Analytical Writing: Analyze an Issue
One 30-minute task, always first: the six instruction variants, how to plan and argue inside half an hour, and what each band of the 0 to 6 scale buys.
20 topics · 77 questions
Each topic is a path, not a menu: work down it in order and every question builds on the one above. Click any of them to watch the answer draw itself.
The One Essay Task and the 30 Minutes
- How it worksHow does the Analyze an Issue task hand you a claim plus instructions on how to respond to it?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't there an Analyze an Argument essay on the GRE any more?
- Going furtherWhat changes about pacing when the essay always comes first and there is no scheduled break?
- Ties togetherHow does a 30-minute essay fit inside the 1 hour 58 minute shape of the whole shortened test?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A test taker budgets 7 minutes to plan and 4 minutes to reread within the 30 minutes allowed for the Analyze an Issue task. Find the number of minutes left for drafting.Following the Specific Instructions
- How it worksHow do the task instructions add a second scored requirement on top of taking a position?
- How it worksWalk me through pulling the required moves out of an instruction line before writing a word.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a strong general argument enough when the instructions demand specific circumstances?
- Worked exampleFind the required moves in an instruction to agree or disagree and address compelling challenges.
- Going furtherWhat happens to the score when an essay follows half an instruction and drops the other half?
Your turnhard1 of 3
An essay of 624 words argues elegantly for a position on the stated issue but never addresses the instruction's demand to describe specific circumstances. What is the likely outcome?Instruction Variant: Agree or Disagree with a Statement
- How it worksHow does the statement variant ask you to describe ways a claim might and might not hold true?
- Worked exampleWalk me through outlining a response to the statement that competition brings out our best work.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't picking the side you believe less strongly a disadvantage on this kind of prompt?
- Going furtherWhat changes when you take a qualified position rather than agreeing outright?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
A prompt asks for the extent to which you agree with the statement that competition brings out our best work, and a writer plans 4 paragraphs of unqualified agreement. What is being left on the table?Instruction Variant: Agree or Disagree with a Recommendation
- How it worksHow does describe specific circumstances turn the essay into a map of when the advice works?
- Worked exampleWalk me through outlining a response to a recommendation that cities make public transit free.
- Going furtherWhat happens when the circumstances where the advice fails turn out to be the common ones?
- Common mistakeWhy doesn't listing general benefits satisfy an instruction asking for specific circumstances?
Your turnhard1 of 3
A prompt recommends that cities make public transit free and asks for the specific circumstances in which the advice would or would not hold. A writer lists 5 general benefits of free transit. Why does that fail?Instruction Variant: A Claim and the Most Compelling Challenges
- How it worksHow does addressing the most compelling challenge differ from noting that others disagree?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a one-sentence nod to the other side enough to count as addressing a challenge?
- Worked exampleWalk me through building a response to the claim that failure teaches more than success does.
- Going furtherWhat happens to your own position once you take the strongest objection seriously?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
An essay on the claim that failure teaches more than success does gives 3 sentences to the other side before returning to its own case. Is that addressing the most compelling challenges?Instruction Variant: Which of Two Views Aligns with Yours
- How it worksHow does picking the closer view still leave room to grant what the other view gets right?
- Worked exampleWalk me through choosing between leaders should follow public opinion and leaders should shape it.
- Going furtherWhat changes when the two views are not real opposites but overlap in the middle?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't both views have merit a position on a two-views task?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
A prompt sets out two views and asks which comes closer to your own. An essay devotes 3 paragraphs to each and concludes that both have merit. How does it score?Instruction Variant: A Claim and the Reason Behind It
- How it worksHow does separating a claim from its stated reason open four positions instead of two?
- Worked exampleWalk me through the four stances on requiring internships because employers demand them.
- Common mistakeWhy doesn't agreeing with a claim commit you to agreeing with the reason given for it?
- Going furtherWhat happens to your essay when the reason is true but does not actually support the claim?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
A prompt makes a claim that universities should require internships and gives as its reason that employers demand them. A writer has 6 minutes of planning. How many distinct positions does separating the claim from the reason open up?Instruction Variant: A Policy and Its Consequences
- How it worksHow does tracing a policy's likely consequences build the case for or against adopting it?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't restating a policy's intended benefit the same as discussing its consequences?
- Worked exampleWalk me through the consequences worth discussing for a policy of two years of national service.
- Going furtherWhat changes when a policy's short-term consequences point opposite to its long-term ones?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
A prompt describes a policy of 3 years of national service and asks for a discussion of its consequences. An essay restates the policy's intended benefit across 3 paragraphs. Why is that not enough?Planning an Issue Essay in 30 Minutes
- How it worksWalk me through a 30-minute budget: read the prompt, plan, draft, and still reread at the end.
- How it worksHow does a three-line plan of position, two reasons and one concession become the whole essay?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a longer essay automatically a higher-scoring essay?
- Going furtherWhat happens when the clock runs out with the counterargument paragraph still unwritten?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A writer drafts at about 30 words a minute and has 22 minutes of the 30 left for drafting after planning and rereading. Find the number of words the draft will run to.Taking a Position, and Why There Is No Correct One
- How it worksHow do raters score the skill of the case rather than the rightness of the position?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't the popular or safe side of an issue the higher-scoring side?
- Going furtherWhat changes when the position you truly believe is the harder one to support in 30 minutes?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Two essays on the same prompt take opposite positions, and both develop 3 reasons with worked examples. How do their scores compare?Reasons and Examples That Carry Weight
- How it worksHow does a reason connect a claim to an example so the example actually does some work?
- Worked exampleWalk me through growing one example into a full paragraph that supports a claim about competition.
- Going furtherWhat happens to an example that supports your claim but could be read the other way too?
- Common mistakeWhy doesn't a historical example outscore a personal one just for being historical?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
One essay names 6 examples in a single sentence; another develops one example across a full paragraph. Which does more for the score?Addressing the Strongest Counterargument
- How it worksHow does a concede-then-limit paragraph absorb an objection without surrendering your position?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't building the easiest version of the other side a safe move on the GRE?
- Worked exampleWalk me through answering the strongest objection to a claim that competition improves performance.
- Going furtherWhat happens when the strongest counterargument turns out to beat your original position?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
An essay raises 3 objections to its own position, all of them easy to dispose of, and answers each in a sentence. How does that read?Structuring the Issue Essay
- How it worksHow does every body paragraph either attach to the thesis or dangle off the side of it?
- How it worksWalk me through the transitions that show a reader the logical relation between two paragraphs.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't the five-paragraph template required, or even preferred, by GRE raters?
- Going furtherWhat changes about structure when your position is qualified rather than a flat agreement?
Your turnhard1 of 3
Essay A has 4 paragraphs each visibly attached to its thesis; essay B has finer sentences but paragraphs whose relation to the thesis is unstated. Which reads as the stronger analysis?How the Essay Is Scored
- How it worksHow does a trained human rater's score combine with the e-rater engine's score into one result?
- How it worksHow does a 0 to 6 scale reported in half-point steps end up with thirteen possible scores?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't the essay score folded into the 130 to 170 verbal and quantitative scales?
- Going furtherWhat happens when the human rater and the automated score disagree by more than a point?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
The Analytical Writing score runs from 0 to 6 in half-point steps. Find how many distinct scores lie strictly above 4.Score 6: Outstanding
- How it worksHow does insightful in-depth analysis of complex ideas actually show up in one paragraph?
- Worked exampleWalk me through the moves that lift a solid 5 paragraph into 6 territory on the same prompt.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a flawless essay with no grammar errors automatically a 6?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
An essay is grammatically flawless across 674 words, clearly organised, and develops 3 sound reasons. Is that a 6?Score 5: Strong
- How it worksHow do logically sound reasons at a 5 fall short of logically compelling reasons at a 6?
- Worked exampleFind what is missing from a well organized essay that develops two good reasons and stops.
- Going furtherWhat single change most often moves a 5 essay up into the 6 band?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
An essay is well organised, develops 3 good reasons with clear examples, and stops there. What is missing for the band above?Score 4: Adequate
- How it worksHow does a 4 provide competent analysis of the task directions without ever going deeper?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a grammatically clean essay guaranteed anything above a 4?
- Worked exampleWalk me through the gap between a 4's merely relevant example and a 5's well-chosen one.
- Going furtherWhat happens to a 4 essay when one body paragraph is developed twice as far as before?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
An essay of 574 words is clear, correctly organised, free of error and never goes beyond the obvious. Where does it land?Score 3: Limited
- How it worksHow does the 3 band get defined by being flawed in at least one of several named ways?
- Worked exampleFind which flaw caps an essay at 3: thin development, weak organization or unclear sentences.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a 3 essay simply a 4 essay carrying a few more grammar mistakes?
- Going furtherWhat changes when an essay carries two of the 3-band flaws rather than only one?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
A readable essay of 524 words takes a clear position and supports it with reasons that are named but never developed. What caps it?Score 2: Seriously Flawed
- How it worksHow does being unclear in addressing the specific task directions become a 2 rather than a 3?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't length or impressive vocabulary enough to rescue an essay answering a different question?
- Worked exampleWalk me through an essay on competition that never once addresses the instruction it was given.
- Going furtherWhat happens to a 2 essay when the writer adds nothing except the required instruction moves?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
An essay of 659 words argues well about competition but never once addresses the instruction it was given. Where does it land?Score 1 and Score 0
- How it worksHow do the fundamental deficiencies at a 1 differ from the serious weaknesses at a 2?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't an off-topic but well-written response given a 1 instead of a 0?
- Going furtherWhat happens to a response written in another language or copied straight from the prompt?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
A response of 679 words is written fluently but discusses a topic the prompt never raised. What score does it receive?AP®, SAT® and PSAT/NMSQT® are trademarks registered by the College Board (PSAT/NMSQT® jointly with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation). ACT® is a registered trademark of ACT Education Corp. GRE® is a registered trademark of ETS. LSAT® is a registered trademark of the Law School Admission Council. MCAT® is a registered trademark of the Association of American Medical Colleges. ISEE® and SSAT® are registered trademarks of their owners. None of these organizations is affiliated with, or endorses, Jentoo.