CHAPTER 20

Analytical Writing Assessment

• Essay Format and Structure
• The Basic Principles of Analytical Writing
• How the AWA Is Scored
• The Kaplan Method for Analytical Writing
• Breakdown: Analysis of an Argument
• GMAT Style Checklist
• Practice Essays

The Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) is either the first task or the last task on the GMAT, depending on which section order you choose. When the section begins, you will be presented with the Analysis of an Argument essay assignment. You will have 30 minutes to complete it.

For the essay, you will analyze a given topic and then type your essay into a simple word processing program. It allows you to do only the following basic functions:

• Insert text
• Delete text
• Cut and paste
• Undo the previous action
• Scroll up and down on the screen

Spell-check and grammar-check functions are not available in the program, so you will have to check those things carefully yourself. One or two spelling errors or a few minor grammatical errors will not lower your score. But many spelling errors can hurt your score, as can errors that are serious enough to obscure your intended meaning.

Thirty minutes is not enough time to produce the same kind of essay you’ve written for college classes. Nor is it enough time to do a lot of trial and error as you type. It is, however, enough time to write a “strong first draft” if you plan carefully, and that’s what the essay graders are looking for.