GRE Analytical Writing Basics
The Analytical Writing section is always the first section of the GRE to be administered. It consists of one 30-minute task that asks test-takers to “Analyze an Issue” by writing an argumentative essay about a given topic. You will be presented with a statement and then asked to express your perspective on the given issue, using reasons and examples to support the claims you make. This task is not assessing whether you agree or disagree with the issue, nor is it concerned with specific content knowledge about the issue. According to Educational Testing Service (ETS), the creator and administrator of the GRE, the Analytical Writing task is intended to assess your ability to:
- Articulate complex ideas,
- Construct a well-reasoned argument,
- And demonstrate control of standard written English.
Test-takers write their essay on a computer using a basic word processor developed by ETS. The word processor is capable of the following functions: insert text, delete text, cut-and-paste, and undo the previous action. Spellchecker and grammar checker are not available, and there is no AI writing assistance provided, which means test-takers must be able to write and check their work by themselves.
Possible Analytical Writing Essay Topics
The topics you will encounter on the Analytical Writing task are broad and may involve the arts, humanities, social sciences, and physical sciences. As previously mentioned, you are not expected to possess specific content knowledge of a given subject. If you have such knowledge, you can of course use this to your advantage in your essay, but experience with a particular field of study is neither expected nor necessary to perform well on this section of the GRE.
ETS selects essay topics from a large list that they make freely available to prospective test-takers. Simply go to your preferred search engine, type “GRE Analytical Writing essay topics,” and you will be directed to a PDF listing all possible topics. This is an incredibly helpful study guide, giving you the chance to be familiar with all possible essay topics well in advance of your actual exam.
Structure of Your Essay
You will have 30 minutes to write your essay, which means you will need to be diligent about time management. There are no hard rules about how your essay must be written, but in general most test-takers use the five-paragraph format:
- Paragraph #1: starts with an opening sentence or two, summarizes the issue at hand, opportunity to present your position
- Paragraphs #2-#4: each paragraph should agree or disagree/support or detract from specific aspects of the provided prompt in a logical manner that is supported by well-reasoned examples
- Paragraph #5: summarize your position on the issue, rephrasing the key points you made in paragraphs #2-#4.
Of course you are not required to have five paragraphs, as some test-takers have more while others have less. The rule of thumb is to create a new paragraph when you switch to a new topic to keep things as clear as possible for your readers.
It does not matter whether you agree or disagree with the issue you have been given, as you may take either position; the point of the task is to write an essay explaining your position through well-written sentences that provide clear reasons and examples. Reasons and examples may come from your life and your personal experience, books or articles you have read, classes you took in school, beliefs you maintain as part of a particular faith or religion, or from elsewhere.
While there is no official word count you need to reach on your essay, a longer essay is not always better, especially if you are just repeating the same idea using different words. Sentences should be clear and straightforward while demonstrating that you understand basic grammar rules for written English. If English is not your first language, it is especially important to have a strong command of sentence structure and punctuation in order to avoid fragments, run-on sentences, or sentences that are several lines long, broken up only by commas.
Scoring
The Analytical Writing task is scored separately from the Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning sections of the GRE. The task is scored on a scale of 0-6 in 0.5-point increments. The chart below contains information found on the ETS website describing the various score levels and what each score means:
| Analytical Writing Score | Score Description |
| 5.5-6 | Essay sustains insightful, in-depth analysis of complex ideas; develops and supports main points with logically compelling reasons and/or highly persuasive examples; is well focused and organized; skillfully uses a variety of sentences and precise vocabulary to effectively convey meaning; demonstrates superior facility with sentence structure and usage; may contain minor errors that do not interfere with meaning. |
| 4.5-5 | Provides generally thoughtful analysis of complex ideas; develops and supports main points with logically sound reasons/examples; generally focused and well organized; uses sentence and vocabulary variety to clearly convey meaning; demonstrates good control of sentence structure and usage; may contain minor errors that do not interfere with meaning. |
| 3.5-4 | Provides competent analysis of ideas in addressing specific task directions; develops and supports main points with relevant reasons/examples; is adequately organized; conveys meaning with acceptable clarity; demonstrates satisfactory control of sentence structure and usage but may contain some errors that affect clarity. |
| 2.5-3 | Displays some competence in analytical writing and addressing the specific task directions, although the writing is flawed in at least one of the following ways: limited analysis or development; weak organization; weak control of sentence structure or usage, with errors that often result in vagueness or a lack of clarity. |
| 1.5-2 | Displays serious weaknesses in analytical writing. The writing is seriously flawed in at least one of the following ways: serious lack of analysis or development; unclear in addressing specific task directions; lack of organization; frequent problems in sentence structure or usage, with errors that obscure meaning. |
| 0.5-1 | Displays fundamental deficiencies in analytical writing. The writing is fundamentally flawed in at least one of the following ways: content that is extremely confusing or mostly irrelevant to the assigned tasks; little or no development; severe and pervasive errors that result in incoherence. |
| 0 | Your analytical writing skills cannot be evaluated because the response does not address any part of the assigned task(s), merely attempts to copy the assignments, is in a foreign language, or displays only indecipherable text. |
While higher essay scores are obviously better, a “good” Analytical Writing section score is generally considered to be a 4.5 and up. Of course, what is a considered a “good” score depends heavily on the programs you are applying to, as more competitive or elite programs will expect higher scores.
The Analytical Writing portion of the GRE is scored by a combination of human and computer grading. Each essay is reviewed by at least one trained reader, who analyzes the essay holistically and assigns a score based on its overall quality. The essay is also reviewed by an ETS computer program called “e-rater”, which helps contribute to the standardization of grades across different writing styles and knowledge backgrounds. If the computer and the human essay scores disagree by more than a trivial amount, then a second human will read the essay, and the final essay score will be an average of the two human ratings.
Analytical Writing Preparation
It is recommended that all test-takers, even strong writers, spend time preparing for the Analytical Writing section of the GRE, as it is imperative to understand how skills are measured and how the task is scored. While it is important to be able to write quickly and clearly, it is just as important to draw on the critical thinking abilities that you have developed throughout your undergraduate education or professional life.
Every part of your essay must reflect and contribute towards the progression of your analysis, which means choosing the right vocabulary words to convey specific meanings, varying the structure and punctuation of your sentences (e.g., using commas or semicolons), and arranging sentences in an organized manner so that each one builds on the next and contributes to your overall argument.
Spending time reading, analyzing, and comparing the range of essay prompts provided by ETS for the Analytical Writing task is an excellent way to grow in your understanding of what will be expected of you on test day. You should also practice writing a few essays under timed conditions to gain familiarity with how to analyze the types of essay prompts used on the GRE, and to gain an understanding of what sort of essay length and argument complexity to strive for on test day. You should analyze your own writing style and develop a system of approaching and unpacking the sorts of prompts that will be presented on the GRE, so that you can reliably perform at the peak of your ability under strictly timed test conditions.
In order to help students gain an understanding of how their Analytical Writing submissions will be graded on test day, ETS offers an online writing service called “ScoreItNow” that utilizes the same essay prompts and computer scoring algorithm that will be used on test day. For $20, you may write essay responses to two different Analytical Writing topics and receive an e-rater score for each essay. After you have completed your essays and submitted them for scoring, you will receive general suggestions for improving your writing skills, as well as diagnostic feedback on your responses. After completing your first two essays, you will be given the option to write and submit essay responses for six free additional Analytical Writing topics, should you wish to gain extra practice. You will receive a score for each of the six essays.
Students who enroll in Manhattan Review preparation courses will receive a curricular package of online resources including five full-length computer adaptive GRE General Tests, with computer-generated essay scores and feedback.
Additionally, ETS recommends that test-takers budget their time carefully on the Analytical Writing task. Remember, in the span of 30 minutes, you will need to consider the issue you have been given, plan a response, and craft your essay. You also want to save a few minutes at the end of this section to read through your essay and check for obvious errors. The occasional spelling or grammar error will not affect your score, but persistent errors will detract from the quality of your writing and result in a lower score. The more you practice writing analytical essays under timed conditions, the better you will be at managing your time and writing an essay that is compelling, well-organized, and logically structured.