GRE Analytical Writing Argument Task
The GRE underwent a significant revision in 2023, and one of the biggest changes to the exam occurred in the Analytical Writing section. Prior to 2023, test-takers were required to write two separate essays in order to successfully complete the Analytical Writing section. One essay involved analyzing an argument (the “Analyze an Argument” task) while the other essay required students to analyze an issue (the “Analyze an Issue” task). In 2023, the Analytical Writing section was cut in half, and the “Analyze an Argument” essay was removed. While test-takers now only have to write one essay on the GRE, below we examine the discontinued “Analyze an Argument” task.
The Analyze an Argument task tested your ability to understand, analyze, and evaluate arguments according to specific instructions and to communicate your thoughts in writing. The task contained a brief passage in which the author made a case for a course of action or interpretation of events by presenting claims backed by reasons and evidence. Test-takers were expected to discuss the logical soundness of the author’s argument, according to the provided instructions, by critically examining the line of reasoning and use of evidence.
It was recommended that students read the argument and instructions very carefully, perhaps more than once, possibly even making brief notes about the points they planned on responding to. It was important to pay special attention to what was offered as evidence, what was explicitly stated, what was assumed, and what was not stated but logically followed from anything that was stated.
It was also important to avoid making simple mistakes caused by getting distracted from the task’s instructions. You did not need to evaluate the accuracy of the essay prompt, or to agree or disagree with the position. You were asked only to evaluate the logical soundness of an argument according to specific instructions and, in doing so, to demonstrate your critical thinking and analytical writing skills.
Analytical Writing Skills
The Analyze an Argument task was intended to assess persuasive writing skills that were developed throughout a student’s education and was not intended to require any particular course of study or to advantage students with particular training. Rather than using any specific critical thinking or writing strategies, you needed to follow specific instructions to respond to an argument written by someone else and to communicate your evaluation to an academic audience.
As part of this task, it was useful to consider the structure of the argument and the way pieces of evidence were linked together to form a causal chain of reasoning. Test-takers had to recognize the separate steps in the argument’s thought progression, then consider whether each development followed logically—in tracing the argument, it was imperative to look for transition keywords, which signaled that the author was trying to connect multiple ideas.
Analytical Writing Preparation
The Analyze an Argument task challenged students to apply skills they had developed over a lifetime in order to deconstruct and evaluate an established position. Although no particular background should have provided an advantage on this part of the GRE, courses on rhetoric and composition may haved covered concepts or strategies that could have been useful to students preparing for the exam. Some of the analytical skills that successful writing students displayed included alternative explanations, detailed analyses, alternative arguments, revealing assumptions, disputing conclusions, offering counterexamples, or evaluating the evidence or overall merit of an argument.
An excellent way to prepare for the Analyze an Argument task was to practice writing on some of the published topics, especially those topics for which detailed scores and critiques were available. While preparing your essay, it was helpful to identify the following:
- arguments
- claims
- conclusions
- underlying assumptions
- alternative explanations or examples
- what evidence could be missing
- what evidence could strengthen or weaken the argument
- any other changes to the argument that might improve or detract from it.
In addition to listing every writing topic for the Analyze an Argument task, ETS also listed sample essays of every score level for several writing topics, helping students understand the depth of thought, sophistication of style, and quantity of content that were expected for meritable performance on this part of the Analytical Writing section. While students were free to structure their essay in whatever manner was most productive for them, the best essays responded to or complemented the nature of the argument that prompts them.
Conclusion
While the “Analyze an Argument” task was discontinued from the Analytical Writing section of the GRE in 2023, it remained an important part of the exam for many years. Test-takers were expected to analyze the logical soundness of a provided argument using persuasive writing skills. Writing skills continue to be an important part of the GRE, even though test-takers are now only required to write one essay analyzing a particular issue.