If an essay meets all of the other four rubric requirements for a 6.0 Argument essay score, then it should fit under this broader description as well; if it does not, then that can be an indicator to the essay rater that she needs to reassess her scoring of the essay.

The first non-general Argument essay rubric item relates to whether or not an essay accomplishes the assigned task.

Rubric description : A 6 essay clearly identifies aspects of the argument relevant to the assigned task and examines them insightfully

The sample essay succeeds in meeting both parts of this criterion. In the essay, the author pinpoints three different assumptions of the argument (survey is reliable, water being dirty is why people don’t use it for recreational sports, and cleaning it will work). Each of these claims is a key assumption upon which the argument depends, since if any one of these three claims proved unfounded, then the argument becomes illogical.

The author also “examines [the assumptions] insightfully” by discussing the implications of each assumption and what it would mean for the argument were the assumptions to prove false . If the author had merely identified the key elements of the argument without this kind of discussion, the essay would have received a lower score. Below is an excerpt from the essay that illustrates an instance of the author fulfilling this criterion:

“If the river’s water quality and smell result from problems which can be cleaned, [that a river clean up will result in increased river usage] may be true… But if the quality and aroma results from the natural mineral deposits in the water or surrounding rock, this may not be true.”

In this excerpt, the author points out an assumption of the argument (that the quality and smell problems from the river can be dealt with) and presents the implications if the assumption is unwarranted (if the problems are from mineral deposits, quality and smell change might not be possible). The clear way in which the author gets to the point (if A, then B may be true…but if not A, then B may not be true) and the insight she uses in determining why the assumption might not be true and what effect that might have all contribute to this essay achieving a 6-level score.

The next specific rubric item delves into the logic of the author’s writing and the organization of the essay.

Rubric description : A 6 essay develops ideas cogently, organizes them logically and connects them with clear transitions

While the previous rubric item is concerned with the author’s ability to pick apart the logic of the argument in the prompt, this item focuses in on the author’s own writing style and her ability to logically develop and connect ideas in the Argument essay. GRE guidelines for both the Issue and Argument essay place a premium on clear logic and organization, both in terms of how ideas are linked within a paragraph as well as on a larger scale.

For the Argument essay, it makes sense to group your discussion of each assumption into its own separate paragraph. However, if you want to get a perfect essay score, you can’t just throw in information about the assumption and its implications willy-nilly, without a care for its organization. Instead, you must make sure that each of your points about the assumption is directly followed by support for that point. This clarity of development allows the reader to follow your logic more easily, which in turn makes your essay that much more persuasive and effective.

In the Argument essay, organization and logic are also important when it comes to ordering the paragraphs of your essay and transitioning between ideas. Here’s an example of a transition that connects the ideas of two consecutive paragraphs:

“Building upon the implication that residents do not use the river due to the quality of the river’s water and the smell, the author suggests that a river clean up will result in increased river usage.”

This sentence begins the fourth paragraph of the essay and logically transitions to the new assumption about to be discussed (“river clean up will result in increased river usage”) by referencing the idea just discussed in the third paragraph (“residents do not use the river due to the quality of the river’s water and the smell”). The sentence structure “building upon the implication that…the author suggests that” connects the two ideas skillfully, strengthening the link between the two paragraph by framing it as a logical progression.

The clear and logical way in which the author develops her points within each paragraph and the tight organizational connections between paragraphs are how the essay exemplifies this rubric item.

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The third non-general item on the GRE Argument essay rubric is focused entirely on how well the author supports her points.

Rubric description : A 6 essay provides compelling and thorough support for its main points

Essentially, this rubric item is all about determining whether or not an author properly supports her ideas and their development throughout the essay. Correctly identifying assumptions and examining them in a logical and organized way is all very well and good and satisfies the first two rubric criteria, but if you don’t support your analysis with either scenarios from the argument or hypothetical scenarios that could also explain assumptions made in the argument, you’re not going to get a perfect score.

Here’s an excerpt from the essay that demonstrates an instance of “compelling and thorough support”:

“Additionally, the author implies that residents do not use the river for swimming, boating, and fishing, despite their professed interest, because the water is polluted and smelly. While a polluted, smelly river would likely cut down on river sports, a concrete connection between the resident’s lack of river use and the river’s current state is not effectively made. Though there have been complaints, we do not know if there have been numerous complaints from a wide range of people, or perhaps from one or two individuals who made numerous complaints.”

The first sentence of this excerpt lays out the assumption made in the argument: the reason people don’t use the water for sport is because it’s dirty and odiferous. The next two sentences support the author’s claim that this assumption is unfounded in two important ways:

#1: The author singles out a particular way in which the argument is flawed , stating that “a concrete connection…is not effectively made” between two specific claims linked in the argument.

#2: The author explains why the argument is flawed by presenting relevant details, like the fact that the source of the complaints is unknown and could potentially be just a few people.

The reasoning and support used by the author in her essay are effective because the author explains clearly the ways in which they support her points. If the author had just said, “There is no clear connection between the lack of river use and the river’s polluted state because it could just be a few people complaining,” the link between the number of people complaining and why this matters for the validity of the complaints would’ve been unclear and the support would be less compelling.

The final rubric area for the Argument essay has to do with how skillfully an essay is written and how well it adheres to the standards of written English.

Rubric description : A 6 essay conveys ideas fluently and precisely, using effective vocabulary and sentence variety. Demonstrates superior facility with the conventions of standard written English (i.e., grammar, usage and mechanics), but may have minor errors

This last group of items on the Argument essay rubric gets into the mechanics of how well the author writes. The two ways in which this is effected are through the precise use of language and general dearth of errors . Here’s an example of an effective use of language in the sample essay:

“While a polluted, smelly river would likely cut down on river sports, a concrete connection between the resident’s lack of river use and the river’s current state is not effectively made.”

The precise language in this sentence successfully differentiates between the “likely” correlation that is made in the prompt and the “concrete connection” that is not made. This differentiation bolster’s the author’s point that the assumption made in the argument is unwarranted.

The second part of this set of rubric items has to do with the author’s ability to write in standard English without making too many errors. This is demonstrated throughout the mostly error-free sample essay; the errors that do remain, like “afffected” in paragraph four, do not impede the reader’s understanding of what the author is trying to say.

This last point is a good distillation of what all the rubric items for a perfect-scoring essay are trying to capture: a 6.0 GRE Argument essay is one that is clear and precise, whether in ideas, analysis, support, development, organization, or language .

6 Steps to a 6.0: GRE Argument Essay Tips

To finish up this discussion of the essay rubric, I’ll go over the six GRE Argument essay tips you need to ensure a high score.

#1: Focus on the Task

One of the core skills you must master in order to score at all well on the GRE Argument essay is being able to analyze the structure and logic of the arguments , rather than getting caught up in whether you agree or disagree with the points being made.

It may be difficult to do this at first, as it can be hard to be objective when the subject being argued about is one you have firm opinions on or when the logical flaws of the argument are so obvious it drives you crazy. Part of practicing and preparing for the GRE Argument essay task, though, is learning how to channel that irritation and outrage into an unflinching analysis and explanation of how the argument works and where it falls apart.

#2: Hit Major Points Only

Making sure you analyze the argument (rather than agreeing or disagreeing with its position) is only the first step to writing a successful GRE Argument essay, though. You’ll also need to make sure that in your dissection of the argument, your main focus stays on the major features of the argument that add (or detract from) the argument’s effectiveness.

With only 30 minutes to complete the argument task, your job is not to be comprehensive, but to analyze the points that matter. Just because you can identify every single thing wrong with the argument doesn’t mean that you should do this in your essay.

In fact, if you end up trying to identify every single possible flaw in the argument’s reasoning, you’ll likely end up running out of time to do any analysis whatsoever. And while finding the flaws in the argument is an important part of the GRE Argument essay, an equally important part is explaining in a coherent and unified way why the flaws matter.

Let’s consider the Mason City riverfront prompt again as an example.

There’s a lot of information in the prompt to mull over, and it can be tempting to leap into analyzing the first problematic assumption you notice, even if isn’t a major issue. Don’t fall prey to this temptation! It may be true that the prompt assumes that water sports can only be perpetrated on a river (rather than in a pool or the ocean), but the argument depends on this fact far less than it does on the assumption that the river’s bad smell and quality is why Mason City residents rarely use the Mason River for water sports.

The importance of keeping your analysis to major points is supported by the ideas and analysis rubric item: a 4-scoring essay “may also discuss some extraneous points”, while a 6-scoring essay only covers “aspects of the argument relevant to the assigned task.”

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#3: Keep Your Essay Organized

Because the GRE Argument essay involves critiquing someone else’s argument, rather than building your own, it may be difficult to see at first how you can keep your essay organized. In this case, as with many other types of essay, the five-paragraph essay form is your friend.

To start your essay, you will need to introduce the bare bones of what the argument is arguing. For the sample argument we went through above, those bare bones are that the Mason City government should spend more money this year on riverside recreational facilities. You must also include at least a general description of the thrust of your analysis (whether or not the argument is supported, if there are holes in the argument, or if the argument is more true than not). Ideally, these two points will connect to each other in a lean fashion, like in the introduction of this sample essay :

While it may be true that the Mason City government ought to devote more money to riverside recreational facilities, this author’s argument does not make a cogent case for increased resources based on river use. It is easy to understand why city residents would want a cleaner river, but this argument is rife with holes and assumptions, and thus, not strong enough to lead to increased funding.

In each of the three body paragraphs of your essay, you should discuss the three major components of the argument that go to prove your point. Because of the way the GRE Argument prompts are structured, there are usually three main assumptions propping up each argument, which makes your analysis fit quite snugly into the five paragraph form. If you only end up discussing two major questions or assumptions from the argument, it’s perfectly fine to end up with two body paragraphs, but you should keep in mind that if you have time, there might be a third avenue of the argument that’s worth exploring.

Finally, conclude your essay with a reference to your introduction and incorporation of some of the points you made. This conclusion can be short, depending on how you’re doing for time and brainpower by the time you get to it, but including at least some sort of conclusion statement is an important part of keeping your essay organized.

#4: Do Mock Analyses of Real GRE Essay Prompts

There are 176 possible topics you’ll be asked to write about on the GRE Argument essay, and all of them are available for free online . Because of this wealth of real essay topics, it’s unlikely that you’ll run out of prompts you can write practice essays on (unless you’re planning on spending 88 hours doing practice GRE Argument essays). Therefore, it’s safe to do practice outlines , rather than entire practice essays, for a portion of these prompts.

Writing mock Argument essay outlines is good practice if you’re fine with explaining your thoughts but are struggling with speedily analyzing arguments. Even if you have difficulty with both these aspects of the Argument task, creating outlines is still good practice because it will at least help you increase your analytical skills; once you’ve bolstered your ability to analyze an argument under time pressure, you can then proceed to writing full-length practice essays.

For each prompt you choose to outline, come up with at least three points of analysis and a few sentences to explain the importance of each point. These points of analysis could be assumptions made in the argument, the evidence that’s needed to successfully evaluate the argument, alternative explanations or arguments that could be made based on the facts presented in the task, and so on. Make sure, however, to follow step two above and only discuss points that are central to the argument.

#5: Analyze Sample GRE Essays

The rubric is a good way to grade your own essays, but it can sometimes be hard to know how to take the abstract criteria from the scoring guidelines and apply them to a real essay.

Fortunately, in addition to the free and publicly available sample argument essay I analyzed earlier, sample Argument essays at several different score levels are included in chapters 8 and 9 of The Official Guide to the GRE revised General Test (2nd Ed.) . You can maximize the value of these sample essays by not only reading them over but by also taking the GRE Argument essay rubric and applying it to them.

Use the major differences I pointed out in the 4-vs.-6 Writing score level comparison and my analysis of the 6-scoring sample GRE Argument essay to help you identify features that make the example essays so high-scoring. Make sure to note both what the authors do well and why what they do is effective . The official GRE reader commentary that goes along with each sample essay is also a valuable resource you should use to supplement your analysis and ensure you haven’t missed anything.

You should not copy exact words or phrases from the perfect-scoring essays to use in your own work (that’s plagiarism, which is not permitted on the GRE). Instead, observe how other students successfully earned high essay scores and plan out how you can emulate them.

#6: Leave Time to Revise

The word processor you use to write the Issue and Argument essays on the GRE does not have the standard amenities of autocorrect, spell check, or grammar check, which means you’re likely to make typos and not notice it. You’re also going to be typing under time pressure, which may lead you to make more errors than usual. Because of this, it’s imperative you check over your essay before submitting it.

Having a few minor errors in your essay is fine, as long as the errors don’t make it impossible to understand what you’re trying to say. However, if there are too many typos and in mistakes in your essays, the essay graders (both human and computer) will have difficulty understanding what you’re trying to say and following your analysis, and so will not be able to give you a high score.

Example 1: Not revised, major errors (grammar, spelling, and punctuation)

One of ht ecornerstones of the argument is that the fewer. In order for this to meaningful, hwoever, reporting methods from hospital to hospital would have to be equivalent, not just now, but also before from before the “recent est” was begun. wihtout having a reliable baseline it, would be imposisble to know if fhte measured reduction in patient infection gy harmful bacteria was all meaningful.

Example 2: Revised, some minor errors remaining

One of the cornerstones of the argument is that the hospitals reported fewer pateint infections after using UltraClean. In order for this to matter, however, reporting methods from hospital to hospital would have to be equivalent. Furthermore, the methods of reporting patient infection would have to have been equivalent before the “recent test” was begun. Without having a reliable baseline, it would be imposisble to know if fhte measured reduction in patient infection by harmful bacteria was at all meaningful.

What’s Next?

Now you have a better understanding of what it takes to get a perfect score on the Argument essay, but what about on the other half of Analytical Writing? Find out with our exploration of what it takes to get a perfect score on the GRE Issue essay and our analyses of perfect scoring GRE essay samples .

How well your essay matches up with the criteria in this essay rubric is just part of the GRE essay story. Learn more about how exactly GRE Writing is scored here !

I’ve discussed in this article about how a good GRE essay score isn’t necessarily a perfect score, but the same doesn’t necessarily follow for the rest of the GRE. Read more about how to decide on what’s a good GRE score for you here .

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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How to Write a Great GRE Argument Essay

When you take the GRE , you’ll have to write two essays : an Issue essay and an Argument essay. In your GRE Argument essay, you’ll get to demonstrate how well you can understand, analyze, and evaluate an argument. Here are ten GRE Argument essay tips you should know.

Fact #1: It doesn’t matter who is right

Fact #2: you'll have just 30 minutes for the gre argument essay, fact #3: graders will not pore over your essay, fact #4: quality matters, but so does quantity, fact #5: the prompt will tell you everything you need to know.

Make sure you read the prompt two or three times. You’ll want to make sure you truly understand it. Pay attention to what evidence is provided, what is stated in the prompt, and what is claimed by the author. A great way to identify fallacies is to determine what the author has assumed, and then try to explain why that assumption may be wrong. Here are four things to look for:

• Lack of evidence to support an assumption : You’ll want to mention this dearth in your essay—and note the type of information that would strengthen the argument.
• Non-specific language : Does the author make generalizations without providing specifics? You will want to point that out!
• Jumping to conclusions : Most Argument prompts will jump to conclusions at least once. As you read each sentence in the prompt, look for the author’s reasoning. If you can’t find a clear line of argument, you should note that the author has jumped to conclusions.
• Data values : Just because the author provides numbers doesn’t mean they’re necessarily objective or even true. Consider—and discuss within your essay—the reliability of any data, or data collection methods, that are presented in the prompt.

Fact #6: Structure will save you

After you read the prompt, brainstorm the logical fallacies you want to address. Then, choose your top three or four, and formulate a brief outline before you start your essay. There is nothing worse than having to stop writing your essay to come up with new ideas, so you’re going to want to follow a strict organizational format. Here’s a good general template to keep in mind:

• Intro : This should consist of three or four sentences in which you provide an overview of all the fallacies you plan to address.
• Fallacies : Each should get its own indented paragraph. You’ll want to discuss it in detail, and you may even opt to quote from the prompt in making your case.
• Suggestions for improving the prompt argument : Time-permitting, you’ll ideally want to include a paragraph in which you detail how the author could make a stronger case.
• Conclusion : As short as the introduction, this should summarize your body paragraphs (the fallacies and suggestions) and tie up any loose ends. Don’t skip this part! Even if you only have time for a single sentence, write one. An essay without a conclusion will almost certainly receive a lower score than one that is finished.

Fact #7: Clear writing is key

Fact #8: you’ll get one combined score for both essays, fact #9: you don’t have to be perfect to earn a perfect score, fact #10: you can plan ahead.

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GRE Writing Prompts: Your Guide

Many students preparing for test day are apprehensive about the GRE Analytical Writing essay. After all, there is no way to know exactly which GRE Writing prompts test-takers will see. So, understandably, students worry that there is no way to be fully prepared for all of the possible GRE essay topics that could pop up.

In that respect, however, GRE essay questions are no different from any other type of GRE question you may encounter. After all, you can’t predict exactly which Quant or Verbal concepts will be tested on any given GRE, or what the exact topics discussed in Reading Comprehension passages will be.

Nevertheless, there is still much we can learn about what we’ll face in GRE Quant and Verbal . And, we can still adequately prepare ourselves for whatever may come our way in those sections on test day. The same goes for GRE Writing topics. In fact, in some ways, we have even more information about what we’ll face in GRE essay prompts.

So, breathe a sigh of relief! There is plenty you can learn about the GRE essay topics, so that you go into your exam well-prepared. To help with that preparation, this article will discuss key aspects of the GRE essay prompts and Analytical Writing topics. We’ll also look at some real examples of AWA prompts.

Here is what we’ll cover:

What is gre analytical writing, how many writing prompts are on the gre, the basics of gre essay topics, gre issue topics, using the ets issue topics pool, gre issue tasks: example 1, gre issue tasks: example 2, gre writing prompts: key takeaways, what essays are on the gre, are you only given one prompt per gre essay, how long should gre essays be, can i skip writing on gre test day, is it hard to get a 4 on gre writing, is a 5.0 on gre writing good, what’s next.

To start, let’s review what the GRE Analytical Writing section consists of and what it asks you to do.

The first section you’ll see on the GRE is Analytical Writing. The GRE Analytical Assessment (AWA) prompts you to write an essay, which you have 30 minutes to complete. So, you’ll spend the first half-hour of your exam on Analytical Writing.

Your basic job in GRE Analytical Writing is to write a logically organized essay that demonstrates the following:

• critical thinking and logical reasoning skills
• an ability to communicate your ideas clearly and effectively
• basic English grammar and spelling skills.

You’ll write your essay using the basic word processing program within the GRE test platform. The program features common functions such as delete , undo , cut , and paste .

However, since your own grammar and spelling skills will factor somewhat into the GRE essay scoring, the program does not feature automated spelling or grammar check.

There is no automated spelling or grammar check in GRE Analytical Writing.

Now that we know what the Analytical Writing section is, let’s discuss the basics of GRE Analytical Writing prompts. We’ll start with how many essay prompts you’ll see.

One of the first questions I hear from students who are just learning about GRE Writing prompts is, “How many essay prompts are you given on the GRE?”

Some of this confusion comes from the fact that there used to be 2 essay tasks on the GRE: Analyze an Argument and Analyze an Issue. However, as of September 22, 2023, when the new GRE test (aka the shorter GRE) was released, there is no longer an Argument task in AWA.

So, the Analytical Writing section includes only 1 essay task: the Analyze an Issue task. Let’s discuss what that task requires you to do.

In GRE Analytical Writing, there is only 1 essay task, Analyze an Issue.

The GRE Issue Essay

The Analyze an Issue task, commonly known as the GRE Issue essay, presents a statement of opinion. Your job is to write a response to that opinion.

The opinion may be presented in a single statement that is 1 or 2 sentences long. Alternatively, it may be presented as a 1-sentence “claim” followed by a 1-sentence “reason,” in which the “claim” is the opinion and the “reason” is the reasoning underlying the opinion.

In either case, following the presented opinion, there will be instructions on how to respond to it — that is, what your essay should discuss or accomplish. (We’ll look at some examples of GRE Issue essay prompts shortly.)

Importantly, whether you agree or disagree with the opinion presented in the prompt does not affect your essay score. In other words, there is no “right answer.”

Rather, you should choose whatever position allows you to craft the most logical, coherent, and convincing essay possible. Your position should demonstrate sound reasoning and analysis, and you should be able to support your position with examples.

The GRE Issue essay presents an opinion that you must respond to in your essay.

Now that we understand what the GRE Issue essay is, let’s discuss the topics GRE writing prompts involve.

Let’s start with the good news: GRE Writing topics do not require you to have particular subject matter knowledge. So, there won’t be any GRE Issue topics for which you’re at a disadvantage because you don’t have experience in a certain field of study.

All the information you need to write an effective response to a GRE Issue prompt will appear in the prompt, be common knowledge, or be things you happen to know and can use in your essay.

All the information you need to write an effective response to a GRE Issue prompt will appear in the prompt or be common or incidental knowledge you can draw upon.

That said, there are a few GRE essay themes or broad categories that GRE AWA topics tend to fall into. Let’s take a look.

Broadly speaking, topics for GRE Analytical Writing fall into a few general categories:

• government and politics
• society and culture
• education and research
• human nature

Remember, you will not need specialized knowledge of any of these GRE Issue categories. But how might GRE Issue essay prompts cover these topics? Well, a GRE Issue prompt might present an opinion about one of the following, for example:

• a type of program that governments should or shouldn’t fund
• a way that scientists should conduct their research
• a procedure that colleges should follow to benefit their students
• the effect of certain technologies on some aspect of society.

Of course, those are just a few examples. You’ll be happy to know that, regardless of the topic covered or how it’s covered, the opinions presented in GRE Writing prompts will not be expressed in highly technical terms or using obscure references.

Rather, they will be much like opinions you might hear during routine conversations with friends or colleagues, hear on a podcast or opinion segment on the news, or read in a newspaper editorial.

GRE essay themes include government and politics, society and culture, education and research, technology, and human nature.

Now, let’s explore an often-discussed subject among students investigating the GRE essay topics: the ETS Pool of Issue Topics.

The GRE Published Pool of Topics

You may be surprised to learn that the ETS writing prompts that can appear on the GRE are publicly available. In other words, there is a list of possible essay questions for GRE General Tests. This list is called the Pool of Issue Topics, and it features actual GRE Analytical Writing prompts that have in the past and could in the future appear on the test. You can view the GRE Issue essay topic pool PDF online here .

Now, when some people hear that a list of GRE essay topics is readily available online, they make it their mission to pore over every inch of that list. Here’s the thing: there are dozens of sample GRE essay questions in the Pool of Issue Topics. (In total, the GRE essay topics pool is nearly 40 pages long.) So, it is neither practical nor necessary to read through all of the GRE AWA writing prompts in order to be prepared for test day.

Furthermore, it is certainly a waste of your time to attempt to memorize the AWA sample prompts. For one, the wording you see in prompts in the GRE Writing Issue Pool may vary slightly in prompts on your actual exam.

Secondly, you’ll need to carefully read the prompt you see on test day regardless of how many GRE sample prompts you’ve read before. So, please don’t make the mistake of spending your valuable study time trying to commit the GRE list of essay topics to memory.

Let’s discuss how you should use the GRE Issue Pool.

You may be wondering how to most effectively make use of having so many sample GRE Issue topics at your fingertips. First, it is worthwhile to read through some of the prompts in ETS’s GRE Pool of Issue Topics to get a feel for how GRE essay prompts are worded and the ways they cover topics.

Then, as your GRE essay practice in preparation for test day, you should randomly select a few sample GRE essay questions to write responses to. Before you write those practice essays, you may want to check out these GRE writing examples , which feature sample essay responses with scores and reader commentary. You also may want to have a look at the GRE scoring rubric for Analytical Writing , to see the essay characteristics that are associated with different scores.

Now, let me make one important point clear: it is not a wise use of your time to attempt to write responses to every prompt in the GRE Analytical Writing pool, for the following 3 reasons:

• You do not need anywhere near such a large amount of practice to be able to write a high-scoring GRE essay. So, in writing so many practice essays, you will waste valuable study time you need for other sections of the test.
• You will burn yourself out on essay-writing by the time test day rolls around.
• After writing so many essays, even if you recognize the prompt you see on test day, you almost certainly will not remember how you responded to it in your practice essay.

Practice writing responses to a few GRE Writing sample prompts from the ETS Issue Pool online, but don’t go overboard.

Now, let’s look at a couple of GRE Writing prompt samples from the ETS Issue Pool.

Example GRE Essay Questions

To get a feel for what to expect in the Analytical Writing section, let’s review a couple of example essay questions from the GRE Writing Issue Pool. You can find these GRE essay examples in the PDF linked above.

Some people believe that the purpose of education is to free the mind and the spirit. Others believe that formal education tends to restrain our minds and spirits rather than set them free.

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.

Notice the format of the question: first, an opinion is presented. Below that opinion, we see a few italicized lines of instructions on how to respond to the presented opinion. This format is standard for GRE Issue essay prompts.

Notice also that, while we can say that the topic of the prompt is “education,” a test-taker would not need any particular knowledge of education practices or policies in order to write an effective response.

In other words, a person of any background can form an opinion about the “purpose of education.” Forming that opinion does not require having specialized knowledge or training.

Let’s look at another example from the GRE list of essay topics.

Leaders are created by the demands that are placed on them.

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.

Notice that the language in the instructions in the prompt above is similar in some ways to that in the first prompt, though not exactly the same. If you scan the GRE Writing examples in the ETS Issue pool, you’ll notice some common language among many of the prompts.

However, there are several variations of instructions that could appear in GRE Issue prompts. So, it’s imperative that you always read the instructions in a prompt very carefully. It would be a mistake to skim or read only part way through a prompt because you recognize the wording, and thus assume you know what the instructions are asking you to do.

Always read through the entirety of the instructions in a GRE essay prompt, even if the instructions look similar to ones you’ve seen before!

Now that we’ve done some GRE practice writing prompts, let’s wrap up with the key takeaways from this article and answer some common questions about GRE Analytical Writing.

• GRE Analytical Writing is the first section you’ll see on your test.
• The Analytical Writing section features 1 essay prompt, Analyze an Issue, which you have 30 minutes to complete.
• Your essay should demonstrate critical thinking and logical reasoning skills, clear and effective communication of your ideas, and basic English grammar and spelling skills.
• The GRE Issue essay presents a 1-2 sentence opinion that you must respond to. Whether your response agrees or disagrees with the presented opinion does not affect your essay score.
• You do not need specialized subject knowledge to effectively respond to GRE essay prompts.
• The pool of Issue topics GRE tests can feature is available online. That list features actual ETS GRE Writing prompts.
• Review and practice some of the example GRE essay questions in the ETS Issue Pool to get accustomed to GRE essay challenges and refine your GRE writing strategies.
• Do not attempt to memorize all of the GRE Issue essay prompts or determine how to address each GRE Writing question in the topic pool.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Let’s answer a few common questions about GRE Analytical Writing.

As of September 22, 2023, there is 1 essay task on the GRE, the Analyze an Issue task.

There is only 1 prompt per GRE essay. So, you will see only 1 prompt on any given GRE test.

There is no minimum or maximum word count required for the GRE essay. So, conceivably, you could write a high-scoring essay that is 350 words or one that is 600 words. There is no magic number.

That said, in order to effectively develop and support your ideas in a well-organized essay, you’ll need an intro and a conclusion paragraph, plus 2 or 3 paragraphs in between to present and elaborate on your main points. So, we’re looking at a 4-5 paragraph essay.

Now, each paragraph does not have to be overly long; good GRE essays should certainly prioritize quality over quantity. But, in many cases, you may find that 400 words is not quite enough to properly respond to a GRE essay prompt.

Think about it: a 4-paragraph essay (the minimum you’ll need) that is 500 words is only 125 words per paragraph. Those aren’t very long paragraphs!

So, shoot for quality over quantity, but realize that in general, you may need more like 500-600 words to write a cohesive and complete GRE essay.

For the vast majority of GRE test-takers, the answer to this question will be NO. Most graduate schools want applicants submitting GRE scores to have taken the entire GRE, not just parts of it.

So, unless you’ve confirmed that your desired programs don’t consider Writing scores, you should absolutely complete the Analytical Writing section.

For more on this topic, check out our article on the importance of the Analytical Writing score .

A 4.0 is currently a 56th percentile score in GRE Analytical Writing. Note that the mean GRE writing score is currently just under 3.6. So, a 4.0 is slightly better than average. And, generally speaking, schools consider 4.0 a “good” score, though of course each program will have its own standards.

In any case, considering that nearly half of all people who take the GRE are able to score 4.0 or higher on Analytical Writing, I’d say that it isn’t particularly hard to earn that score.

Of course, if you don’t do any Analytical Writing preparation, or you go into your exam without writing strategies in place, scoring 4.0 could be quite hard. So, the answer to whether any particular score on the GRE is “hard” to earn will always be somewhat relative.

A 5.0 is currently a 91st percentile score in GRE Analytical Writing and is generally considered an excellent score. After all, that score would put you in the top 10% of all GRE test-takers.

To read more about how graduate schools view different Writing scores (and other GRE section scores), check out our article on what a good GRE score is .

Looking for GRE essay templates and expert AWA preparation tips and rhetorical strategies? The Target Test Prep GRE Course fully prepares you to dominate any GRE essay question you see on test day. Check out the course for 5 days for just $1 !

You also may be interested in these strategies for combating boredom in Reading Comprehension and these myths about the GRE Verbal section .

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Scott Woodbury-Stewart is the founder & CEO of Target Test Prep. A passionate teacher who is deeply invested in the success of his students, Scott began his career teaching physics, chemistry, math, and biology. Since then, he has spent more than a decade helping students gain entry into the world’s top business schools, logging 10,000+ hours of GMAT, EA, GRE and SAT instruction. Scott also served as lead content developer and curriculum architect for the revolutionary courses Target Test Prep GMAT, Target Test Prep EA, Target Test Prep GRE and Target Test Prep SAT Quant.

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• What is the GRE?
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• How the GRE CAT Works
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• 3. GRE Passage Mapping
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• Society Passages
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• Science Medium Essay 2
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• Argumentative Flaws
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• Parallelism Questions
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• Statistical Reasoning
• Weaken Reasoning
• Sufficient/Necessary
• Paradox Questions
• Modify Questions
• Consecutive Numbers
• Divisibility
• Algebra Simplifying Rules
• Exponent Expressions
• Complex Expressions
• Inequalities
• Working With Formulas
• Intersecting Lines
• Coordinate Geometry
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• Working Backwards
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• Combination or Permutation
• Statistics Introduction
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• Quantitative Comparisons
• Ratio and Proportion
• Distance, Rate & Time
• Graphs and Data Interpretation
• Mean, Median and Mode
• Analytical Writing Intro
• Analysis of Issue: Content
• Analysis of Issue: Structure
• Analysis of Issue: Timing
• Dissecting Arguments
• Finding Errors
• Eliminating Fill Sentences
• Qualification
• Start Strong
• Active Voice
• Self-Reference
• Vague Writing
• Voice Shifting
• Colloquialisms
• Using Hyphens Correctly
• Analysis of Argument Questions
• Analysis of Issue Questions
• 10 Most Common Errors
• GRE VOCABULARY LIST
• Text Completion
• Sentence Equivalence
• Sample GRE Tests
• Course near me
• 5 GRE Tests
• Mission / About Us

The Real GRE Essay Questions

Home » Free GRE Prep Course » Free GRE Prep Course » The Real GRE Essay Questions

1. Look at all the Real GRE AWA Questions

To beat the competition, you will need to do some brainstorming for all 400 AWA questions. Any of them could appear on your GRE, so you should spend some time preparing in advance. While there are many questions possible, the good news is there are no surprises. You will be able to review all of the potential questions beforehand.

• Analyze an Issue
• Analyze an Argument

Skim through all of the essay questions. You are guaranteed to see one question from each section on test day, so take quick notes on each of the questions. Then go back and read each one again. Pause for a minute to ponder the topic. At least three or four ideas will probably pop into your mind; jot them down. At this point, don’t try to organize your thoughts or commit to a position.

2. Review Sample Essay Answers

We’ve provided ten sample responses for each type of essay. These will help you get a sense of the caliber of writing expected by the GRE graders.

• There is no one “correct” response to any AWA question.
• These essays were written in 30-45 minute periods. They represent 5-6 score essays.

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GRE Analytical Writing Topics: Important GRE AWA Topics

The GRE analytical writing topics demand deep critical thinking for better analysis and presentation. The GRE AWA topics from the two sections (Issue & Argument) of the test are complementary to each other. While one needs a personal argument with evidence, the other expects you to evaluate someone else's argument by assessing its claims and evaluating the evidence it provides. The 7 categories of GRE essay topics are: Education, Technology and Society, Cities, Arts, Government and Power, Intellectual Endeavors, and Philosophical.

In this blog we dwell at length about different GRE essay topics and the possible type of questions commonly asked in the GRE test.

What is GRE Analytical Writing(AWA)?

The GRE essay topics for analytical writing tests your critical thinking capacity and analytical skills of writing. The primary aim here is to articulate and support complex ideas, construct and evaluate arguments for a coherent discussion. The GRE AWA topics comprises two analytical writing tasks that are separately timed:

• Argument Essay
• Issue Essay

You will be given 30 minutes separately to complete both the essays. The GRE AWA topics for both essays need to be approached differently. For that you must be clear about the differences between the two.

Suggested: Everything About GRE Exam 2023

GRE Argument Essay

The GRE argument essay topics tests your ability to understand, analyze and evaluate arguments.  Your task here is to depict your thoughts in writing vividly. You will be given a short passage that demands a definite course of action and interpretation backed by reasons and evidence. You must be keen enough to critically examine the line of reasoning and present logical and convincing evidence.

Sample GRE Argument Topics

Mentioned below are some sample GRE analytical writing topics for argument essays taken from the official GRE website:

• "Salicylates are members of the same chemical family as aspirin, a medicine used to treat headaches. Although many foods are naturally rich in salicylates, for the past several decades, food-processing companies have also been adding salicylates to foods as preservatives. This rise in the commercial use of salicylates has been found to correlate with a steady decline in the average number of headaches reported by participants in our twenty-year study. Recently, food-processing companies have found that salicylates can also be used as flavour additives for foods. With this new use for salicylates, we can expect a continued steady decline in the number of headaches suffered by the average citizen of Mentia."

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.

• "A jazz music club in Monroe would be a tremendously profitable enterprise. Currently, the nearest jazz club is 65 miles away; thus, the proposed new jazz club in Monroe, the C-Note, would have the local market all to itself. Plus, jazz is extremely popular in Monroe: over 100,000 people attended Monroe's annual jazz festival last summer; several well-known jazz musicians live in Monroe; and the highest-rated radio program in Monroe is 'Jazz Nightly,' which airs every weeknight at 7 P.M. Finally, a nationwide study indicates that the typical jazz fan spends close to $1,000 per year on jazz entertainment."
• "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."

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.

Suggested: GRE Analytical Writing Sample Essays

GRE Issue Essay

The GRE issue essay topics evaluates your ability to think critically about a given topic of general interest and clearly express your views about it in writing. Each issue statement provides a claim that you can be seen and analyzed from different perspectives and applicable to multiple situations or conditions.

Sample GRE Issue Topics

Mentioned below are some sample GRE analytical writing topics for issue essays taken from the official GRE website:

• Governments should place few, if any, restrictions on scientific research and development.

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.

• The luxuries and conveniences of contemporary life prevent people from developing into truly strong and independent individuals.

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.

• The best way to teach — whether as an educator, employer, or parent — is to praise positive actions and ignore negative ones.

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.

Suggested: How to write GRE AWA Essays?

So this was a gist of the questions for GRE analytical writing topics and their question patten. Now let us see some tips to tackle AWA topics for GRE with answers:

Tips to Prepare for GRE Analytical Writing Topics

Be it GRE issue topics or argument topics, you may follow the following approach for an informative essay:

• Before taking the GRE Test, carefully go through the sample topics, essay responses and rater commentary for each task of the section. Review the scoring guides for each task as well. It will offer a deeper understanding of how GRE essays are evaluated and the most important elements of the essay.
• You are given 30 minutes each to complete the GRE argument topics and issue topics. So utlize every moment with care.
• Save a few minutes at the end of each timed task to check for obvious errors like spelling mistakes, grammatical mistakes, etc.

Suggested: GRE Structure and Pattern

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Frequently Asked Questions About GRE AWA Topics

What is the analytical writing section of the gre general test, what is the duration of the gre awa writing section, what are gre awa topics, how to score high in gre awa essay section, where do i find practice tests for gre analytical writing topics, a test-taking platform that helps for gre® preparation online., other links.

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Tips for Writing GRE Essays

General 

• Just like you would during the exam, follow the 30-minute guideline, avoid pausing your timer, and write in an area similar to the area you will take the exam
• Try to only use official practice prompts as these prompts are the most similar to the exam prompts you will receive on test day
• Write your essay prompts as part of full-length practice tests to ensure that you’re preparing for the full test
• Statements such as “I believe” and “In my opinion” lessen the strength of the writing
• These instructions include questions that you need to answer in your essay 
• Although most instructions will start out in a similar manner, different questions will be asked further on in the instructions
• 2 minutes to read through the instructions and prompt
• 3 minutes to select a thesis statement and brainstorm an outline for the essay 
• 20 minutes to write the essay, beginning with the body paragraphs and ending with an introduction or conclusion with the remaining time
• 2 minutes to fix small mistakes, such as spelling and grammatical errors
• 3 minutes to make any last-minute changes as necessary  
• Essays can lose points when not enough information is included 
• Write an introduction and conclusion after you have developed your body paragraphs
• Your body paragraphs factor more into your scoring than the introduction and conclusion 
• If you run out of time, cut out your conclusion paragraph or include a 1-3 sentence conclusion. The conclusion does not include new information and, as such, is the least important part of the essay
• Your analytical thinking and logical reasoning is being assessed, not your knowledge base
• Ensure that your essay is structured well and follows a clear logical progression
• Adhere to traditional essay writing conventions, such as a strong thesis statement, clear evidence, and transition sentences
• The clarity in which you convey your argument will be evaluated 
• Final adjustments to tone and clarity will ensure that your essay is well-written 

Analyze an Issue essay 

• Your thesis statement will be the backbone of your essay. The rest of your paragraphs, arguments, and evidence will be used to support your thesis
• Graders will not be able to evaluate how well you defended your position if they cannot identify your thesis statement 
• Review effective responses to GRE prompts from other applicants to learn the type of writing that receives high scores
• The strength in which you defend your argument is the main purpose of the essay
• Ensure that you effectively choose a position, instead of taking the middle-of-the-road approach
• The manner in which you defend your position matters
• Consider the multiple perspectives that can be taken on the issue
• You can use one of the arguments from the side you didn’t select as a counterargument that you refute in your essay
• By developing ideas on these common essay topics, you’ll be able to develop your opinion on the issue more quickly  
• All of your examples should be related back to your thesis statement
• This will reinforce your argument and strengthen your position
• Hypothetical situations can easily be refuted by stating that those situations would never happen

Analyze an Argument essay 

• Read the argument multiple times and take notes about areas of the argument you want to address in your writing 
• The evidence, support, and reasoning used to support the position 
• The claims and conclusions that are explicitly stated 
• The claims or conclusions that are assumed without any justification
• The claims that are implied
• The structure of the argument 
• The manner in which the argument forms a line of reasoning
• Look for transition words, such as “however,” “thus,” and “hence”
• The purpose of this essay task is to evaluate the argument and you can best evaluate the argument by refuting the logic in the argument
• Focus on analyzing the logic of the argument, not discussing your opinions about the argument
• No flaw is too “obvious” to point out and the more obvious flaws are often easier to analyze within the time limit
• Weak evidence
• Lack of evidence to support an assumption or argument
• A weak analogy between ideas
• Assuming the characteristics of one group applies to other people or groups
• Vague language
• Using biased or limited statistics and data 
• Assuming that a certain condition is necessary for a certain outcome
• Anticipate counterarguments to your position and address these counterarguments in your essay
• Since you only have 30 minutes to complete the task, you don’t need to evaluate every part of the argument 
• Avoid making assumptions about the argument that are not stated or implied
• Ensure that each of these examples is relevant to the topic
• These examples can be from the prompt and real-life examples
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GRE Argument Essay Template and Sample Argument Essay

• July 7, 2021 April 6, 2023

The second essay you’ll have to write when you sit down to take the GRE is the GRE Argument Essay. It’s only 30 minutes and can be a bit of a challenge…

So you need a strong game plan.

But should you really worry about the essays since they don’t factor into your quantitative and verbal scores?

Absolutely!

We tell our students that while the essay scores may not be of importance to graduate programs, the ease of writing them should be important to you. The Analysis of an Issue and Argument essays are the first sections of the GRE. You don’t want to go into them frazzled and anxious. You definitely don’t want to finish them feeling like you could have done better. Unfortunately, this anxiety will carry into the rest of the test and NOT pave the road to earning your best GRE score.

To help you relax into the essays and the rest of the test, we’re sharing the exact template and sample essay we show our GRE students. Before you take a look, read these tips on how to practice with them.

GRE Argument Essay Practice Tips

1. Words to use in every argument essay are in blue on the template.

You want to have these transitions and links well practice so that you can use them automatically on the test. Obviously, this essay is HIGHLY dependent on the one provided in the prompt, so much of what you write is unique to the question.

2. Your GRE argument essay should be 4 or 5 paragraphs depending on the question.

Some questions ask you to evaluate another opinion, discuss a disadvantage, or give an opposing viewpoint. Therefore, you need another body paragraph to respond to that part of the prompt.

3. The sample GRE argument essay is directly from ETS, so don’t copy the essay.

Think about how your examples and reasons can be used to respond to the prompt.

PEEL means Point – Example – Explanation – Link. The blue in the sample essay shows how well the body paragraphs conform to the PEEL writing format.

5. Always outline your essay first.

It is very obvious to a trained reader when students don’t outline their essays first. You just have to jot down your opinion and reasons or examples in a quick list. This quick outline will help keep you focused and make your writing more cohesive.

6. Check out the full list of GRE argument essay prompts .

You shouldn’t write essays for each prompt (there are a lot). However, you should read over the whole list looking for differences in the ways questions are asked. Then, pick 10 prompts to practice outlining. Of those 10, pick 5 essays to write fully.

7. For extra practice, work on the parts, rather than the whole.

Just write an introduction, a body paragraph, or a conclusion for some of the essay prompts. After outlining, of course. This type of focused writing will improve the individual parts of the essay, resulting in an entire essay that is much better overall. You don’t have to write the parts for the same essay. Switch it up!

8. When you write a full essay, do it in 30 minutes.

Practice the way you are going to perform. By the time you write your second full essay, you should be writing in only 30 minutes. Set a timer and type the essay on the computer without using spell check or Grammarly. Ideally, you will write the essays when you do a full-length GRE practice test . It’s important to develop stamina for the full 4-hour test.

GRE Argument Essay Template

In the argument provided [or letter or memorandum] , the author asserts that [his recommendation or proposal]. The author’s argument does not make a persuasive case for [goal of the argument]. This argument lacks sufficient logical reasoning and appropriate evidence, and thus, is not strong enough to [goal of the argument].

First, write your first reason that the argument is not sound here. For example, put your example of the assumptions the argument depends on here. You can use quotation marks if you directly reference the text. Explain your example with consideration of the stated and unstated assumptions. To strengthen her argument, the author would benefit from add the link to your thesis about the argument here.

In addition, write your second reason that the argument is not sound here. For instance, put your example here. Explain your example with consideration of the stated and unstated assumptions. Unless add specific link to the argument, it can not be used to effectively back the author’s argument.

[You may need another paragraph depending on what the prompt asks you to do.]

The conclusion should consist of a restatement of the argument goal, a restatement of your thesis, and a closer. The location of these in the paragraph will be different based on how you choose to write it.  

GRE Argument Essay Sample Prompt

In surveys, Mason City residents rank water sports (swimming, boating and fishing) among their favorite recreational activities. The Mason River flowing through the city is rarely used for these pursuits, however, and the city park department devotes little of its budget to maintaining riverside recreational facilities. For years there have been complaints from residents about the quality of the river’s water and the river’s smell. In response, the state has recently announced plans to clean up Mason River. Use of the river for water sports is therefore sure to increase. The city government should for that reason devote more money in this year’s budget to riverside recreational facilities.

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 the assumptions and what the implications are if the assumptions prove unwarranted.

Sample GRE Argument Essay

[Restatement of the given argument] In the argument provided, the author asserts that the Mason City government ought to devote more money to riverside recreational facilities. [Your thesis] The author’s argument does not make a cogent case for increased resources based on river use. [Overview of reasons related to goal] This argument is rife with holes and assumptions, and thus, not strong enough to lead to increased funding.

[First reason] Citing surveys of city residents, the author reports city resident’s love of water sports. It is not clear, however, the scope and validity of that survey. [Example] For example, the survey could have asked residents if they prefer using the river for water sports or would like to see a hydroelectric dam built, which may have swayed residents toward river sports. [Explanation] The sample may not have been representative of city residents, asking only those residents who live upon the river. The survey may have been 10 pages long, with 2 questions dedicated to river sports. We just do not know. [Link] Unless the survey is fully representative, valid, and reliable, it can not be used to effectively back the author’s argument.

[Second reason] Additionally, the author implies that residents do not use the river for swimming, boating, and fishing, despite their professed interest, because the water is polluted and smelly. [Explanation] While a polluted, smelly river would likely cut down on river sports, a concrete connection between the resident’s lack of river use and the river’s current state is not effectively made. Though there have been complaints, we do not know if there have been numerous complaints from a wide range of people, or perhaps from one or two individuals who made numerous complaints. [Link] To strengthen his/her argument, the author would benefit from implementing a normed survey asking a wide range of residents why they do not currently use the river.

[Third reason] Building upon the implication that residents do not use the river due to the quality of the river’s water and the smell, the author suggests that a river clean up will result in increased river usage. If the river’s water quality and smell result from problems which can be cleaned, this may be true. [Example] For example, if the decreased water quality and aroma is caused by pollution by factories along the river, this conceivably could be remedied. But if the quality and aroma results from the natural mineral deposits in the water or surrounding rock, this may not be true. [Explanation] There are some bodies of water which emit a strong smell of sulphur due to the geography of the area. This is not something likely to be afffected by a clean-up. Consequently, a river clean up may have no impact upon river usage. [Link] Regardless of whether the river’s quality is able to be improved or not, the author does not effectively show a connection between water quality and river usage.

[Closer] A clean, beautiful, safe river often adds to a city’s property values, leads to increased tourism and revenue from those who come to take advantage of the river, and a better overall quality of life for residents. [Restatement of the given argument/goal] For these reasons, city government may decide to invest in improving riverside recreational facilities. [Restatement of thesis] However, this author’s argument is not likely significantly persuade the city goverment to allocate increased funding.

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The GRE ® General Test

One test for graduate, business and law school

Select a step to learn more about your GRE ® General Test journey.

Analyze an Issue Task

The "Analyze an Issue" task assesses your ability to think critically about a topic of general interest and to clearly express your thoughts about it in writing. Each Issue topic makes a claim that can be discussed from various perspectives and applied to many different situations or conditions. Your task is to present a compelling case for your own position on the issue.

• Before beginning your written response, read the issue and the instructions that follow the Issue statement.
• Think about the issue from several points of view, considering the complexity of ideas associated with those views.
• Make notes about the position you want to develop and list the main reasons and examples you could use to support that position.

Task instruction sets

It’s important that you address the central issue according to the specific instructions. Each task is accompanied by one of the following sets of 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

The GRE raters scoring your response are not looking for a "right" answer — in fact, as far as they are concerned, there is no correct position to take. Instead, the raters are evaluating the skill with which you address the specific instructions and articulate and develop an argument to support your evaluation of the issue.

Understanding the context for writing: Purpose and audience of the Issue task

The Issue task is an exercise in critical thinking and persuasive writing. The purpose of this task is to determine how well you can develop a compelling argument supporting your own evaluation of an issue and effectively communicate that argument in writing to an academic audience. Your audience consists of GRE raters who are carefully trained to apply the scoring criteria identified in the  scoring guide for the "Analyze an Issue" task .

Raters apply the Issue scoring criteria to actual responses, so you should review scored sample Issue essay responses and rater commentary. The sample responses, particularly those at the 5 and 6 score levels, will show you a variety of successful strategies for organizing, developing and communicating a persuasive argument. The rater commentary discusses specific aspects of evaluation and writing, such as the use of examples, development and support, organization, language fluency and word choice. For each response, the commentary points out aspects that are particularly persuasive as well as any that detract from the overall effectiveness of the essay.

Preparing for the Issue task

Since the Issue task is meant to assess the persuasive writing skills you’ve developed throughout your education, it has been designed neither to require any particular course of study nor to advantage students with a particular type of training.

Many college textbooks on composition offer advice on persuasive writing and argumentation that you might find useful, but even this advice might be more technical and specialized than you need for the Issue task. You will not be expected to know specific critical thinking or writing terms or strategies; instead, you should be able to respond to the specific instructions and use reasons, evidence and examples to support your position on an issue.

Published topic pool

An excellent way to prepare for the Issue task is to practice writing on some of the  published topics (PDF) . Even if you don't write a full response, it’s helpful to practice with a few of the Issue topics and sketch out your possible responses. Some people prefer to start practicing without regard to the 30-minute time limit. Others prefer to take a "timed test" first and practice within the time limit.

Plan your response

Regardless of which approach you take, review the task directions and then follow these steps:

• Carefully read the claim and the specific instructions and make sure you understand them. If they seem unclear, discuss them with a friend or teacher.
• Think about the claim and instructions in relation to your own ideas and experiences, to events you have read about or observed and to people you have known. This is the knowledge base from which you will develop compelling reasons and examples in your argument that reinforce, negate or qualify the claim in some way.
• Decide what position you want to take and defend.
• Decide what compelling evidence (reasons and examples) you can use to support your position.

Remember that this is a task in critical thinking and persuasive writing. The most successful responses explore the complexity of the claim and follow the specific task instructions. As you prepare, ask yourself the following questions:

• What, precisely, is the central issue?
• What precisely are the instructions asking me to do?
• Do I agree with all or any part of the claim? Why or why not?
• Does the claim make certain assumptions? If so, are they reasonable?
• Is the claim valid only under certain conditions? If so, what are they?
• Do I need to explain how I interpret certain terms or concepts used in the claim?
• If I take a certain position on the issue, what reasons support my position?
• What examples — either real or hypothetical — could I use to illustrate those reasons and advance my point of view? Which examples are most compelling?

Once you’ve decided on a position to defend, consider the perspectives of others who might not agree with your position. Ask yourself:

• What reasons might someone use to refute or undermine my position?
• How should I acknowledge or defend against those views in my essay?

As you plan your response, you may find it helpful to:

• summarize your position and make notes about how you’ll support it
• look over your notes and decide how you’ll organize your response

After you’ve practiced with some of the topics, try writing responses to some of them within the 30-minute time limit so that you have a good idea of how to use your time in the actual test.

Evaluate your response

When you’re finished writing your practice response, it would be helpful to get some feedback on your response.

• You might want to get feedback on your response from an instructor who teaches critical thinking or writing
• You could trade essays on the same topic with other students and discuss one another's responses in relation to the scoring guide.

Look at the  scoring guide for the Issue topic  and try to determine how your essay meets or misses the criteria for each score point in the guide. Comparing your own response to the scoring guide will help you see how and where to improve.

Tips for the Issue task

Keep the following tips in mind:

• You’re free to organize and develop your response in any way that will enable you to effectively communicate your position.
• You can incorporate writing strategies you learned in English composition or writing-intensive college courses.
• GRE raters will not be looking for a particular developmental strategy or mode of writing. In fact, when GRE raters are trained, they review hundreds of Issue responses that, although highly diverse in content and form, display similar levels of critical thinking and persuasive writing.
• Raters will see some Issue responses at the 6 score level that begin by briefly summarizing the writer's position on the issue and then explicitly announcing the main points to be argued. They’ll see others that lead into the writer's position by making a prediction, asking a series of questions, describing a scenario or defining critical terms in the quotation. Raters know that a writer can earn a high score by giving multiple examples or by presenting a single, extended example.
• Use as many or as few paragraphs as needed to support your argument. You’ll probably need to create a new paragraph whenever you shift to a new cluster of ideas.
• The clarity of your ideas and the skill with which you convey them are more important than the number of examples and paragraphs or the form of your argument.

Sample Issue task with strategies, responses and rater commentary

For more information, review a sample Issue task, including strategies for the topic and essay responses with rater commentary at each score level.

The sample responses, particularly those at the 5 and 6 score levels, will show you a variety of successful strategies for organizing, developing and communicating a persuasive argument. The rater commentary discusses:

• specific aspects of evaluation and writing, such as the use of examples, development and support, organization, language fluency and word choice
• aspects that are particularly persuasive
• aspects that detract from the overall effectiveness of the essay

Pool of Issue topics

When you take the GRE General Test, you’ll be presented with one Issue topic from the pool. To help you prepare, we’ve published the entire pool of tasks from which your Issue topic will be selected.

AWA Issue Sample Topic: Setting Up Pro and Con Points

Today, I will take apart an AWA Issue sample topic from the GRE Issue task . I’ll show my brainstorm process and come up with pros and cons and specific examples to back up each side.

Click here to view the prompt (Source and instructions: ETS Pool of Issue Topics )

First of all, be sure to read not only the prompt at the link above but also the directions found in the second ETS link (and this applies to any prompt you write an essay for, of course!). You’ll then want to establish a nuanced position on the issue and provide your rationale. You do not want your position to be too neutral (defending a default position is never that compelling) but neither do you want it to be too extreme (for instance: “Unless you study the cities of a major society you will be forever doomed in trying to understand that society”.)

In determining what position you wish to take, it’s helpful to come up with statements that are either For or Against the prompt. Then, you’ll want to pick whichever side you feel has the best reasoning and support. Below, I’ll walk you through my own example reasoning for this AWA Issue sample topic.

• All great civilizations have had a flourishing city. The government/king/queen have been here. To understand most of its people, the way in which it is ruled, we must understand the city.
• ‘Most important characteristics’ shows that life outside of a city can still help illuminate the society, but not as much as city life can.
• Learning centers/colleges/universities are typically in a city. Understanding the intellectual output is key to understanding a society.
• In post-agrarian societies, most jobs are contained within cities. That is commerce is conducted in the cities.
• Many societies have been agricultural. That society’s customs, rituals can only be understood in the context of a rural backdrop.
• Even a modern society depends on agriculture to sustain it. Surely, to understand the important characteristics of a society, we need to understand the people who live in rural areas.
• ‘Major cities’ is a stretch. Even smaller cities can help us understand a society, especially if the culture/values tend to be different in the smaller cities/more rural areas.

For your actual essay, your For/Against should not be so long. Find some shorthand way of expressing your thoughts (I wrote everything out because my shorthand wouldn’t look very good in a blog post).

Perhaps you’ve come up with a different list of For/Against. Regardless, the next step is to figure out where you fall on the Agree/Disagree spectrum. That is what position, based on your brainstorming, are you taking.

I’ll choose For, stating that my position was predicated on modern societies, most of which have a majority of their population living in major cities. I’ll concede at some point in the essay that even smaller cities can offer insight into a society.

To effectively support and develop these points, I would want to think of relevant examples. For the last point, I would offer up the United States. The culture between large cities and small cities can be very different. There is the Red State vs. Blue State dichotomy that can also pertain to small cities vs. large cities. To understand the religious political divide in the U.S. we would need to also study life in small cities and rural areas. This would be my concession point, which basically shows that my position is not 100% for the prompt, but is more balanced and nuanced.

I hope this breakdown of an AWA Issue sample topic was helpful to you. If you’re looking for more practice, the ETS website offers hundreds more sample essay prompts. Now if you’re not convinced and think, “Hey, I already have a book with sample essay prompts,” then consider this: on test day the prompt you get will be one of the prompts on this site. I highly recommend you use it in your GRE practice!

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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52 responses to “AWA Issue Sample Topic: Setting Up Pro and Con Points”

Hey Magoosh,

I feel very late to the table with my question but here goes- Is it okay for me to back up my support for a topic (or disagreement with it) with real life examples? For instance, If I’ve chosen to support the topic “To understand the most important characteristics of a society, one must understand it’s major cities,” can I state my support with examples of real life cities such as NYC and Lisbon, Portugal or should i steer clear of specifics and try to speak more generally.

Real life examples are definitely OK for these kinds of essays, and using your own experience can make it easier for you to come up with good ideas and supporting details. So go for it! 🙂

Hi, Magoosh

I would like to know the link between these two Issue prompts:

”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.” and

”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.” Please, also, how do I go about each one of them? Thanks.

Hi Benjamin,

There are six different instructions that you will see in the Issue essay, but they are all basically asking you to do the same thing! Your task in the Issue Essay is to take a position and craft a strong argument in favor of that position. You should also make sure to acknowledge the other side of the argument in a short concession point paragraph, which shows that you thought about the problem from multiple angles. While the instructions are slight different, you’ll notice that they are essentially asking you the same thing! The only difference between them might be in the way you talk about your evidence. For example, in your first example, you might discuss different “considerations” while for the second one you might talk about “reasons.” Your language should mirror the language in the prompt, but otherwise you approach all Issue essays in exactly the same way, regardless of directions!

Hello Chris ! Please if you are for the motion how do you talk against it too. Do you talk for the motion throughout and talk against it at the latter or do both simultaneously?

I can take this one! 🙂 If you are in favor of something in a pro/con AWA essay, it’s best to focus on why you’re for the motion in most of the essay. The best place to bring up points against what you’re in favor of would be in the second-to-last paragraph, right before the conclusion. This second-to-last paragraph can focus on your counter-argument– the cos of what you are “pro” for. Remember, though, if you bring up a counter-argument, you should also explain why the counter-argument isn’t significant enough to sway your opinion. Be sure to explain that part at the end of your counter-argument paragraph. Does that make sense? 🙂

Can we agree to both views in the issue task “Governments should focus more on solving the immediate problems of today rather than trying to solve the anticipated problems of the future.”

Hi Pranavi,

The golden rule of the Issue essay is to always take ONE side and stick to it! It doesn’t matter which side you choose, but the graders want to see that you are thinking critically and able to effectively argue a point. You should have a ‘concession point paragraph’ where you show that you have considered the other side, but even here you need to clearly show why your argument is superior.

My arguments for this topic were completely different from yours. Am I reading the issue topic wrong? My argument was that the demographics, culture, and value of a major city may be extreme different from the rest of the country due to immigration, tourism, and a different economic focus. Therefore, one cannot only study a country’s major cities to understand their society.

The cons you just listed would also work. There are many different approaches someone can take to constructing an AWA argument, and there is no one right approach to this question– or to other AWA questions.

Is there any website that lists the most-frequent topics for the issues and argument sections?

https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/issue/pool

This is the pool of topic for issue based essays Hope it helps 🙂

Hello Chris, I´m curious…Can I make up an example – like invent an ancient city to support my position? Regards, Michelle

Hmm…this is fine on the SAT, but I’m not sure how that flies on the GRE. True, the computer won’t know the difference. The human grader, technically, should be looking for logical structure, persuasiveness and general syntactical pizzazz. Still…subjectivity may just creep in there. I’d play it safe, but you might very well be able to get a perfect ‘6’ by talking about Floramia, the most architectural advance pre-Sumerian civilization 🙂

Hi Magoosh,

Can we use personalized examples in awa issue ? Like something from my personal life but still relevant to the topic given ?

You can, to some extent. I would just be careful not to base your entire essay of the example or get too caught up in summarizing the example. As long as there is analysis and you relate it to the issue and even to the other examples. That is, there should be a sentence or two in which you mention the general significance of your example.

Hope that helps!

Can I question the question itself? The concept of “most important characteristics“ is very vague and can be determined solely by interpretation. If we define education as one important characteristics, then we must study cities. If we say that only agriculture is vital, then we need to study the villages. Can I write these points in the essay?

i am struggling with initiating the paragraph with first sentence ,what should i do to overcome this problem.

HI Mr.Chris, I have started preparing for my GRE exam. I am extremely worried about the analytical writing section. While writing an essay, I take a lot of time to plan and jot down the points.I get frustrated that I am not able to complete the essays in 30 minutes. Even after taking down the points, I am not able to write a free-flowing essay as I tend to get stuck often. Until now, I practiced about 4 essays and each took me more than an hour to complete. Please help me.

This approach does make the task easier and I thank you for it. But even so, I had recently asked my friends to grade a couple of essays I had written and they’ve all been averaging 3.5. They say I use unrelated words and that my grammar isn’t very good. I understand that those reasons would impact my score but could you tell me to what degree they would? I do provide examples related to the topic and write enough text to support my stand.

I think it’s very tough for friends–or someone who isn’t familiar with what GRE essays get which scores–to grade these essays. What typically happens is said friends will look at the score guidelines (for what merits anything from a ‘0’ to a ‘6’) and then use their interpretation of the info. to come up with a score. One user on the forums was so adamant that an essay deserved a ‘1’ because according to him, his scoring was consistent with how he interpreted the scoring.

What someone needs to do is actually look at essays that have score a 1, 2, etc. to get a sense of what the GRE considers a 1, 2, etc. If your friends are willing to put in the time to get a better sense of this, then you could use their feedback. For now, I’d question it.

One quick piece of advice: don’t just say you agree or disagree with the prompt and then use a few examples that clearly show your stance. You have take a stance somewhere in the middle. Doing so shows that you accept that the answer to the question is anything but black and white but depends on some variables. Address these “depends” and showing how they influence your position is the type of analytical thinking the GRE is looking for–don’t just rattle of tidy examples.

Hey, thanks for the advice against taking a concrete stand and not acknowledging the opposing view. I used to make that mistake up until that point but I soon changed my approach and focused on an analytic reasoning of both sides of the topic. I got 5.5 on the AWA on test day and being a non-native speaker, I’m very thrilled. Thanks again. =)

Great! That’s awesome to hear 🙂

Thanks for your awesome tips. Their simply great. Is the issue and argument going to be one of the topics included in the ETS ‘s issue/argument pool. Thanks

Hello Chris,

I wanted to ask that in the issue essay, after we have jotted the points for both the sides of the issue(pros and cons) and its time to choose a side, is it necessary to choose a side? Or we can elucidate/support both the positions in our essay?

Actually, do not choose just one side. You can choose a side for a couple of paragraphs but then you should show how the position doesn’t hold up in some cases. You should address those cases, using relevant examples. The whole point of the Issue is they give you a black and white statement and they want you to elucidate the shades of gray. Ultimately, you don’t want to choose a side but show that the truth is somewhere in the middle.

Hi Yeah, I understand it better now. Anyways thank you for all the awesome tips you provide here. Great job! 🙂

But *then ?

Thanks for catching that typo! 😉

My problem stems from getting the pros and cons. i’m usually stuck there 🙁 . How can i improve this aspect of my writing?.

Hi, I was wondering how we should go about tackling the issues with prompts that state a Claim and Reason. For e.g.

Claim: Nations should suspend government funding for the arts when significant numbers of their citizens are hungry or unemployed. Reason: It is inappropriate—and, perhaps, even cruel—to use public resources to fund the arts when people’s basic needs are not being met.

Do we have to spend our whole essay dissecting the reason, arguing for and against the cruelty of using funds to support the arts when people are starving, or can we address the claim more generally, giving other reasons such as government funding for the arts is an insignificant portion of overall funding for the arts? I hope it is the latter, for it does not seem like an easy task to come up with many argument for only one reason.

I don’t think ETS really has an official stance on how the best approach the question. As long as you combine an analysis of the claim and the reason, you should be fine. Meaning, focus on the claim, if you feel it is easier to do so, but do not ignore the reason. Likewise, do not focus only on the reasoning, attacking it the same way you would a typical issue question, without addressing the claim on which it is based.

Hope that made sense :).

Hello So do you think it would be all right if if you argument states that the claim is right but the reason is not applicable to the claim?

I’m not sure if I understand the last part of your question…in general, though, don’t completely agree with the issue. The issue is there for you to analyze. Indeed, the issue is stated in such a black and white manner so that you can step in and say, in essence, “Actually, it’s not that straightforward.”

My strategy is similar to what is listed here. I took about 7 minutes to brainstorm and draw up a pro and cons column. Also, I had examples for both positions and at the end of brain storming, I decided which side of the essay prompt I was going to adopt. Then after clearly elucidating my arguments for my adopted position, I also considered the opposing view, so as to give the essay a balanced analysis.

I received a 4.5/6 on the AWA.

Without actually seeing your essay it is hard to determine why you received a 4.5 and not a ‘5’ or higher. The truth is structure is only one ingredient to your essay. ETS will also look to see how cogent your examples are, how varied your sentence structure, and how sophisticated your prose is. I can confidently say that if you followed the structure above that doing so should not have detracted from your score.

My best guess is cogency of examples. Some of my students have off days, and though everything else is tidy about their essays, their examples fail to cohere and they get a point or so off.

Hope that helps shed some insight :).

Thanks Chris, I began practice for AWA two days back. I hope my writings improves to earn at least a 4.5 on my test date (Early September). Also, Do we have a magoosh team that can help score practice AWA essay. At no cost o!

Hi Oluwunmi,

Unfortunately, we don’t offer an essay review service! If you have any general questions about approaches to writing or structuring essays, feel free to let us know through the Help tab in Magoosh and we’d be happy to help.

I’m going to retake the gre and am wondering how much a score higher on the essays like from 4 to 5 will affect my quantitative grade as well. I just need five grades higher on the quantitative and am wondering how many points I can get by studying for and raising my essay as well? I mean is it worth the time or should I stick to the maths, I don’t really have much time left.

Your essay score is totally unrelated to your quant score. So in order to raise you quant score you will have to improve on the math. I’d say don’t give up so easily. A 5-point increase in math is attainable :).

oh I wish I’d known that a bit earlier. this just made me realize- so if I need a quantitative grade of 149 to apply for my masters, then I can even totally skip the verbal and essay sections to the maths?? (I mean ım not sure ıll actually do this, but then it means it won’t affect my maths at all?) and one last question- Im not sure if it may be silly but I had a 145 in my last exam and need a 149, about how many more questions will I have to do right this time?.. I wish the gre scores were given in more detail (to me and not the school or wherever).

thanks a lot!

Yes, I know the score bit is confusing. I’m guessing a 3+ correct answers should get you there.

As for skipping the AWA, you can definitely do so without in any way affecting your verbal score.

Hey Chris, I’ve signed on to Magoosh for a year and had written GRE earlier this year (303 awa 2). i intend to take GRE once again and the AWA scares me. Not that I cant read nor right, I just have this problem starting and developing the thoughts to my satisfaction. Is there a section for AWA on magoosh ?

I had a different problem. My verbal score was 146 and AWA 4.0. However, I am seeing mostly people with having far better verbal score than mine but their AWA score less than 4.0. Still perplexed with my predicament of this type.

How did you go about studying for the verbal? I’d love to help you dramatically improve upon your score :).

Yes, we do have a special section for the AWA. Hopefully, it will help get the thoughts flowing. In the meantime, I recommend using the prompts from the ets bank to practice coming up with pros and cons.

http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/issue/pool

Yes, we have an AWA section on Magoosh :). Indeed it talks about a few strategies to help generate thoughts. Let me know if you find it helpful :).

You mentioned that one should avoid being too neutral in an issue essay, and yet in the example topic, you concede with the point that small cities can offer insight into a society. At what point is an essay deemed “too neutral?” I often find myself having appealing pro and con examples for my essays, yet too few of substantial examples to firmly decide on what side of the issue I should write on.

Also, do you have any tips for generating examples on the fly? I often find myself stuck trying to generate insightful examples and ultimately result to insipid “personal experience” ones.

Good question! I think there is an important difference between a concession point and a neutral thesis. A concession point shows that you are able to consider the other side of the issue and show that, in some cases or situations, your point does not hold true.

Being neutral, on the other hand, would involve not taking a side at all. Consider the following thesis: Studying cities can sometimes yield important characteristics of a society.

That’s a very wishy-washy argument, one that really doesn’t amount to much of a stance.

Hope that clears things up :).

Thanks! Very helpful points.

Could you please give main points(For and Against) for a few more difficult issue topics.

Hi Shubham,

I will work to do so in the near future. Glad you are enjoying the posts :).