Top Essay & AWA Tips for the GMAT

1. Be sure to include brief introductory and concluding paragraphs, which are consistent with each other and with the paragraphs in the body of your essay. 2. Your essay must at least appear to be well organized. Use transition words and phrases to help the reader follow the flow of your discussion. For ideas, check out the transitional de ices !" e used in my sample !ssue essays and sample #rgument essays. $. %ompose your introductory paragraph last after you" e completed the rest of your essay. &hy' Because you essay might e ol e somewhat from your initial plan( if you" e composed your introduction first, you might need to rewrite it. ). For e ery point you make in a *+#, essay, always pro ide a reason and-or an e.ample to support that point/ 0. 1ay close attention to writing mechanics, grammar, sentence construction, word usage and diction 2whether you" e used the right word for the right 3ob4. !t doesn"t matter if your essay contains brilliant ideas if you can"t e.press them. !n short5 !t"s form o er substance// 6. !t"s okay to refer to yourself in your essays at your option. 7ust don"t o erdo it. 1hrases such as 8! think,8 8it is my opinion that8 and 8in my iew8 are superfluous and a waste of your typing time. 9. :on"t try to impress the reader with your ocabulary. ,here"s nothing wrong with demonstrating a strong ocabulary. 7ust don"t o erdo it( otherwise the readers will suspect that you"re using big words as a smokescreen for poor content.

GMAT Tips . Analysis of an Issue

;pend at least $<) minutes 3otting down some points both for and against the statement. !n support of e ery point try to think of at least one reason or e.ample. *o for breadth, not depth. ,ry to co er both polar sides of the issue, and arious arguments on both sides. :on"t dwell on one point/ 2,his is the =1 essay blunder committed by *+#, test<takers.4 But don"t try to co er e erything either( otherwise, you might not ha e time to de elop each of your ideas<<with reasons and e.amples. Begin your !ssue essay by acknowledging the comple.ity of the issue and by adopting a position on it. :o >?, begin your !ssue essay by restating or paraphrasing the statement. 2,his blunder will wa e a 8red flag8 to the *+#, readers who will assume from the outset that you lack ideas of your own.4 :on"t waste time thinking about what position on the issue you should adopt or what position a *+#, reader would want you to adopt. ,he readers don"t care about your opinions( what they do care about is how persuasi ely you support your position with rele ant reasons and e.amples, and how effecti ely you communicate your ideas. Your final paragraph should contain no more than two sentences, and should recapitulate 2sum up4 your argument reiterating where you stand on the issue 8in the final analysis,8 and why. :on"t introduce any new e.amples, reasons, or ideas in your summary paragraph. #nalysis of an !ssue 21 @uestion<<$A +inutes4 8,he media today place too much emphasis on pro ocati e images, and not enough emphasis on the ideas and e ents behind those images.8 ,o what e.tent do you agree or disagree with the foregoing statement' Use reasons and-or e.amples from your e.perience, obser ation, and-or reading to e.plain your iewpoint. Below is a sample response to this Buestion. #s you read the response, keep in mind5 ,his response meets all the official criteria for a score of 6 2the highest possible score4. ,his response is by no means the correct one. 2#s the official directions state5 8,here is no correct response.84 ;o don"t worry if, in your response, you adopted an entirely different position on the issue, or if you

used entirely different e.amples and reasons to support that position. ! didn"t compose this response under timed conditions( so don"t worry if yours isn"t as lengthy or as polished. ,ake comfort5 You can attain a top score of 6 with a briefer and less<polished essay. ;ample Cesponse 20)A &ords4 Upon first glance at today"s media<<whether broadcast or print<<it would appear that the speaker is correct. Dowe er, in my iew the media"s emphasis on image is largely 3ustifiable. +oreo er, the speaker understates the e.tent to which the media also co ers the substance behind those images, as discussed below. ! concede that the media today do place considerable emphasis on image. #d ertisements are increasingly resorting to fast<mo ing, se.y, images. !n fact, ad ertisements which pro ide no product information whatsoe er<<not e en about what the product looks like or how it is to be used<<are becoming increasingly common. #lso, while tabloid magazines and tele ision programs abound, intelligent discourse can be found sparingly only on public tele ision and a few other arts and education %hannels, and among the stacks of scholarly 3ournals at our libraries and at obscure websites. #nd, despite tele ision"s tremendous potential for airing the ital political issues of the day, the brief sound bites from our self<conscious politicians today hardly meet that potential. &hether this emphasis on image is 3ustifiable, it is certainly understandable<<at least with respect to ad ertising<<for two reasons. First, products are becoming more and more fungible these days( consider automobiles, for instance. ;ince they ary little from one make to another today, marketers are forced to resort to image for product differentiation. ,he second reason has to do with the fact that we are becoming an increasingly busy society. !n the U.;., for instance, the a erage workweek is now o er 60 hours, compared to )A a generation ago. +eanwhile, the number of goods and ser ices competing for our attention seems to grow e.ponentially. ,hus, how can the growing number of businesses compete for our limited time e.cept by resorting to attention<grabbing images' Dowe er understandable this focus on image, is it ne ertheless un3ustifiable, as the speaker implies' +edia critics point out that undue focus on appearances and images amounts to an appeal to our emotions and our baser, prurient instincts<<rather than to our intellect and reason. ,aken to an e.treme, argue the critics, such focus facilitates irrationality, and e en sanctions demagoguery. ,he result is that we dissuade oursel es as a society from engaging in the sort of informed debate needed for any democracy to sur i e, let alone thri e. ! might be con inced by the critics were the media to withhold the substance underlying the images( but they do not. Behind most newspaper headlines, magazine co er stories, and reputable !nternet home pages is a wealth of substanti e content( we simply need to look for it. !n sum, although ! wholeheartedly agree that the media should not sacrifice substance merely to get our attention, the speaker o erlooks that the substance is in fact there. Besides, without substance the products, ser ices, politicians, artists, authors, and others behind all those pro ocati e images e entual wither. ;e.y cars that are pro en unsafe are redesigned or discontinued( politicians who don"t follow through on promises are soon defeated( musicians who lack artistry and originality fade into obli ion( and authors without important ideas e entually lose an audience. !n the final analysis, it is not the media"s 3ob to wa e ideas and e ents in front of us( rather, it is up to us to look for them behind the hoopla and the headlines. . Dere are some @uick ,ips for tackling the *+#, 8#rgument8 writing task5 ;pend )<0 minutes brainstorming and 3otting down the logical problems you intend to identify and discuss in your essay. ,hen number these problems from most serious to least serious. 1resent them in that order in your essay. Each argument in the official test bank contains 2<) ma3or logical fallacies or other logical problems. 2,hat"s how the test<makers design them.4 ,o score high you must identify and discuss each ma3or logical problem. Dere are the ones that appear most freBuently among the arguments in the official test bank5 . *eneralizing from particulars 2relying on a small number of particular cases too small to reach a reliable general conclusion4 %onfusing chronology with causation 2because one e ent occurs after another, the earlier e ent caused the later e ent4 :rawing an unfair analogy 2ignoring rele ant dissimilarities between two things when comparing them4

*o for breadth, not depth. ,ry to co er e ery ma3or logical problem with the argument. :on"t dwell on one point/ 2,his is the =1 essay blunder committed by *+#, test<takers.4 #s a rule of thumb you shouldn"t de ote more than $ or ) sentences to discussing any one point of your critiBue. # oid !ntro<itis. :o >?, begin your essay by rehashing the argument that you intend to critiBue. # brief introduction in which you indicate the thrust of the argument and that it is problematic for se eral reasons will suffice. Your time is far better spent del ing directly into your critiBue of the argument. 27ust as with the !ssue essay, intro<itis will wa e a 8red flag8 to the *+#, readers who will assume from the outset that you lack ideas of your own.4 !n addition to identifying each ma3or logical problem with the argument, always discuss . what additional information is needed to better e aluate the argument, and-or what additional e idence 2facts4 would ser e to strengthen the argument. . !nclude these points in your essay"s final paragraph.

Analysis of an Argument
21 @uestion<<$A +inutes4 ,he following appeared in a recent report by the Fern %ounty planning commission5 8!n light of the increasing percentage of our nation"s population turning to the !nternet as a source of reference material, Fern %ounty should close the ancillary branch of its public library, and con ert that facility into a computer training center for use by county residents. ,he con erted facility would fill what is certain to be a growing need among Fern residents for computer training. #t the same time, since the county library"s main branch already contains more olumes per resident than any other county library in the state, it will adeBuately ser e the needs of Fern %ounty residents. +oreo er, Fern residents are sure to support this plan( after all, in nearby +esa %ounty only a few residents ha e ob3ected to that county"s plan to close all but one of its public libraries in the near future.8 :iscuss how logically con incing you find this argument. !n your discussion, you should analyze the argument"s line of reasoning and use of e idence. !t may be appropriate in your critiBue to call into Buestion certain assumptions underlying the argument and-or to indicate what e idence might weaken or strengthen the argument. !t may also be appropriate to discuss how you would alter the argument to make it more con incing and-or discuss what additional e idence, if any, would aid in e aluating the argument. . Below is a sample response to this #rgument. #s you read the response, keep in mind 5 ,his response meets all the official criteria for a score of 6 2the highest possible score4. ! didn"t compose this response under timed conditions, so don"t worry if yours isn"t as lengthy or as polished. ,ake comfort5 You can attain a top score of 6 with a briefer and less<polished essay. ;ample Cesponse 200A &ords4 !n this argument the Fern %ounty planning commission recommends con erting a library into a computer<training facility. Dowe er, the committee"s recommendation rests on numerous unpro en, and dubious, assumptions<<about the impact of !nternet access on libraries, about Fern %ounty residents, about the adeBuacy of the main library, and about +esa %ounty and its residents. #s a result, the committee"s argument is uncon incing at best, as discussed below. ,o begin with, the committee"s argument rests on two unsubstantiated assumptions in ol ing the cited national trend in !nternet usage. ?ne such assumption is that increasing use of the !nternet as a reference source will necessarily result in decreased use, or demand, for public libraries. &hile this might be the case, the commission must pro ide firm e idence to substantiate this assumption( otherwise, it is eBually plausible that the cited trend will actually enhance the popularity of libraries by stimulating intellectual and cultural interest. # second such assumption is that Fern residents reflect the national trend. ,he committee pro ides no substantiating e idence for this crucial assumption( lacking such e idence, it is entirely possible that Fern residents ha e little interest<<for whate er reason<<in using the !nternet for this purpose, and therefore that the proposed plan is not in their best interests. #nother problem with the argument in ol es the report"s assertion that that there is certain to be a growing need in Fern %ounty for computer training. !n conte.t, this claim appears to be based on the national trend in !nternet usage. Yet e en assuming Fern residents reflect this trend, it is

entirely possible that Fern residents as a group are already highly proficient in using computers and the !nternet. !f so, Fern residents might ery well prefer the status Buo, and would not support the proposed plan. Yet another problem with the argument in ol es the fact that Fern %ounty"s main library boasts a large number of books per resident. ,his fact alone is scant e idence that the main branch is adeBuate to ser ice county residents. ,he committee o erlooks the possibility of a future influ. of county residents. ,he committee also ignores that the library"s alue lies not 3ust in the Buantity of its books but also in the Buality of its books. ,hus without reliable demographic pro3ections and detailed information about the main library"s in entory is<a< is the needs of Fern"s residents, the committee cannot con ince me that the main branch alone would ser e the needs of county residents. # final problem in ol es +esa"s plan to close all but one library. &e are not informed whether +esa residents are yet aware of the %ounty"s plan. E en if the plan has been made public, the fact that it has met little opposition does not necessarily mean that residents as a whole support the plan. 1erhaps +esa residents as a group are not inclined to oice their opinions. ?r perhaps as a group they are far less concerned about library access<<for whate er reason<<than Fern residents are. !n sum, the argument is uncon incing as it stands. ,o strengthen it, rather than relying on a dubious analogy between Fern and +esa counties, the commission should pro ide better e idence<<perhaps by way of a countywide sur ey<<that Fern residents will increasingly use the !nternet as a substitute for the ancillary library branch, and that they would benefit from a new computer<training center.