This line of “reasoning” suggests that if one thing is true, the other cannot be true, as in “Either we build the new public safety building now, or we act with wanton disregard for the safety of every citizen in this community.” Either-or thinking may be used to argue that two courses of action cannot exist at the same time or lead as effectively to the same result at the same time.
Assumptions
ETS rolls many of the specific flaws described above, as well as others, into the blanket term
“assumptions.” For example, ETS calls faulty cause-and-effect, or the fact that one thing is said to cause another but didn’t necessarily, a flawed assumption. Therefore, feel free to use “faulty,”
“incorrect,” or “illogical assumption” to identify most flaws you find, or expose the flaws without naming their type.
A statement such as “One problem with the argument is . . .” is perfectly acceptable based on the models that ETS presents. What will make or break your response is not the language you use to identify flaws, but the ability to recognize flaws, explain the problems with their supposed “support”
of the argument, and relate the flaws back to the specific writing instructions.
CREATE YOUR WRITING PLAN
Now that you know what to expect in an argument task, it’s time to create a plan for attacking it.
Think of it as three-pronged: prewriting, drafting, and proofreading. You’ll have just 30 minutes to do all this, so you should plan to spend the bulk of that time—say 23 or so minutes—drafting.
However, you need to know what you’re going to write, so don’t skip prewriting.
Prewriting
The prewriting part of your writing plan has these steps that will help you focus on the task, gather your ideas, and plan the development of your response.
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restate the Prompt: Read the entire prompt carefully and then restate it in your own words to make certain that you understand the argument and the specific instructions.
Identify the Claim/Issue and Any Statements Based on the Claim: Next, find the claim. Sometimes the word “claim” is actually used in the prompt, but most of the time it is not. Remember that the claim is the main idea or proposition. Statements based on the claim may include advice, recom-mendations, predictions, explanations, and conclusions. Ask:
•
Is the main claim true?•
Is it true in all cases?•
Under what circumstances would it not be true?Ask some “what if” questions about situations or circumstances in which the claim would be weakened or invalidated. Then decide whether the conclusion, recommendation, prediction, explanation, or advice logically follows from the claim. Ask yourself why.
Examine the Claim/Issue from Different Perspectives: For example, a town is deciding whether it needs a new public safety building to replace its old fire and police station.
Think about this question from the point of view of
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a person who works in the station every day.•
people who will make money from the new construction.•
people who will feel more important if a new station is built.•
taxpayers, some of whom may be burdened by high taxes, unemployment, or both.•
people who think the old building is just fine and it’s better to renovate than build new.Jot a “Quick Write”: Spend 2 or 3 minutes jotting down your ideas. (Computer-based test-takers will be able to use scrap paper that is provided for this purpose.) This isn’t a full outline, but just a list of flaws in the argument, main points, and few supporting ideas for each main point. Ideas won’t come in any particular order, so list them as they flow. Then cross out ideas that don’t seem as though they fit, and number ideas you want to use in the order in which you want to use them.
The most sophisticated ideas earn the highest scores on the analytical writing measure; therefore, don’t just plan on developing the first ideas that pop into your head! Instead, use the best, least sim-plistic, and most original ideas for your response, ideas that you can substantiate in meaty, persuasive ways. If possible, position your best idea at the end of your essay for greatest rhetorical effect. If you can, also come up with an idea for the opening that will appeal to your audience—with drama, human interest, vivid detail.
Chapter 5: The Argument Task 165
facebook.com/petersonspublishing Some Tried-and-True Sentence Starters
You can use the basic language of analyzing an argument in sentence starters such as those on the following list. You’ll find fleshed-out examples of several of these starters in the sample essays later in this chapter. These sentence starters can help bring clarity to your writing, as well as give your writing an organizational boost by providing transitions between sentences and paragraphs:
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The first problem/the most fundamental problem/an obvious flaw in this argument is . . .•
The statement/prediction/conclusion that XXX is an unjustified assumption because . . .•
A problem with this reasoning is . . .•
It is arguable that . . .•
What if . . .•
The writer/author/argument implies that . . .•
Nothing in this argument actually tells/explains/supports . . .•
This argument asserts that . . .•
This assertion is illogical because . . .drafting
In reality, you won’t just be drafting: you’ll be drafting and revising simultaneously because there’s no time to do them as separate steps. To get the most out of your limited time, keep these priorities in mind as you draft:
Answer the Task: Some test-takers produce competent essays that fail to answer the task and, therefore, sink them. After you write your opening or first paragraph, glance briefly back at the task to be sure you are addressing it or are on track to addressing it. (Computer-based users can do this by clicking on “Question Directions” at the top of the screen.) As you answer the task, be as thoughtful and insightful as you can be. Be sure you focused on the flaws in the argument.
organize Your response: The following pattern is a standard, or traditional, way to organize your overall response. It leads your reader smoothly through your response by eliminating confusion and guesswork. In addition, it helps to create fluency—or the illusion of it. If you’re a writer who has trouble with organization, this pattern gives you a structure to develop your ideas around:
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Opening paragraph: Thesis or clear statement of your position•
Body paragraph 1: Reason 1 for your position, fully explained and supported•
Body paragraph 2: Reason 2 for your position, fully explained and supported•
Body paragraph 3: A statement of the most effective counterargument, an acknowledgment of its reasonableness, and your fully explained and supported response; or any other specific and developed point needed to address the writing task instructions•
Closing paragraph: Reason 3 (another key challenge or another main point) that directly responds to the specific writing instructions; provides support as needed; plus a detail, statement, question, or other device that delivers closure to your responseTIP
Using a standardMaster the GRE® 2014
Suppose you use this pattern of organization. How do you decide what reason to use first, second, and third? Often, the best way to organize points for an argument is by order of importance. You could choose your most significant reason to be first or last. If you use your most powerful, that is, strongest, support as the third and final point, your readers will take away from your response your most impressive piece of argument.
Provide Ample, Thoughtful, Well-Developed Support: As you lay out each main point of your response, be sure you support it fully with the best evidence, and be sure you explain that evidence clearly enough so that it actually does evaluate the recommendation, advice, prediction, expla-nation, or conclusion. All the topics are meant to be general enough that anyone can answer them.
For example, a prompt may ask you to discuss the questions that would need to be asked in order to decide if a recommendation to adopt honor codes by colleges and universities is reasonable. No special knowledge is required to respond to this prompt, but if you have experience with an honor code, you could incorporate that experience. Observations, such as your own experience, facts, authoritative opinions, examples, and human interest stories can and should be used liberally to support your points.
Link Ideas Clearly: Your organization doesn’t have to be traditional, or based in any way on typical instruction in college writing classes, but it does have to be logical and help to create overall coherence. Based on reviewing sample analyses, ETS values transitional words and phrases, so link paragraphs and ideas appropriately as you write. Also, don’t overlook the value of a topic sentence in providing an organizational boost to your essay.
Consider Style: If you’re aiming for a top score, vary your sentences and word choices. Note that transitional words and phrases not only help you create coherence, but they can help you vary the beginnings of sentences as well.
If you have enough
TIP
time, look for ways to increase the style quotient of your response by making your
open-ing more attention getting, tweaking word choice so that it’s stronger or more vivid, and varying your sentences.
Chapter 5: The Argument Task 167
facebook.com/petersonspublishing TrANSITIoNS
Review the following lists of transitional words and phrases and use them as you practice writing responses to the tasks in the practice tests. In that way, you can integrate them into your writing style so they flow as you write your actual responses on test day.
Transitions to Introduce or Link opinions and reasons
because evidently indeed
besides for this reason on the other hand
by comparison furthermore since
consequently however therefore
Transitions that Introduce or Link Examples
for example in this case one type
for instance in this situation to illustrate this point Transitions that Create Emphasis or Add Information
after all furthermore more important
again in addition moreover
besides indeed similarly
certainly in fact what’s more
Transitions that Introduce opposing Views
although this may be true naturally on the other hand
even though nevertheless undeniably
evidently notwithstanding unquestionably
it may be said of course without a doubt
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Proofreading
Save 2 or 3 minutes for proofreading and fine-tuning your essay. An omitted word could invalidate a good point by making the sentence in which it appears unclear or nonsensical. Look specifically for the following:
Check Your Thesis: Make sure that you’ve stated it and stated it clearly. Make sure your response reflects this statement.
Look for omitted Words: When you’re writing in a hurry, it’s easy to leave out what could be a crucial word.
Check for Sentence Faults: At this stage, you want to make certain that you eliminate any inef-fective fragments, any run-on sentences, and any fused sentences or comma splices.
Don’t Spend Time on Spelling or Commas: Keep in mind that the rubric doesn’t mention spelling.
Spelling evidently has “minor error” status for ETS readers. Likewise, ETS readers aren’t concerned with errors such as a missing comma here or there.
A FINAL NOTE OF CAUTION
ETS wants its computer-based users to know that their responses will be subjected to analysis by software that searches for similarities to published information. It warns that it will “cancel” a score if it contains any unacknowledged use of sources. In addition, ETS will cancel a response if an essay or any part of it has been prepared by another person. Finally, a score will be cancelled if it includes language that is “substantially” similar to the language in one or more other test responses.