Analytical Writing Section
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Summer Research Program
GRE Preparation Course
Analytical Writing: Table of Contents
Writing the GRE 3
The Thesis Statement – How to Quickly Develop One 5
The Funnel Introduction for the GRE 6
Paragraphs 7
Rules for Writing 8
Overview of the Analytical Writing Section 10
Test-Taking Strategies 11
How the Analytical Writing Section is Scored 11
Issue Task 14
Deciding Which Issue Topic to Choose 16
Essay Responses and Reader Commentary 18
Issue Topics 21
Essay Responses and Reader Commentary 21
Issue Topics 43
Analyze an Argument Task 65
Understanding the Argument Task 65
How to Interpret Numbers, Percentages, and Statistics in Argument Topics 67
The Form of Your Response 68
Essay Responses and Reader Commentary 71
The Pool of Argument Topics 88
Writing the GRE
Imagine that your entire future is affected by what you write for the GRE Test. Now – how would you go about making sure that your future will be everything that you dream it can be – by conquering this test? Make a list below.
Good writing is comprised of several part integral to the communication process. GRE readers are looking for sound logic, precise language, professionalism, organization, few grammatical errors, a thesis statement, and an individual voice and style that show promise for future development. If even one of these things is lacking, your chances at getting a score high enough to get into the college of your choice will drop. Just an FYI, UNL’s average score for the last year was 5.6 out of 6.
The description of the score levels for Score Levels 6 and 5.5 is as follows:
Sustains insightful, in-depth analysis of complex ideas; develops and supports main points with logically compelling reasons and/or highly persuasive example; is well focused and well organized; skillfully uses sentence variety and precise vocabulary to convey meaning effectively; demonstrates superior facility with sentence structure and language usage but may have minor errors that do not interfere with meaning.
You will write two essays. One will be from the Issue Topic list, and one from the Argument Topic list. As of October 2006, the task times will be changed to 30 minutes for each topic, so please keep this in mind for your timeline. As of right now, the times are:
Issue Task – 45 Minutes
Argument Task – 30 minutes
So – in the time allotted, you must:
1. Show insightful, in-depth analysis of complex ideas. What does this mean to you? Let’s break it down. Insight means an understanding of a thing’s true natures. It’s obvious that the readers will be looking for something in your writing that shows you understand what you are examining and how it works/if it works. Suffice it to say that a flippant answer isn’t going to gain you points. All of you have opinions about several subjects. All of you are able to communicate these opinions to your friends. All of you have the ability, developed or not, to write these opinions down and apply them to the topics you will get. Refining that ability and becoming confident is one of the goals for this seven-week period. Outlining what the topic is saying is important. You need to read it a couple of times and be sure that you’re not misreading what it says – which is the most common mistake made.
2. Develop and support main points with logically sound reason and/or well-chosen examples. This is simple debate. Make a point, which relates to the topic – and have reasons or examples that support your point. You can’t argue emotionally – which is the most common mistake made. It’s not enough to say something is wrong because it is -- it’s also not enough to use personal examples – you need to draw off the intrinsic knowledge you have – tap into the connections that can be made between everything. If you aren’t finding that you’re familiar with the topics we are studying during the seven-week period – then you need to do some research, some questioning, and possibly some tutoring. You have to want your future – because the honest truth is, you’re the only one who can make it happen.
3. Be well-focused and well-organized. There are two main types of thinkers. Identify which one you are, and practice. There are linear thinkers, who have problems dealing with examples – because they are quick to get from A to B, but often don’t understand all the steps to get there. Then there are circular thinkers, who can write pages of unnecessary facts – and never actually make a point. You need to be in-between these types. You also need to learn to stay on topic – which is the most common mistake made. We will examine a technique called the Modified Five Paragraph Essay – it’s fast, efficient, and designed for organization – I’ve broken it down into parts for you, and after today – writing is all you’re going to be doing for an hour, so you’ll be practiced.
4. Skillfully use sentence variety and precise vocabulary to convey meaning effectively. This is where editing will come in. I’ll be ruthlessly editing each of your essays every week. I want to say right now that I’ll not be attacking you – that I’ll be systematically noting sentence structure problems, and vocabulary misuse – not noting whether I agree with your analysis or not, although if you don’t prove your points I’ll argue with you until you do. Keep in mind that although I’ll be a stern taskmaster – the technique works, and you’ll be a better writer. The main difference in the way I teach is that I’ll request that you read all of your papers out loud and turn in edited versions of them. The syllabus explains how that will work. The most common mistake here is to not study your mistakes and stop making them – your improvement is entirely up to you.
5. Demonstrate superior facility with sentence structure and language usage but may have minor errors that do not interfere with meaning. Staying on topic is a big problem when you are writing against time – that’s why we’ll be practicing every class. If you aren’t sure about grammar and sentence structure – ask for help. This is the time to tutor and build your confidence, not the time to be embarrassed. We will have tutoring times set up – but for now memorize these simple rules that will help you not make quite so many mistakes:
a. Their refers to people, places, or things.
b. There is a place to go.
c. It’s with an apostrophe is it is.
d. Its without is possessive.
e. Look up rules and meaning – it doesn’t mean that you’re stupid – it means you’re smart, because information is POWER.
The Thesis Statement – How to Quickly Develop One
A thesis statement is one or two sentences that condense the argument or analysis which follows in the body of the paper. It’s important to have a thesis because it helps to outline your paper for you and for your reader. A thesis also helps you avoid logical fallacy, by testing your thesis at the beginning of the paper. If you can’t provide proofs that your thesis is valid, you may have a problem with your thesis statement.
Here is an example of how to develop a thesis from an issue topic:
Topic: “In our time, specialists of all kinds are highly overrated. We need more generalists – people who can provide broader perspectives.”
Turn the topic into a series of questions:
Are specialists overrated? What do they provide that generalists don’t?
Then answer the question, and you have a working thesis statement, which will of course need modification while you write:
Specialists provide insight into one aspect of a subject that may be required for problem-solving.
Here is an example of how to develop a thesis from an argument topic:
Topic: “According to a recent report from our marketing department, fewer people attended movie produced by Silver Screen during the past year than in any other year. And yet the percentage of generally favorable comments by movie reviewers about specific Silver Screen movies actually increased during this period. Clearly, the contents of these reviews are not reaching enough of our prospective viewers; so the problems lies not with the quality of our movies but with the public’s lack of awareness that movies of good quality are available. Silver Screen should therefore spend more of its budget next year on reaching the public through advertising and less on producing new movies.”
Turn the topic into a series of questions or statements about the topic:
Many people don’t read reviews, or base their movie choice on reviews. Has the marketing department examined information about the consumers? Are there other factors affecting the numbers? Are Silver Screen movies being released on a number of screens, or are they playing limited engagements? Do consumers have the money to spend on movies? Are the movies interesting to a wide range of people, or are they exploring special interest topics? Are the releases coinciding with blockbusters?
Then answer the questions, and work out a general thesis statement:
These are a number of factors that can affect marketing numbers and all must be examined before the decision to make major budget changes.
The Funnel Introduction for the GRE
The funnel introduction is also known as the Inverted Pyramid Introduction, because it moves from general to specific. The thesis statement is the last sentence of the introduction. It makes a strong introduction, because it removes all unnecessary commentary from the introduction and requires that only material directly related to the topic be used. Ultimately, it’s a quick way to organize your thoughts. These are the steps:
A. A general discussion of the topic – narrative hook.
B. Comments on the background of your topic – drawn from your own intrinsic knowledge.
C. Give an example of what you are trying to prove.
D. Explain the importance of the example and connect it to the topic.
E. Thesis statement.
Examples from Issue Topic:
“In our time, specialists of all kinds are highly overrated. We need more generalists – people who can provide broad perspectives.”
A. In Ron Howard’s movie, Apollo 13, actor Ed Harris instructs engineers to try
to recreate conditions in the lab to help astronauts, in orbit around the earth,
problem solve to prevent a crash.
B. As we all know, much of the story actually happened, and without the
expertise of each specialist, things might have been very different.
C. Although a broad perspective is important in seeing all aspects of a situation, specialists enable each individual part to function as a whole.
D. For instance, if there was not an entire sect of engineers studying stress fractures in bridges, it would be hard for a generalist – such as an inspector – to ascertain which fracture is a problem, and which fracture is normal wear and tear.
E. Specialists and Generalists are both needed to provide insight, safety, and to develop technology for the future.
Here’s where I want to caution not to try to fit the topic, instead make the topic fit you. Think logically about what is being stated, and if you can apply it to something in pop culture, or something you’ve experienced, good. We all know a little about something. To draw on that knowledge is a step toward trusting yourself, and writing is affected most by your confidence level. If you don’t trust your ability to write, I’ll be in my office from 11:00-1:00 every day willing to help you.
Example for the Argument Topic:
“According to a recent report from our marketing department, fewer people attended movie produced by Silver Screen during the past year than in any other year. And yet the percentage of generally favorable comments by movie reviewers about specific Silver Screen movies actually increased during this period. Clearly, the contents of these reviews are not reaching enough of our prospective viewers; so the problems lies not with the quality of our movies but with the public’s lack of awareness that movies of good quality are available. Silver Screen should therefore spend more of its budget next year on reaching the public through advertising and less on producing new movies.”
A. Ask a person if he/she can name the latest release from Dreamworks, or Disney, and he/shell will probably be able to tell you immediately. However, this same person would probably not be able to name any independent film titles, or film production companies.
B. Though independent films are gaining fame, because of people like Michael Moore, many people are still not aware that they exist.
C. For example, Michael Moor’s movie, Bowling for Columbine, didn’t draw a huge crowd, but after it won an Oscar, his next movie, Fahrenheit 911, was a phenomenal box office success.
D. So how do marketing department analyze what works and what doesn’t? By doing careful research, and examining all possibilities. This is what Silver Screen’s marketing department has failed to do.
E. Silver Screen should not allocate more of its budget to advertising until it examines how many people actually base their movie choices on reviews. They should also examine economic factors, release dates and theaters, and movie subjects.
By organizing your thoughts – you can now continue to write quickly and efficiently. Remember – writing against a clock adds stress – the trick is to organize and execute quickly and confidently.