Master Writing GRE Essay With Examples, Prompts, And Tips

To provide answers to any GRE essay related questions on types of GRE essays, step-by-step writing approach, essay prompts, GRE essay prompts, essay length, etc., we have prepared a detailed guide full of efficient examples that will help you get the highest score. After reading the information below, you will get acquainted with the basics of GRE essay writing. Also, you will understand the difference between the issue and argument analysis. Moreover, you will strengthen your analytical skills and enable your chances to write a really outstanding GRE essay. Finally, we prepared the list of the most effective writing tips from GRE experts, who can assist you anytime you are questioned about the type of questions in GRE or GRE test scores. Just buy essay from our professionals or keep on reading the blog post. 

   

GRE essay

GRE essay is a paper that consists of an issue essay and an argumentative essay. This is a section of the GRE test that is called the GRE Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA). This part of the test takes an hour for the completion of both essay types that aim to test the student's ability to write a concise and cogent thesis statement that will be defended throughout the paper content.

Types of GRE essay

The GRE essay section comprises two different essay types that are devoted to testing students' ability to take a particular position on a general statement and analyze the logic behind the chosen position. 

• Analyze GRE issue. The Issue essay task requires the applicant to respond to and examine a general statement. In other words, a student has to analyze some claim related to politics, culture, or education. Typically, the applicants have to take a particular position on an intricate matter.
• Analyze GRE argument. The Argument essay task requires students to dissect their logic behind a particular position. Such analysis should be based on in-depth reading, as the position itself takes about a paragraph.

GRE analytical writing. How to write an outstanding GRE essay step by step

As far as GRE analytical writing measure involves two writing pieces, you will need to write them before the quantitative and verbal sections. These tasks should be logical writings with a successfully communicated thesis in the first sentence. To exclude the option of being wrong with writing a creative response with extraneous words that won’t gain any points, follow a step-by-step approach in writing a GRE essay:

• Step 1: Develop a thesis statement based on your position regarding the prompt.
• Step 2: Outline core examples supporting your thesis.
• Step 3: Explain what the existence of your examples implies.
• Step 4: Provide further reasoning about the occurrence of new issues regarding the topic.
• Step 5: Spend the last few minutes for the revision of the response.

Common GRE essay prompts

Students should remember that some prompts from the list they found on the GRE site will come up on their test day. The common essay prompts are related to education, technology, and society, cities, arts, government and power, intellectual endeavors, or even philosophical studies. While the pools of essay prompt on the GRE site are really extensive, there’s no point in writing an essay for each from the list; it’s enough to be familiar with all the writing possibilities by going through the practice of answering them without dreaded or paralyzed brain-freeze on your test day.

Issue Task Example

"As people rely more and more on technology to solve problems, the ability of humans to think for themselves will surely deteriorate. Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position."

 Argument Task Example

"In surveys, Mason City residents rank water sports (swimming, boating, and fishing) among their favorite recreational activities. The Mason River flowing through the city is rarely used for these pursuits, however, and the city park department devotes little of its budget to maintaining riverside recreational facilities. For years there have been complaints from residents about the quality of the river's water and the river's smell. In response, the state has recently announced plans to clean up Mason River. Use of the river for water sports is therefore sure to increase. The city government should, for that reason, devote more money in this year's budget to riverside recreational facilities.

Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on the assumptions and what the implications are if the assumptions prove unwarranted." Create an argumentative essay outline to highlight your justification.

In case you wonder what is the SAT essay, read another blog we have on this platform.

Strategies for a GRE issue easy

To tackle the GRE essay section, you have to apply a particular strategy to both writing assignments, the argument, and the issue essays. When it comes to the issue essay, there are some useful tips and tricks that can really help you get the score that you really deserve.

1.Read the prompt carefully. 

Read the given prompt asserting your opinion and craft a written argument for or against that opinion. For example, having the prompt about the necessity of governmental restrictions on any scientific research and development, you will get a set of boilerplate instructions, like agree or disagree with the recommendation for applying such restrictions, describe specific circumstances of it to be advantageous or disadvantageous and provide examples, and you're off!

2.The side doesn't matter - your proof matters more.

In the GRE test, there will never be prompts with obvious choices, as it really doesn't matter which side of the claim or an argument scholar chooses to come down on. On the contrary, you should make your case clearly by using concrete examples and employing pathos, logos, and ethos.

 3.Expose a counter-argument

Good arguments require a refutation of the counter-argument. You should always include a short paragraph with the opposing view that will point out its flaws.

 

GRE essay examples 

Viewing GRE essay samples can improve students’ grammar and style. Moreover, such samples help a student understand what the grader is looking for. Have a look at the "6"  grade GRE sample essays provided below:

Example 1

 "Whenever people argue that history is a worthless subject or that there is nothing to be gained by just “memorizing a bunch of stupid names and dates,” I simply hold my tongue and smile to myself. What I’m thinking is that, as cliche as it sounds, you do learn a great deal from history (and woe to those who fail to learn those lessons). It is remarkable to think of the number of circumstances and situations in which even the most rudimentary knowledge of history will turn out to be invaluable. Take, for example, the issue at hand here. Is it better for society to instill in future leaders a sense of competition or cooperation? Those who have not examined leaders throughout time and across a number of fields might not have the ability to provide a thorough and convincing answer to this question, in spite of the fact that it is crucial to the future functioning of our society.
Looking closely at the question of leadership and how it has worked in the past, I would have to agree that the best way to prepare young people for leadership roles is to instill in them a sense of cooperation. Let us look first at those leaders who have defined themselves based on their competitiveness. Although at first glance it may appear that a leader must have a competitive edge in order to gain and then maintain a leadership position, I will make two points on this subject. First, the desire to compete is an inherent part of human nature; that is, it is not something that needs to be “instilled” in young people.

Is there anyone who does not compete in some way or another every single day? You try to do better than others in your school work or at the office, or you just try to do better than yourself in some way, to push yourself. When societies instill competitiveness in their leaders, it only leads to trouble. The most blatant example in this case is Adolf Hitler, who took competition to the very extreme, trying to prove that his race and his country were superior to all. We do not, however, need to look that far to find less extreme examples (i.e., Hitler is not the extreme example that disproves the rule). The recent economic meltdown was caused in no large part by the leaders of American banks and financial institutions who were obsessed with competing for the almighty dollar. Tiger Woods, the ultimate competitor in recent golfing history and in many ways a leader who brought the sport of golf to an entirely new level, destroyed his personal life (and perhaps his career ˉˉ still yet to be determined) by his overreaching sense that he could accomplish anything, whether winning majors or sleeping with as many women as possible. His history of competitiveness is well documented; his father pushed him froma very early age to be the ultimate competitor. It served him well in some respects, but it also proved to be detrimental and ultimately quite destructive.

Leaders who value cooperation, on the other ahnd, have historically been less prone to these overreaching, destructive tendencies. A good case in point would be Abraham Lincoln. Now, I am sure at this point you are thinking that Lincoln, who served as President during the Civil War and who refused to compromise with the South or allow secession, could not possibly be my model of cooperation! Think, however, of the way Lincoln structured his Cabinet. He did not want a group of “yes men” who would agree with every word he said, but instead he picked people who were more likely to disagree with his ideas. And he respected their input, which allowed him to keep the government together in the North during a very tumultuous period (to say the least). My point in choosing the Lincoln example is that competitiveness and conflict may play better to the masses and be more likely to be recorded in the history books, but it was his cooperative nature that allowed him to govern effectively. Imagine if the CEO of a large company were never able to compromise and insisted that every single thing be done in exactly her way. Very quickly she would lose the very people that a company needs in order to survive, people with new ideas, people ready to make great advances.

Without the ability to work constructively with those who have conflicting ideas, a leader will never be able to strike deals, reach consensus, or keep an enterprise on track. Even if you are the biggest fish in the pond, it is difficult to force your will on others forever; eventually a bigger fish comes along (or the smaller fish team up against you!). In the end, it seems most critical for society to instill in young people a sense of cooperation. In part this is true because we seem to come by our competitive side more naturally, but cooperation is more often something we struggle to learn (just think of kids on the playground). And although competitive victory is more showy, more often than not the real details of leadership come down to the ability to work with other people, to compromise and cooperate. Getting to be President of the United States or the managing director of a corporation might require you to win some battles, but once you are there you will need diplomacy and people-skills. Those can be difficult to learn, but if you do not have them, you are likely to be a short-lived leader."

 Example 2

(GRE Argument Essay)

"While it may be true that the Mason City government ought to devote more money to riverside recreational facilities, this author's argument does not make a cogent case for increased resources based on river use. It is easy to understand why city residents would want a cleaner river, but this argument is rife with holes and assumptions, and thus, not strong enough to lead to increased funding.
Citing surveys of city residents, the author reports city resident's love of water sports. It is not clear, however, the scope and validity of that survey. For example, the survey could have asked residents if they prefer using the river for water sports or would like to see a hydroelectric dam built, which may have swayed residents toward river sports. The sample may not have been representative of city residents, asking only those residents who live upon the river. The survey may have been 10 pages long, with 2 questions dedicated to river sports. We just do not know. Unless the survey is fully representative, valid, and reliable, it can not be used to effectively back the author's argument. Additionally, the author implies that residents do not use the river for swimming, boating, and fishing, despite their professed interest, because the water is polluted and smelly.
While a polluted, smelly river would likely cut down on river sports, a concrete connection between the resident's lack of river use and the river's current state is not effectively made. Though there have been complaints, we do not know if there have been numerous complaints from a wide range of people, or perhaps from one or two individuals who made numerous complaints. To strengthen his/her argument, the author would benefit from implementing a normed survey asking a wide range of residents why they do not currently use the river. Building upon the implication that residents do not use the river due to the quality of the river's water and the smell, the author suggests that a river clean up will result in increased river usage. If the river's water quality and smell result from problems which can be cleaned, this may be true. For example, if the decreased water quality and aroma is caused by pollution by factories along the river, this conceivably could be remedied. But if the quality and aroma results from the natural mineral deposits in the water or surrounding rock, this may not be true.
There are some bodies of water which emit a strong smell of sulphur due to the geography of the area. This is not something likely to be affected by a clean-up. Consequently, a river clean up may have no impact upon river usage. Regardless of whether the river's quality is able to be improved or not, the author does not effectively show a connection between water quality and river usage. A clean, beautiful, safe river often adds to a city's property values, leads to increased tourism and revenue from those who come to take advantage of the river, and a better overall quality of life for residents. For these reasons, city government may decide to invest in improving riverside recreational facilities. However, this author's argument is not likely significantly persuade the city goverment to allocate increased funding."

How long is a GRE essay?

Writing a GRE essay, you should keep in mind the optimal length of the paper that you can write effectively within the time provided. As far as students have just 30 minutes per each essay in the GRE essay section, the optimal length is 500 words that will consist of up to 35 sentences in total. This wordcount gives the opportunity to divide the essay into 3-4 paragraphs of 125-165 words per paragraph. There is no strict requirement regarding the number of paragraphs or their word count, but it is better to keep them equal in length as there should be a balance. 

Maybe you will need to write a 1000 word essay, keep in mind we have thhe whole blog dedicated to this issue.

Pro tips for an outstanding GRE essay  

Most of you would probably try their forces in completing every task from the list of GRE prompts. However, it is not the best way to succeed in GRE essay writing. To deal with the writing section of the GRE test successfully, it is better to keep in mind the most useful tips outlines by the writers experienced in writing such GRE responses. 

1. Say it as you mean it (Express your own position clearly, there is no need to take someone else's position or so-called right position)

2. Bolster an argument with strong real-world examples relevant to the topic (Quality example take half of the writing test score)

3. Practice with GRE prompts within a 30-minute GRE guideline (Practicing helps to overcome exam stress).

4. Always expose a counter-argument (The opposing position helps to strengthen your analysis)

5. Forget about writing vaguely and trivially (GRE response should be the maximum brief)

Are you preparing for application? You might also be inteseted in National Honor Society essay writing tips.

Gaining knowledge about the types of GRE essays, step-by-step writing approach, essay prompts, GRE essay prompts, essay length outlined in our detailed guide, you are ready to get the highest score. The basics of GRE essay writing strengthens the analytical skills and enable writing a really outstanding GRE essay. Our GRE experts can extend the list of effective GRE writing tips in case you feel that you need any additional assistance in reaching the highest GRE test scores.