GRE Essay Examples you can use make an “A” with Ease
GRE Essay – If writing essays is not your forte, then you need to sit up and take stock of the amount of preparation you will need for getting a good score in the Analytical Writing test section of the GRE. It is, for this reason, I am here for you. Keep reading to learn more.
The best way to figure out how to get a high Analytical Writing score is to look at a GRE essay sample, but doing so without any guidance can be overwhelming.
How do you show insight? Do typos affect your score? What’s a good way to keep your essay organized?
Even the most seasoned writers will tell you one of the biggest challenges to writing is simply getting started.
The blank page is intimidating enough of a challenge when you’re not under any time constraints, serving as a clear reminder that you haven’t even begun.
When you factor in the amount of time you’ll be given on the GRE to write a strong essay not to mention the overall pressure you’ll experience throughout the entire exam – the blank page will seem like an even more daunting obstacle.
GRE Essay Examples: How do I Practice for GRE Writing?
Essay writing is tough. Practicing for the GRE Analytical Writing Assessment–given that it’s difficult to get feedback–makes things even more unpleasant: you write and write without knowing if you are improving.
But do not despair–there are sample essays, friends and family, and the ETS essay grading service, as well as many GRE writing tips you can use.
Write
By simply writing often you will be able to write with greater command and facility. With diligent practice, words will not seem submerged deep in your hippocampus but will spring to life on the page.
Don’t Forget to Outline/Brainstorm
You must think about what you are going to write before you write. I’m sure many amongst you subscribe to the school of thought that if you write, they will come: the words, the compelling examples, and the nuanced logic.
When practising for the GRE, you must avoid this tendency and instead spend a few minutes coming up with a roadmap (either in your head or on the computer screen).
At first, this step will slow you down and you will want to go back to the old method. Be patient. Once you become adept at outlining, the essay will write itself.
Spend lots of Time Editing your Practice Essays
Though you won’t get much of an opportunity to edit your essay test day, sedulously editing your practice essays will make you more aware of your mistakes, both grammatical and logical.
Correcting these mistakes will not only help you anticipate them in the future but will also make the writing and logic in your future essays clearer.
Constantly Read Sample Essays
By reading other students’ essays, you will develop a sense of what ETS is looking for. You’ll also be able to better judge your essays.
Throughout practice sessions, you should keep tweaking your essays, so they get closer and closer to the next score up.
So if you started at a ‘3’, then focus on getting to a ‘4.’ Once you think you’ve done so, shoot your essay over to the ETS grading service.
Improve grammar
ETS explicitly states that it is looking for the quality and clarity of thought and not grammar per se. Yet the two are closely related.
So, if you struggle to articulate something–and in doing so break a grammatical rule (or three!)–you will sacrifice clarity.
Even minor grammatical errors (faulty pronouns, subject/verb agreement) will mar the overall quality of your writing.
GRE Essay Examples: How to Improve your Grammar and Style?
Between grammar and style, grammar is much easier to improve. Great style is much more elusive. Indeed, many writers have cultivated their prose style over years of assiduous practice.
Rest assured though–to score well on the GRE your prose does not have to be fit for The New York Times.
You do want to avoid choppy sentences by varying up your sentence structure. You shouldn’t be averse to trading a simple word for a more complex one as long that word is appropriate for the context.
A great book that offers writing advice, from dangling modifiers to how to construct compelling, dynamic sentences, is William Zinsser’s On Writing Well.
For a sterner approach to writing, Strunk and White’s Elements of Style have helped students for over half a century.
The only reason I mention both of these books is they focus not only on grammar but also on style.
Many grammar books should suffice, as far as grammar goes–but they are short on teaching writing style, which is a great skill to have for the GRE (and beyond!).
Are There Any Sample Essays You Can Read?
It is one thing to read the guidelines for what constitutes a ‘6’ essay. In essence, you are interpreting the information. But by actually reading you learn what the grader (and the robot) are looking for.
While sample essays abound in prep books, some of them appear written and polished over time, and thus don’t reflect the work of someone who is under the constraints for the essay.
GRE Essay Examples: Sample Argument Essay
This editorial argues that the Fern County Council’s decision to convert a library branch to a computer-skills training facility was the “right” one. However, its author fails to provide sufficient information to permit a proper evaluation of the argument’s reasoning. Each point of deficiency is discussed separately below.
One of the argument’s deficiencies involves the claim, based on a national trend, that there is “certain” to be a growing need in Fern County for computer-skills training. The author provides no specific evidence that the county conforms to the cited trend.
Lacking such evidence, it is entirely possible that the Fern County residents are, by and large, already highly proficient in using computers. Of course, it is also possible that a large and growing segment of the local population consists of senior citizens and/or young children — two groups who typically need computer-skills training — or unemployed workers needing to learn computer skills in order to find jobs.
In any event, more information about the county’s current and anticipated demographics is needed in order to determine the extent to which Fern County residents actually need and would use the Northside computer-training facility.
Another of the argument’s deficiencies is that it provides no information about alternative means of providing computer-skills training to county residents.
Perhaps certain local businesses or schools already provide computer-training facilities and services to the general public in which case it would be useful to know whether those alternatives are affordable for most county residents and whether they suffice to meet anticipated demand.
Or perhaps county residents are for the most part willing to teach themselves computer skills at home using books, DVDs and online tutorials — in which case it would be helpful to know the extent to which affordable broadband Internet access is available to Fern County households.
If it turns out that county residents can easily obtain computer-skills training through means such as these, converting the Northside branch might not have been a sensible idea.
Yet another of the editorial’s shortcomings has to do with the number of books in the Fern County library system. The mere fact that the system boasts a great number of books per capita does not necessarily mean that the supply is adequate or that it will be adequate in the future.
A full assessment of whether the remaining branches provide adequate shelf space and/or printed materials would require detailed information about the library system’s inventory vis-à-vis the current and anticipated needs and interests of Fern County residents.
If more, or more types, of printed books and periodicals are needed, then it would appear in retrospect that converting the Northside branch to a computer training center was a bad idea.
In a nutshell, then, a proper evaluation of the editorial requires more information about current as well as anticipated demand for computer-skills training in Fern County and about the adequacy of the library system’s stacks to meet the interests and preferences of the county’s residents.
The art of brainstorming doesn’t always come naturally, even to the most accomplished writers.
But rest assured, the benefits of taking just a few minutes to get your thoughts out of your head and onto a piece of paper is a great way to jumpstart your writing.
Kindly share this article with your friends on social media after reading it.
CSN Team.
