GRE is the short form of Graduate Record Exam and AWA (Analytical Writing Analysis) is the short form of Analytical Writing Analysis section. The GRE AWA is one of the three sections of the general test of GRE. The other two sections of GRE general test are the Verbal Section and the Quantitative Section. The GRE AWA is considered to be the trickiest to handle and you need remarkable writing skills to score well in this section.
The GRE AWA aims at judging your analytical skills which you present through your writing. It tests whether your thinking abilities are developed enough to critically analyze an argument, rationally support your point of view and coherently present your ideas. These skills are required for undertaking the difficult subjects of college level. In schools students highly depend on their teachers whereas in college they have to study a lot more independently. GRE AWA scores clearly indicate how competent a child is to study independently.
Analytical Writing Analysis (AWA)
The GRE AWA consists of two questions:
- Analyze an Issue
- Analyze an Argument
• You will be given half an hour for doing each task
• There will not be any choices for these tasks
• You need to type the essays.
• Learn Touch Typing, it would be very useful.
How is it scored?
• The essay is holistically scored on a 6-point scale.
• AWA score would be from 0 to 6.
• There is no individual points for ideas, organization, sentence structure, language, etc
1.Analyze an Issue
What does an issue task test?
• Ability to think critically about a topic of general interest.
• Ability to express your thoughts in writing.
How to analyze an issue?
• An issue topic makes a claim.
• This can be discussed from various perspectives.
• It can be applied to many different situations or conditions.
• You will be given specific instructions on what you are supposed to address in the essay.
• You need to present a compelling case for your own position on the issue.
• You should list the main reasons and examples to support that position.
Answer these questions and be sure your understanding is complete
• What, precisely, is the central issue?
• What precisely are the instructions asking me to do?
• Do I agree with all or any part of the claim? Why or why not?
• Does the claim make certain assumptions? If so, are they reasonable?
• Is the claim valid only under certain conditions? If so, what are they?
• Do I need to explain how I interpret certain terms or concepts used in the claim?
• If I take a certain position on the issue, what reasons support my position?
• What examples - either real or hypothetical - could I use to illustrate those reasons and advance my
point of view? Which examples are most compelling
• Once you have decided on a position to defend, consider the perspectives of others who might not
agree with your position.
Ask yourself:
• What reasons might someone use to refute or undermine my position?
• How should I acknowledge or defend against those views in my essay?
Let us see an example
• Hope you have got an idea on how to analyze an issue.
• Ok, let us take an example and discuss.
• Go through this topic:
• A nation should require all of its students to study the same national curriculum until they enter college.
• Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the
recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your
position, describe specific circumstances in which adopting the recommendation would or would not be
advantageous and explain how these examples shape your position..
What is the claim made in the issue?
1. A common curriculum for all the students in a nation is required.
2. This curriculum should be followed until the students enter college.
In your response to this question, you can strongly agree or strongly disagree with the claims or you
can partially agree or partially disagree with them.
You should also discuss in this essay the circumstances in which the recommendation might or might
not be advantageous.
What are the possible positions one could in the given issue?
• Hope we have a good idea about how to analyze the given claim and take a position and make a
compelling case with reasons and examples.
• Now, you might have questions like
• How to present the ideas?
• What is the good writing style?
2. Analyze an Argument
What does an argument task test?
• Ability to understand, analyze and evaluate arguments according to specific instructions
• Ability to convey your evaluation clearly in your writing
What you are expected to do?
• You will be given a claim of an author in support of a course of action or an interpretation of events.
• The author will give reasons and examples to support his claim.
• You need to evaluate the logical soundness of the author's claim by critically examining the reasons and
the examples given.
What you should not?
• You should not discuss whether you agree or disagree with the author's case
• You should not express your views about the subject discussed.
• You should not discuss whether the statements in the argument are true or accurate.
Have these questions in mind
When you go through an argument given, look for all the following information.
1. What are the claims made by the author?
2. What are the reasons the author put forth?
3. What are the examples, evidences and/or proofs he has given?
4. What are the assumptions he has made?
5. What are the things not stated but could be inferred from the given information?
5. What would be a possible effect of these assumptions to the author's claim, if these assumptions are
proved not reasonable or appropriate?
6. What are the evidences you require to evaluate and what would be the impact of them to the author's
claim?
-What are the questions to be answered and how the answers would impact the claim?
Let us quickly discuss the difference between Inference & Assumption
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