how to start an argument essay in gre

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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 prep online guides and tips, gre argument essay: how to get a perfect 6 score.

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 .

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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

How to Write an Effective Argument Essay for the GRE

The Graduate Record Examination, or GRE, has three sections. One of those sections measures a student’s analytical writing skills. For this section, students are required to write both an issue essay and an argument essay. GRE graders look closely at the evidence included in a student’s argument essay as well as the organization of all of the various components. Learn what an argument essay is and get some tips on how to write an outstanding one for the GRE.

What Is the GRE Argument Essay?

The argument essay on the GRE requires you to evaluate an argument put forth by an author. Your job is to examine the author’s reasoning and evidence as well as the overall organization of the argument.

Ultimately, you must decide whether the author’s argument is logical. If you decide that the author’s argument is illogical, then you must give specific reasons to support that analysis. For example, you may point out unanswered questions or faulty pieces of evidence in the argument. Alternatively, if you decide that an author’s argument is logical, then you must offer evidence supporting that analysis.

When writing this essay, you should not reveal whether they agree or disagree with the author’s argument. Furthermore, you should not share their views on the subject being discussed. The purpose of this essay is to reveal your skills in analyzing and evaluating an argument, not in presenting your own argument.

Tips for Writing GRE Argument Essays

There are many useful tips that can help you write an excellent argument essay. GRE test-takers may want to begin by jotting down notes on a scrap piece of paper as they read the author’s argument. The few minutes that you dedicate to taking these notes can ensure that you include all of the important points in the final essay.

You should always read the instructions paired with each GRE argument task before starting to write. Not every argument essay has the same set of instructions – for example, some instructions require you to focus on an author’s assumptions, while others ask that you focus on unanswered questions in the argument. These are just two examples out of many types of instructions given to students tackling the GRE argument essay. It’s also a wise idea for you to draft an outline for the essay before beginning to write it. Following an outline can increase the clarity and organization of an argument essay.

Our GRE courses at Varsity Tutors provide students with the tools and strategies they need to craft a notable argument essay. Our instructors have taken and mastered the GRE, enabling them to pass on valuable tips to students. We offer several tutoring options , including online and in-person instruction, to make GRE preparation as convenient as possible for our busy students.`

Preparing for the Argument Essay

Most students want to do everything they can to write a clear, organized argument essay. GRE prep should include essay-writing practice. You can write a practice argument essay, then dissect it sentence by sentence to make sure it contains all of the necessary elements. As a note, the GRE gives students 30 minutes to write an argument essay, so it’s a good idea for you to time yourself when you complete your practice essays. That way, you know how much time you can spend on making notes, drafting an outline, and writing the essay.

It’s also helpful for you to study essays that received a high score on the GRE. An outstanding argument essay contains vocabulary words that add to the clarity of the writing. You can expand your supply of vocabulary words by reading online articles, newspapers, and magazines. You may want to jot down some words commonly used in these publications. Flashcards are helpful study tools for students who are learning unfamiliar words and their definitions as well.

Our instructors at Varsity Tutors can teach you how to write a GRE argument essay. We offer practical advice and guidance that students can use as they move through the steps of writing a convincing essay. Also, our instructors give valuable encouragement to students to help them have a confident mindset on test day. Contact Varsity Tutors today and let us help you boost your essay-writing skills!

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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 Argument Task (in General Tests administered before September 22, 2023)

The "Analyze an Argument" task assesses your ability to:

• understand, analyze and insightfully evaluate an argument written by someone else according to specific instructions
• effectively communicate your evaluation in writing

Each topic consists of a brief passage in which the author makes a case for some course of action or interpretation of events by presenting claims backed by reasons and evidence.

Where to begin

Your task is to discuss the logical soundness of the author's case by critically examining the line of reasoning and the use of evidence. This task requires you to read the argument and instructions carefully. Read the argument more than once and make brief notes about points you want to develop more fully in your response. Pay special attention to what is:

• offered as evidence, support or proof
• explicitly stated, claimed or concluded
• assumed or supposed, perhaps without justification or proof
• not stated, but necessarily follows from or underlies what is stated

In addition, consider the  structure  of the argument — the way in which these elements are linked together to form a  line of reasoning . You should recognize the separate, sometimes implicit steps in the thinking process and consider whether the movement from each step to the next is logically sound. In tracing this line, look for transition words and phrases that suggest the author is attempting to make a logical connection (e.g., however, thus, therefore, evidently, hence, in conclusion).  

What you aren’t being asked to do

An important part of performing well on the Argument task is remembering what you are  not  being asked to do. You aren’t being asked to:

• discuss whether the statements in the argument are true or accurate
• agree or disagree with the position stated
• express your own views on the subject being discussed (as you were in the Issue task)

Instead, you’re being asked to evaluate the logical soundness of an argument of another writer and, in doing so, to demonstrate the critical thinking, perceptive reading and analytical writing skills that university faculty consider important for success in graduate school.

Task instruction sets

Each task is accompanied by one of the following sets of instructions that you must be sure to address when writing your response:

• 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.
• Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions, and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.
• Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.
• Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the advice and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the advice.
• Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation is likely to have the predicted result. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.
• Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the prediction and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the prediction.
• 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.
• Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be addressed in order to decide whether the conclusion and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to the questions would help to evaluate the conclusion.

"Analyze an Argument" is a critical thinking task requiring a written response. Consequently, the analytical skills displayed in your evaluation carry great weight in determining your score; however, the clarity with which you convey ideas is also important to your overall score.

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

The purposes of the task are to see how well equipped you are to insightfully evaluate an argument written by someone else and to effectively communicate your evaluation in writing to an academic audience. Your audience consists of GRE raters carefully trained to apply the scoring criteria identified in the scoring guide for the "Analyze an Argument" task. To get a clearer idea of how GRE raters apply the Argument scoring criteria to actual essays, you should review scored sample Argument essay responses and rater commentary. The sample responses, particularly those at 5 and 6 score levels, will show you a variety of successful strategies for organizing and developing an insightful evaluation. The rater commentary discusses specific aspects of analytical writing, such as: cogency of ideas; development and support; organization; syntactic variety; and facility with language. The commentary points out aspects that are particularly effective and insightful as well as any that detract from the overall effectiveness of the responses.

Preparing for the Argument task

The Argument task is meant to assess analytical writing and informal reasoning skills you’ve developed throughout your education. You won’t be expected to know specific methods of analysis or technical terms.  

Understand key concepts

You should be familiar with the directions for the Argument task and with certain key concepts, including the following:

• alternative explanation — a competing version of what might have caused the events in question that undercuts or qualifies the original explanation because it too can account for the observed facts
• analysis — the process of breaking something (e.g., an argument) down into its component parts to understand how they work together to make up the whole
• argument — a claim or a set of claims with reasons and evidence offered as support; a line of reasoning meant to demonstrate the truth or falsehood of something
• assumption — a belief, often unstated or unexamined, that someone must hold to maintain a particular position; something that is taken for granted but that must be true in order for the  conclusion  to be true
• conclusion — the end point reached by a line of reasoning, valid if the reasoning is sound; the resulting assertion
• counterexample — an example, real or hypothetical, that refutes or disproves a statement in the  argument
• evaluation — an assessment of the quality of evidence and reasons in an argument and of the overall merit of an  argument  

Published topic pools

An excellent way to prepare for the "Analyze an Argument" task is to practice writing on some of the  published Argument topics (PDF) . Even if you choose not to write a full essay response, you should find it helpful to practice evaluating a few of the arguments and sketching out your responses.

There’s no one way to practice that’s best for everyone. Some prefer to start practicing without adhering to the 30-minute time limit, so they have all the time they need to evaluate the argument and craft their response. Others prefer to take a “timed test” right away.  

Plan your response

Regardless of which approach you take, consider the following steps:

• Carefully read the argument and the specific instructions — you might want to read them more than once.
• Identify as many of the argument's claims, conclusions and underlying assumptions as possible and evaluate their quality.
• Think of as many alternative explanations and counterexamples as you can.
• Think of what specific additional evidence might weaken or lend support to the claims.
• Ask yourself what changes in the argument would make the reasoning more sound.

Write down each of these thoughts. When you've gone as far as you can with your evaluation, look over the notes and put them in a good order for discussion (perhaps by numbering them). Then write an evaluation according to the specific instructions by fully developing each point that is relevant to those instructions.

When you become quicker and more confident, you should practice writing some Argument responses within the 30-minute time limit so that you will have a good sense of how to pace yourself in the actual test. For example, you will not want to discuss one point so exhaustively or to provide so many equivalent examples that you run out of time to make your other main points.  

Evaluate your response

When you’re finished writing your practice response, assess how you did to see how and where you can improve.

• Get feedback on your response(s) from a writing instructor, philosophy teacher or someone who emphasizes critical thinking in their course
• Trade papers on the same topic with fellow students and discuss each other's responses in terms of the scoring guide. Focus less on the "right scores" and more on seeing how the responses meet or miss the performance standards for each score point and what you need to do to improve.
• Look at the  scoring guide for the Argument 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.

How to interpret numbers, percentages and statistics in Argument topics

Some arguments contain numbers, percentages or statistics offered only as evidence in support of the argument's conclusion. For example, an argument might claim that a certain community event is less popular this year than it was last year because only 100 people attended this year as compared with 150 last year, a 33% decline in attendance.

It is important to remember that you are not being asked to do a mathematical task with the numbers, percentages or statistics. Instead, you should evaluate these as evidence intended to support the conclusion. In the example above, the conclusion is that a community event has become less popular. You should ask yourself, "Does the difference between 100 people and 150 people support that conclusion?" In this case, there are other possible explanations, e.g., the weather might have been much worse this year, this year's event might have been held at an inconvenient time, etc.

Any one of these could explain the difference in attendance and weaken the conclusion that the event was "less popular." Similarly, percentages might support or weaken a conclusion depending on what actual numbers the percentages represent. Consider the claim that the drama club at a school deserves more funding because its membership has increased by 100%. This 100% increase could be significant if there had been 100 members and now there are 200 members, whereas the increase would be much less significant if there had been five members and now there are 10.

Remember that any numbers, percentages or statistics in Argument tasks are used only as evidence in support of a conclusion, and you should always consider whether they actually support the conclusion.

Tips for the Argument 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 Argument responses that, although highly diverse in content and form, display similar levels of critical thinking and persuasive writing.
• For example, raters will see some essays at the 6 score level that begin by briefly summarizing the argument and then explicitly stating and developing the main points of the evaluation. The raters know that a writer can earn a high score by developing several points in an evaluation or by identifying a central feature in the argument and developing that evaluation extensively. You might want to look at the sample Argument responses, particularly those at the 5 and 6 score levels, to see how other writers have successfully developed and organized their responses.
• Make choices about format and organization that you think support and enhance the overall effectiveness of your evaluation. This means using as many or as few paragraphs as you consider appropriate for your response, e.g., create a new paragraph when your discussion shifts to a new point of evaluation.
• You might want to organize your evaluation around the structure of the argument itself, discussing it line by line. Or you might want to first point out a central questionable assumption and then move on to discuss related weaknesses in the argument's line of reasoning.
• Using examples can help illustrate an important point in your evaluation or move your discussion forward. However, remember that it’s your critical thinking and analytical writing that is being assessed, not your ability to come up with examples. What matters is not the form your response takes, but how insightfully you evaluate the argument and how articulately you communicate your evaluation to academic raters within the context of the task.

Sample Argument task, strategies, responses and rater commentary

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

The sample responses, particularly those at 5 and 6 score levels, will show you a variety of successful strategies for organizing and developing an insightful evaluation. The rater commentary discusses specific aspects of analytical writing, such as:

• cogency of ideas
• development and support
• organization
• syntactic variety
• facility with language

The commentary also points out aspects that are particularly effective and insightful, as well as any that detract from the overall effectiveness of the responses.

Pool of Argument topics

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