Chapter 14

Writing Analytical Essays on Issues and Arguments

IN THIS CHAPTER

Bullet Understanding the two essay-writing tasks on the GRE

Bullet Grasping the key essay requirements

Bullet Knowing how to score well on these essays

Bullet Writing sound Issue and Argument Analyses, paragraph by paragraph

The GRE doesn’t exactly ease you into the test-taking process. It wallops you with two challenging essays: Analyze an Issue and Analyze an Argument. You’re given 30 minutes to write each essay, for a total of 60 minutes of intense writing before you encounter any of the other test questions. As you prepare for the essay-writing portion, remember the following goals:

  • Complete each essay in 30 minutes or less.
  • Write well-organized, insightful essays clearly stating and fully supporting your position.
  • Avoid grammatical and spelling errors and typos.
  • Conserve your energy for the rest of the test.

Thirty minutes for each essay should be enough time — especially if you’ve practiced. The more essay-writing practice you do, the more comfortable you become with organizing your thoughts and expressing them in words, in the format that the GRE requires, within the time constraints on test day. Take a trial run with the Issue and Argument essays using the topics presented in Chapter 15 and the methods outlined in this chapter. Then you can check your work against the sample essays in Chapter 15.

In this chapter, I explain what evaluators look for and how they ultimately score your essay. I then guide you through the process of writing each essay, paragraph by paragraph.

Remember On the GRE, you type your essays in a text box not unlike Windows’s Notepad or Mac’s TextEdit with formatting turned off. It features cut, copy, and paste for moving stuff around and undo for reversing changes, but that’s it — no spell checker, grammar checker, or automated anything, so the burden of proofreading falls squarely on your shoulders.

Setting Your Sights on the Target: Scoring a Perfect 6

Before you can score well on the essay, you need to have a basic grasp of how the GRE essay section is graded. Your essays are graded one at a time, first by a trained evaluator, and then by a computerized ETS system. Your final score for each essay is the average of the two scores. If the two scores differ by more than a couple points, which is uncommon, then your essay goes to a third, human evaluator, and your score for that essay is the average of the two humans’ scores. You get one score for each essay (0 to 6, the higher the better), and your final writing score is the average of the two essay scores.

The following sections break down how the essays are scored and provide some tips for improving your score.

What the essay scores really mean

Knowing what the evaluators look for in your essays enables you to more effectively target your writing for a score of 6. Following are the descriptions evaluators associate with each essay score as they grade your essays:

  • Outstanding (6): The essay demonstrates the ability to develop a position on an issue, identify strengths and weaknesses of an argument, support personal views and insights, and write with clarity, focus, and interest — in other words, you don’t sound bored. The essay may have a grammar or spelling error but otherwise is well-written with control of the language, good diction (word choice), and variety of sentence structure.
  • Strong (5): The essay demonstrates a generally thoughtful analysis of the argument or presentation of the issue. Presentation is logical, and main points are well-supported. The essay may have minor errors in grammar and spelling but demonstrates control of the language, good diction (word choice), and variety of sentence structure.
  • Adequate (4): The essay demonstrates overall competence in analyzing the argument or presenting the issue, organizing and supporting thoughts, and expressing them clearly. It may not flow smoothly due to a lack of effective transitions, and it may contain some errors, but it demonstrates sufficient control of the language.
  • Limited (3): Competent but flawed, the essay misses the main point or ideas in the argument or presents the issue poorly, lacks order, offers little or no support for the ideas presented, and contains occasional glaring errors or lots of minor errors in grammar, diction, and mechanics.
  • Seriously flawed (2): The essay completely misses the point, presents the author’s point of view with no support or irrelevant support, is poorly organized, and is riddled with errors in grammar, diction, mechanics, and sentence construction.
  • Fundamentally deficient (1): The essay demonstrates little or no evidence of the ability to understand or address the issue or analyze the argument. In addition, the essay contains extensive errors in grammar, diction, mechanics, and sentence structure.
  • No essay (0): This one is self-explanatory: If no essay is submitted or only garbage is typed in, the essay score is 0.

Remember The essay section demonstrates your ability to communicate and think critically, which isn’t measured anywhere else on the GRE. Whether or not your target school places emphasis on the essay scores, these scores are a reflection of you as an applicant. Furthermore, the essays are first, so if you get flustered during this hour of two essays, it will affect your performance on the rest of the test. Essay-writing strategies are easy to learn, and with a little guidance and practice, you’ll write excellent essays that reflect well on you and carry you through the test.

Key methods to scoring well

Essay writing (and scoring) is subjective to some degree. There’s no right or wrong answer, and every essay is slightly different, based on the test-taker’s perspective, knowledge, experience, writing style, and so on. Evaluators, however, have a checklist of specific criteria for grading your essay. To perform well, be sure to do the following:

  • Follow the instructions. The prompt tells you what to do. For example, an Issue Analysis prompt may ask you to consider ways in which the statement may or may not hold true, or it may instruct you to describe circumstances in which taking a certain course of action would or would not be best. To score well, you need to follow those instructions and write about what the prompt asks for.
  • Get to the point in each paragraph. The evaluator will always look for your point in the first two lines of each paragraph, so don’t try to be clever and write a paragraph with a surprise ending or twist. State clearly and unequivocally in the first line of each paragraph the point of that paragraph. Then spend the rest of the paragraph supporting that point.
  • Stay on topic. After stating your position in the introductory paragraph, make sure each succeeding paragraph supports that position instead of wandering off topic. If the issue is about low commodity prices versus quality of workmanship, for example, and you’re discussing factory output, don’t go off topic and start talking about offshore labor — as I once saw a student do on that very subject. Each paragraph should have a sentence (preferably at the end) that ties the paragraph directly to your position statement.
  • Avoid fluff. Though longer essays typically earn higher scores, the higher scores are due to the fact that the essay provides sufficient support, not because it rambles on and on. Your essay won’t be judged on word count; it will be judged on how sufficiently you explore the topic.
  • Manage your time. There’s a clock in the corner of the screen telling you how much time you have left. When you have about eight minutes left, wrap up what you’re writing, write your conclusion (basically a reworded copy of your introduction), and proof your essay.
  • Proof your essay. Leave yourself a few minutes to read through your text and make sure everything flows and makes sense. It doesn’t have to be flawless, but it has to be good. Check your grammar and clarify any unclear pronouns. For example, in the sentence, “Claire and Kathy went out, and she drove,” it’s not clear who she refers to — and that will cost you points.
  • Watch the details. If you don’t know how to spell a word, use a different word. A typo here or there is okay, but reversing the i and the e in common words will cost you. I once had a student misspell “illustrate” with one l about five times on a single essay. That wouldn’t fly.
  • Maintain a professional tone. The essay section isn’t for creative writing. It’s more like business writing, so avoid off-color language, slang, and inappropriate humor. Creativity, done well, will be appreciated by the evaluators, but be appropriate. And no bullet points.

Is that enough? Time to get down to an essay.

Writing the Issue Essay

In the Analyze an Issue task, the GRE gives you an issue statement and asks you to introduce and then support your position on that issue. The format is like this:

Where do you begin? What do they want? Only 29 minutes left! Getting started is the hardest part and staying focused is the most important. With a game plan and a structure in place, you’re equipped to do both. The following sections provide details for the plan and structure I recommend.

  1. Read the prompt and understand what it’s instructing you to do.
  2. Identify relevant information you already know about the issue.
  3. Take a position that’s in line with your examples.
  4. Write a four- to five-paragraph essay using the following outline as your guide:
    • First paragraph: Introduction stating your position
    • Second paragraph: Your best supporting detail
    • Third and possibly fourth paragraphs: One or two more supporting details
    • Final paragraph: Conclusion reiterating your position statement from your introduction

Step 1: Read and understand the prompt

The Issue Analysis essay prompt consists of an issue statement followed by instructions that tell you exactly what to do. Obviously, the issue statements vary, but so too do the accompanying instructions. Here are a few examples that illustrate how the instructions in Issue Analysis prompts may differ:

  • Write a response expressing your agreement or disagreement with this statement and the reasoning you followed to arrive at your position. Be sure to consider ways in which the statement may or may not be true and how these considerations influence your position.
  • Write a response expressing your agreement or disagreement with this statement and addressing the most compelling reasons and/or examples that may challenge your position.
  • Which do you find more compelling: Group A’s assertion or Group B’s response to it? Write a response in which you take a position and explain the reasoning you followed to arrive at your position.

Tip At the time of this writing, ETS has its entire pool of Issue Analysis topics available at www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/issue/pool. You don’t have to type this in — just Google, “GRE issue pool.” This list contains all the issue statements along with examples of the instructions that accompany those statements so you can develop a better feel for how the prompts may be worded and what they’re likely to instruct you to do. You can use this list for extra practice, but don’t get bogged down by trying to practice on every topic — there are a lot of topics. Just read through some of them so you know what to expect. (We play a game in class called “topic roulette,” where we scroll through the list, randomly pick a topic, and then as a group write the essay. I’ve had students tell me later that the prompt they got on the exam was one we reviewed in class!)

Step 2: Start with your supporting info

Your first inclination may be to state your position on the issue and then try to come up with data to support it. This strategy, though seemingly intuitive, doesn’t always work. I’ve seen students take a stand and then struggle to support it. On the actual GRE, this approach would earn you an essay score of 2. Instead, find your supporting details and then base your position on those details. This way, no matter what, you can support the point that you’re making, and the evaluators check off the first thing on their list.

Before taking a position, use your scratch paper to write down five supporting details related to the issue statement. Along with each supporting detail, write down which side of the issue you think it supports. For an essay on handmade versus mass-produced goods, such a list may look something like this:

  • Your mass-produced Casio wristwatch versus your uncle’s handmade Patek Philippe — favors cheap manufacturing
  • An off-the-rack suit versus a tailored suit — favors handmade quality
  • Your HP computer versus your friend’s custom-built PC from catalog-ordered parts — can go either way
  • The $35 Raspberry Pi pocket-sized computer — could go either way
  • Your Honda Civic versus your grandpa’s Ford Model T — favors cheap manufacturing, but this example can easily be refuted

Tip Don’t worry if your examples aren’t perfect — you’re racing the clock, so just throw some down. You need only two or three examples, so writing down five gives you room to discard a couple.

Your examples can be taken from personal or professional experiences, readings, or other general background knowledge that you possess. What have you seen, done, or heard that formed your opinion on this issue? You may find that your examples support the opposite of your initial response, and you want to discover this before writing the introduction.

Step 3: Take a position that’s in line with your examples

From your examples, formulate your position. I know, you may feel like you’re working backwards, but you want to take the position that you know you’re able to support best. This essay isn’t a personal statement; it’s a test of your ability to compose a clear, coherent essay. In this case, your best examples favor cheap manufacturing over handmade quality. So run with that, even if you personally disagree. If necessary, adjust your personal position for the essay. Your goal isn’t self-expression; it’s to score a perfect 6.

Remember You’re not making a commitment here. You’re simply writing a GRE essay. No one is going to bring this essay up in ten years when you’re running for office. In fact, no one ever sees your essays ever again, and believe me, students and I have tried. If your supporting examples don’t fit your inherent position, these 30 minutes are not the time for soul-searching on why not. Your task is one thing: Write a Level 6 essay. It’s okay to declare something that you don’t feel. Just look at your examples and write from a position that these examples can support.

The examples you wrote in Step 1 give you a good sense of where your essay will go. Now that your examples are down on paper and you’ve gathered your thoughts, you’re ready to write your introduction.

Step 4: Write your Issue Analysis essay

You’ve laid the groundwork for writing your Issue Analysis essay. You’ve read the statement and the instructions, identified supporting details, and shaped your position. The time has come to write your essay. The easiest approach to composing a great essay is to structure it around a very basic four- to five-paragraph outline, as explained in the following sections.

First paragraph: Introduction

Use the first paragraph of your essay (the introduction) to demonstrate your understanding of the issue and clearly state your position. Structure the paragraph as follows:

  • First sentence: Introduce the issue and state your position as a response to the prompt.

    Tip Take a clear stand in your essay — it’s one of the things they grade you on. Arguing both sides of an issue, discussing strengths and weaknesses, or writing, “It depends on the situation,” is fine, but you must — must — make your position clear and be consistent throughout your essay.

  • Second sentence: Acknowledge the presence of both sides of the issue and that you, in fact, anticipate and address objections to your point of view while alluding to your brilliant logic and reasoning.
  • Next few sentences: Prepare the reader for your supporting details.
  • Final sentence: Write your thesis, which uses words from the prompt. Your thesis doesn’t have to be a separate sentence, but it has to be there.

Tip Repeat this thesis, with varied wording, at the end of each paragraph. You get points for being organized, and it’s a way for you to check that your example is on topic.

Refer to this bulleted list as you read the following example to see how I use this structure.

The broad assertion that all mass-produced goods are inferior to handcrafted products is clearly overreaching, and I disagree with the statement. Certainly, in some instances handcrafted products are superior, but more often mass production yields more precise, higher-quality products. A few real-world examples, including a wristwatch, suit, and personal computer, demonstrate why many, but not all, of today’s cheaper, mass-produced goods have better quality and precision than yesterday’s hand-built, carefully crafted products.

Warning A common pitfall is launching into the examples while still in your introduction. Then, when you get to the paragraph where you describe the example, you have nothing left to say. Such an approach demonstrates a lack of organizational skills and will result in a lower score. Instead, allude to your examples by mentioning what you will talk about in just a few words. Look at the sample introduction to see what I mean.

As you write your introductory paragraph, adhere to the following guidelines:

  • State your position clearly and succinctly. The evaluators favor a concise writing style. If you can clearly state your point with fewer words, do it. That said, be thorough when making your point.
  • Convey confidence. You’re stating a position and supporting it with relevant examples. You know you’re right, so act like it.
  • Stay on topic. Digressing and expanding your scope to support your position is tempting, but keep your discussion within the scope of the issue topic. For example, mass production may lower the product cost for increased availability, but the issue is about quality, not distribution. Anything outside the scope of the issue will result in a lower score.
  • Reference key terms. The topic is about mass production, quality, and precision, so use those terms whenever possible, especially in your thesis and the concluding sentence of each paragraph. Doing so signals that you’re responding directly to the prompt.

Second paragraph: Your best supporting detail

For the second paragraph, pick your best example and use it to write a single paragraph that supports your position. Structure the paragraph as follows:

  • First sentence: Present your best supporting detail or example and mention that it supports your position as stated in the introduction.
  • Next several sentences: Describe your example in greater detail.
  • Next sentence or two: Show how your example supports your position as stated in the introduction.
  • Last sentence: State unequivocally that the example you just presented clearly supports your position or refutes the counterargument.

Tip Make sure one sentence (preferably the last sentence) of each paragraph connects back to your thesis in the introduction. This assures the evaluator that you’re on track and your thoughts are organized. Check out the following example and compare it to the preceding list to see how I structured this second paragraph.

The wristwatch is an example of a product that is better when mass-produced. My Casio watch was mass-produced with probably 10,000 other identical units. I purchased this watch five years ago, and it has consistently worked perfectly, with the occasional interruption for a battery replacement. The quality is fine, and the precision couldn’t be better. Contrast this with my uncle’s Patek Philippe, which was handmade with maybe a dozen others. Due to the motion-generated winding feature, his watch stops working when he doesn’t wear it for more than two days! Clearly, this is neither precise timekeeping nor quality of utility. At any given moment, the Casio will always show the correct time, while the Patek’s precision is a coin toss. The claim that mass-produced products lack the precision and quality of handmade goods, in this commonly occurring context, is clearly wrong.

Your examples don’t need to be 100 percent correct. They serve to demonstrate how your powers of observation and insight support your point. The evaluators understand that you can’t research anything while writing the essay. However, don’t create examples out of thin air, because they’re likely to sound phony.

Remember A clever writing style, as in describing the Patek’s accuracy as “a coin toss,” is encouraged. Again, though, be appropriate.

Warning Make sure your examples aren’t easily refutable. For example, if you’re claiming that mass-produced goods are both better and cheaper, don’t compare your mass-produced Civic to your grandfather’s hand-built Model T. In this case, the 100 years of improved technology, not the method of production, is obviously the reason for the Civic’s superior performance and reliability. This comparison is a poor example because it’s too easily refuted.

Third and fourth paragraphs: More supporting detail

The third and fourth paragraphs of your essay are similar to the second paragraph. Each paragraph should present a single supporting example from your notes, show how the example supports your position, and refer back to the introduction.

However, some products are better as handmade items than as mass-produced commodities, such as gentlemen’s suits. For example, I wore an off-the-rack two-piece suit to my high-school graduation. The jacket was slightly large, but the next size smaller jacket was too small. The workmanship was mediocre, with loose threads and a misplaced stitch. It wasn’t cheap, but it was mass-produced, and thus had neither quality nor precision. Contrast this with the handmade, professionally tailored suit that I bought last year. The precise fit is flawless and the quality unparalleled. Though the claim that mass-produced products lack the quality and precision of handmade goods is true in this example, the claim still cannot be applied to all products.

Here’s another example paragraph:

Furthermore, some products can feature high or low quality and precision regardless of whether they are mass-produced or handmade. Computers are a good example of this. My mass-produced Lenovo laptop demonstrates both precision and quality, while the Compaq computer I bought in 2009 lacked the quality to last more than 18 months. On the other hand, my friend hand-built a computer from parts ordered in a catalog, and his computer works with extremely high quality and precision. I have heard stories, however, of hand-built computers that didn’t fare as well. Therefore, the general claim that mass-produced products lack the quality and precision of handmade goods is clearly flawed, because in this case, whether the product is hand-made or mass-produced doesn’t determine the outcome.

Tip You don’t need to always take one side of the issue — these three examples of the wristwatch, gentlemen’s suit, and computer clearly show different sides of the issue. However, the examples are consistent with the thesis, which is that a general claim of precision and quality cannot be applied to everything.

Final paragraph: The conclusion

Think of the final paragraph, the conclusion, as the closing bracket of your essay, with the introduction being the opening bracket. Your conclusion should mirror your introduction while leaving the evaluator with a sense of closure. Structure your concluding paragraph as follows:

Tip You can refer to the introduction when you write the conclusion. They basically say the same thing, but the conclusion should be more robust, because now you’ve explored the topic.

  • First sentence: Restate your position on the issue presented in the prompt.
  • Middle sentence or two: Remind the reader of the supporting details and/or examples you presented and the logical conclusion those details and examples support.
  • Final sentence: Summarize why you agree or disagree with the issue statement presented on the test, leaving the evaluator with a sense of closure. Touch upon or restate your thesis.

The following conclusion demonstrates how to follow these instructions:

To sum up, one cannot correctly claim that all mass-produced products are inferior to handmade goods. The examples describing the wristwatch, the gentlemen’s suit, and the personal computer clearly demonstrate that the claim may or may not be true, depending on the context and product. A claim that is sometimes true and sometimes not is an invalid claim, and this claim implies that it is always true. For this reason, I disagree with the statement, and I contend that most, but not all, mass-produced goods have better quality and precision than hand-built, carefully crafted products.

Tying everything together with smooth transitions

As you write, work toward transitioning smoothly from one paragraph to the next. Strong transitions connect the points you’re making, especially when your examples take different sides of the issue. Transitions contribute greatly to the organization and coherence of your essay, and they demonstrate control of the language. Here are a few examples of commonly used transitions:

  • Closely related to this idea is …
  • Conversely, …
  • On the other hand, …
  • However, …
  • In contrast, …
  • Similarly, …

Besides transitions, a more subtle technique for tying everything together and staying on point is to repeat key terms throughout the essay. Identify key terms in the issue statement. For example, in the following issue statement, you may identify these as key terms: cheap, mass-produced, precision, quality, and hand-built.

“Today’s cheap, mass-produced goods lack the precision and quality of yesterday’s hand-built, carefully crafted products.”

Here’s the sample second paragraph again, bolding the repetition of key terms drawn directly from the issue statement:

The wristwatch is an example of a product that is better when mass-produced. My Casio watch was mass-produced with probably 10,000 other identical units. I purchased this watch five years ago, and it has consistently worked perfectly, with the occasional interruption for a battery replacement. The quality is fine, and the precision couldn’t be better. Contrast this with my uncle’s Patek Philippe, which was handmade with maybe a dozen others. Due to the motion-generated winding feature, his watch stops working when he doesn’t wear it for more than two days! Clearly, this is neither precise timekeeping nor quality of utility. At any given moment, the Casio will always show the correct time, while the Patek’s accuracy is a coin toss. The claim that mass-produced products lack the precision and quality of handmade goods, in this commonly occurring context, is clearly wrong.

Writing the Argument Essay

Okay, next! The second essay is called Analyze an Argument. The essay prompt presents a paragraph that states a position and provides several reasons in support of it. Your job is to analyze the argument and its reasoning and evidence and describe the additional evidence that is missing and how this evidence would affect the argument. Check out the following example:

The clock’s ticking, so you need to work fast, but you also need to analyze the argument before you start writing. By having a plan of attack and a structure in place, you’re better equipped to produce an outstanding essay in the allotted time. The following sections provide steps to writing a good argument.

  1. Read the prompt and understand what it’s instructing you to do.
  2. Identify the position stated in the argument.
  3. List the reasons given to support the stated position.
  4. Identify the flawed assumptions behind each reason.
  5. Write a four- or five-paragraph essay using the following outline as your guide:
    • Introductory paragraph demonstrating your understanding of the position stated in the argument and whether you think the evidence provided supports that position
    • Two or three paragraphs, each of which refutes a faulty assumption/conclusion presented in the argument or, if you agree with the stated position, provides additional evidence to support it
    • Concluding paragraph that recaps your essay and reinforces why the argument is or isn’t valid

Tip Unlike the Analyze an Issue essay, which is based on your opinion, the Analyze an Argument essay isn’t based on your opinion at all. It’s based on your analysis of the argument. For example, in this essay, your personal preference of family restaurants to saloons shouldn’t affect what you write.

Step 1: Read and understand the prompt

The Argument Analysis essay prompt contains a brief argument or plan along with instructions that tell you exactly what to do. The instructions vary, so read them carefully and understand what you’re being asked to do. Here are a few examples:

  • Write a response that evaluates the stated or unstated assumptions on which this argument is based. Explain how the argument relies on these assumptions and how any of the assumptions, if proven to be untrue, would affect the validity of the argument.
  • Write a response explaining the types of evidence needed to evaluate the argument and how the evidence might weaken or strengthen the argument.
  • Write a response presenting the types of questions that need to be answered in order to determine whether the recommended course of action would be advisable and whether the argument on which the recommended course of action is based is reasonable.

They’re basically the same — call out the key assumptions and describe how new information would support or weaken the argument or plan. Be sure to read the instructions, however — they may vary, and you want to follow them exactly.

Tip Finding the evidence that’s missing from the Analyze an Argument prompt is similar to strengthening, weakening, or finding the assumption of an Argument Analysis question in the Verbal section. Revisit Chapter 6 for more practice on spotting the assumption and ways that new information can strengthen or weaken it.

Tip Like the Analyze an Issue essay topics, at the time of this writing, the entire set of Analyze an Argument topics is available online courtesy of ETS. You can Google, “GRE argument pool,” or visit this link: http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/argument/pool. This list contains all the argument statements along with examples of the accompanying instructions, so you can practice finding the evidence that’s needed to support or weaken an argument. Don’t try to practice every topic — there are a lot of topics. Just read through some of them so that you know what to expect. (In class, we also play “topic roulette” with the argument topics.)

Step 2: Identify the position stated in the argument

The position statement is the point of the argument. It may be in the first sentence, or it may be offset by “therefore” or “for this reason,” like the conclusion of an argument. In this example, the position is

“Flint’s restaurant should be changed from a youth-oriented, family-style restaurant to a Western-style saloon serving alcoholic beverages and featuring country bands.”

Identifying the position stated in the argument is a crucial first step, because in the paragraphs that follow, you need to show how new information can support or weaken that position.

Step 3: List the reasons given to support the stated position

Every argument includes a list of facts to support the position. In this Flint’s restaurant example, the facts are easy to pick out because they’re identified by number:

  • First: Few families live in the area surrounding the restaurant; most have moved farther out into the suburbs.
  • Second: Flint owns and operates two other saloons that have liquor licenses, making him experienced in the field.
  • Third: Alcohol has a higher profit margin than does food.

Step 4: Identify the flawed assumptions behind each reason

As you begin to write your essay, look for the author’s flawed assumption(s) — anything the author claims or implies without providing sufficient evidence to back it up. (See Chapter 6 for more about assumptions.) For example, stating that “alcohol has a higher profit margin than does food” is a fact — but that doesn’t mean it’s more profitable.

When taking this on, keep in mind that you can argue assumptions, but you can’t argue facts. Alcohol does have a higher profit margin — you can’t challenge that. Instead, suggest that the profitability depends on the number of local residents who drink or that it may be offset by the loss of revenue from food sales. Pose these as questions that need to be answered, or evidence that needs to be presented, before determining that the higher profit margin from alcohol will lead to increased profits at Flint’s. This is new evidence that refutes the flawed assumption.

On your scratch paper, jot down about five assumptions and new facts that, going either way, would support or refute those assumptions. Write down only key words — save your prose for the essay. The following list is an example of assumptions and new facts that affect the argument:

  • Faulty assumption: Families won’t make the drive from the distant suburbs.

    New fact: Though families don’t live nearby, they may drive to the area for other reasons, such as shopping or recreation.

  • Faulty assumption: Because Flint’s other two saloons are successful, this new saloon will also be successful.

    New fact: Make sure this new saloon shares the factors that contribute to the success of the two other saloons, such as a nearby sports stadium or a theater.

  • Faulty assumption: Flint’s experience with saloons will make this newly converted saloon a success.

    New fact: Other factors affect success, including other saloons in the area. There could be five saloons across the street from this restaurant but no other family restaurants within 5 miles.

  • Faulty assumption: A liquor license that brings success to one locale will bring success to another.

    New fact: Regions are different. What works for a saloon in Dallas may not work for one in Salt Lake City.

  • Faulty Assumption: Alcohol’s higher profit margin will lead to higher overall profits, because the level of sales will be the same.

    New Fact: Though alcohol has a higher profit margin than food, the sales volume could be lower. Selling 200 dinners at a profit margin of 40 percent is more profitable than selling 24 beers at a profit margin of 80 percent.

You don’t have to describe all the faulty assumptions. Two or three are good, which is especially comforting if you can only think of a few. Regardless, start with the strongest faulty assumption, and work your way down. With only 30 minutes, having three well-developed points is very good, and it’s far better than having five sketchy ideas.

Step 5: Write your essay

You always want to outline an essay, and this outline is simple: An introduction, which sums up the faulty assumptions, two or three body paragraphs that each explores a faulty assumption, and a conclusion that restates the introduction.

Introductory paragraph

The first paragraph of your Analyze an Argument essay (the introduction) must demonstrate your understanding of the argument and whether you think the argument is valid or invalid. Structure the paragraph as follows:

  • First sentence or two: Briefly describe the argument you’re analyzing and that it’s based on key information that is missing.
  • Middle sentences: Touch upon the faulty assumptions and mention that they don’t fully support the argument. You could briefly mention all the assumptions in your list and then write that you will explore the assumptions with the most glaring flaws.
  • Final sentence: State your thesis, which with the Analyze an Argument essay, is typically to the effect of, “Without knowing these answers (or Without this additional evidence), there is no way to know whether this argument is true.”

As you read the following example introduction paragraph, refer to the preceding list and see how I apply this structure.

The author provides a compelling, though flawed, argument for Flint to convert his family restaurant to a saloon. Converting the restaurant may or may not be a wise course of action, and the assumptions used to support the argument lack sufficient evidence, and are, therefore, flawed. A great deal of information is missing that would validate or weaken the assumptions, such as whether how far away the families live makes a difference, whether success in one location promises success in another, and whether profit margin alone determines success. Without knowing these answers, there is no way to know whether this plan would succeed, and Flint would be unwise to risk his business without first learning these facts.

Paragraphs two, three, and possibly four

Your example paragraphs each covers one of the argument’s reasons or faulty assumptions and presents a new fact or reason to support or refute it. Start with your strongest point first, and structure each paragraph as follows:

  • First sentence or two: Present one of the argument’s reasons/assumptions in your own words.
  • Next sentence: Transition into the new fact you have to support or refute this particular reason/assumption.
  • Remaining sentences: Provide additional details to support your new fact.
  • Last sentence: Summarize how your new fact supports or refutes the argument’s reason/assumption.

Read my example second, third, and fourth paragraphs and compare them to this list to see how I use this structure. Following is a sample second paragraph:

First of all, the memorandum states that most families live too far away. This may be true, but it doesn’t mean families won’t eat there. The author assumes that because families live so far away, they’ll never be in the area. This may not be the case, because families may take a day trip into town and want to stop somewhere to eat. The author doesn’t mention whether the restaurant is near a children’s museum or a shopping mall that caters to families. The restaurant could be near plenty of family-based traffic, even though the suburbs are far from the restaurant. Without knowing whether families will still be visiting the area, it’s impossible to know whether the families’ living far away will affect the success of the restaurant.

Note the transition words at the beginning of each of the following essay paragraphs that help smooth the movement from one paragraph to the next:

  • Next, the memorandum suggests that because Flint runs two successful saloons, that this new saloon will also be successful. The author assumes that the conditions are the same at all locations. What works at one location, however, may not necessarily work at another. For example, the two saloons could be near sports arenas, where saloons thrive, and the restaurant could be near an amusement park, which wouldn’t be as welcoming to a new saloon. Without knowing the factors that lead to the saloons’ success, there is no way to know whether converting Flint’s restaurant to a third saloon would be profitable.
  • In addition, the memorandum mentions the higher profit margin of alcohol as key to increased profits. The memo assumes, however, that sales of alcohol will be the same. No information is provided to suggest liquor sales will be comparable to food sales. Although profit margin is key to profits, sales volume is also important. A 20 percent profit from $500,000 in sales is worth more than a 50 percent profit from $100,000 in sales. The level of proposed alcohol sales needs to be known before Flint abandons his existing food sales for a throw-of-the-dice level of alcohol sales, regardless of the profit margin.

As you write the body paragraphs, be sure to stick to these fine points:

  • Spell out exactly why each reason is valid or why each assumption is invalid. Don’t expect the evaluators to draw conclusions from your description — make it clear.
  • Cover only one faulty assumption per paragraph.
  • Use transition words at the beginning of each subsequent paragraph to move from one paragraph to the next. For more about transitions, see the section “Tying everything together with smooth transitions” earlier in this chapter.

Concluding paragraph

The last step to writing the Analyze an Argument essay is to compose the last paragraph, which is the conclusion. This is the closing bracket of your essay, with the introduction being the opening bracket. Your conclusion should mirror your introduction while leaving the evaluator with a sense of closure. It should also be more robust than the intro, because by now you’ve fully explored the faulty assumptions. Structure your concluding paragraph as follows:

  • First sentence: Acknowledge the argument’s main point and generally explain why you think it has or hasn’t been adequately proven.
  • Next sentence or two: Remind the reader of the reasons or assumptions that you think support or question the main point of the argument.
  • Closing: The closing need not be a separate sentence, but it should complete your essay, leaving the evaluator with a sense of closure.

Look at my example conclusion and how I use the preceding list to draft the sentences.

Though the author provides a strong argument for converting Flint’s restaurant to a saloon, the argument relies on several assumptions that are based on uncertain facts. These uncertain facts include the importance of how far away the families live, the question of whether success in one location brings success in another, and the dubious assumption that a higher profit margin alone will make the business more profitable. Flint should verify these key facts before making his decision.

Remember The evaluators know that you’re writing a rough draft. Your essays don’t have to be perfect — they have to be logical, well-organized, and clear.