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HI Gradcafe, Just finished writing out one Issue and one Argument essay from the list of possible GRE prompts. Feel free to read and offer and critique if you have any. Thanks! Issue Topic: The best way to teach is to praise positive actions and ignore negative ones. Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, describe specific circumstances in which adopting the recommendation would or would not be advantageous and explain how these examples shape your position. I agree that with the recommendation in that the best way to teach includes praising positive actions, but I don’t agree that the best way to teach includes ignoring negative actions. Teaching entails a fragile balance of praising positive actions while making sure that any negative actions are corrected, without punishment or criticizing so often that the learner loses confidence in their ability to fulfill the goal. Praising positive actions is important because it serves two important purposes for the learner. First, it encourages the positive action and lets the learner know what s/he did correctly so that they continue to do the positive action when it’s appropriate. It helps the learner reinforce and repeat the things they’ve correctly learned. Secondly, it builds up the confidence of the learner. Confidence is important while learning because when a learner believes they have the ability to reach their goal, they are much more motivated to learn. Without the confidence that they have the ability to achieve the goal, learners wouldn’t even try. For example, if a beginner is trying to learn a language and is so overwhelmed and discouraged that they don’t believe they can ever master the language, they are more likely to give up hope and not be motivated to learn it. Praising positive actions reinforces confidence in the learner to motivate them and help them see that they have the ability to reach their goals. Some people believe that it’s easier and more effective to teach using the opposite of praising positive actions, which is punishing negative actions. However, punishing negative actions is not effective while teaching. It may seem easier for teachers to notice negative actions because it sticks out to them as something that “should not” be done. When learners are doing what they’re supposed to, it’s easier to take it for granted as something that they should be doing anyway. For example, if a student stays quiet like they’re supposed to doing storytime, it’s easier to take that positive action for granted, even if the student has been struggling to stay quiet the entire time. Once the student feels free and speaks up, which a teacher can construe as a negative action, it’s much easier to notice the noise that shouldn’t be there and to punish a student for it. Therefore, it may seem easier for teachers to point out and punish negative actions, rather than to notice and praise positive ones. Punishing negative actions without praising positive actions is an ineffective way to teach because it shatters the learner’s confidence as well as their motivation to learn and behave in the way that the teacher wants them to. Every time a child is punished for a negative action, for example pronouncing a word wrong while trying to learn a language, they lose confidence in their ability to master that task. Therefore, every punishment they receive is demotivating and therefore leads them to stray away from their goal of learning the thing they want to learn. As such, punishment is not an effective way to teach. The idea that punishment is ineffective may have lead to the recommendation that negative actions should be ignored. Although learners should not be outright punished for negative actions, their negative actions should not be ignored. Negative actions should be addressed so that they may be corrected in the future. For example, if a new tax accountant is learning how to properly fill out a client’s tax return, it would be ineffective to only praise them for the boxes they filled out correctly, and completely ignore the ones they filled out incorrectly. This style of teaching will lead learners to believe they did everything correctly and will cause them to continue making huge mistakes in the future. While negative actions shouldn’t be punished, they should be addressed in a kind and compassionate manner to allow learners to learn from their mistakes, while not demolishing their confidence that they have the ability to master the task. This requires neither punishment nor ignoring the negative action. On the one hand, punishing and yelling at the new tax accountant will cause them to afraid to ask you for help in the future, will ruin their confidence and motivation, and might cause so much shock to them that they don’t learn anything from their mistakes. On the other hand, completely ignoring the negative actions will cause them to be incogniscent of their mistakes and they will continue making the same mistakes over and over again. The learning opportunity that can be taken advantage of in their mistakes will missed. It takes a balance of kindly addressing the negative action without punishment, to allow the learner to learn from their mistakes while not feeling demotivated or stupid therefore inconfident for making the mistake. In conclusion, the recommendation that the best way to teach is the praise positive actions and ignore negative ones is accurate that praising positive actions is very beneficial for a learner, however it ignores the benefits that can be reaped from addressing negative actions. The best way to teach is a balance of praising positive actions while addressing negative ones, but without punishment. As such, both positive and negative actions should be addressed in a kind and compassionate way for the maximum learning results. Argument Topic: The following appeared in an article written by Dr. Karp, an anthropologist. Prompt: The following appeared in an article written by Dr. Karp, an anthropologist. "Twenty years ago, Dr. Field, a noted anthropologist, visited the island of Tertia and concluded from his observations that children in Tertia were reared by an entire village rather than by their own biological parents. However, my recent interviews with children living in the group of islands that includes Tertia show that these children spend much more time talking about their biological parents than about other adults in the village. This research of mine proves that Dr. Field's conclusion about Tertian village culture is invalid and thus that the observation-centered approach to studying cultures is invalid as well. The interview-centered method that my team of graduate students is currently using in Tertia will establish a much more accurate understanding of child-rearing traditions there and in other island cultures." 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 these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted. The article requires more evidence to evaluate the argument in a more accurate manner. The article states that Dr. Field, a noted anthropologist concluded that children in Tertia were reared by an entire village rather than by their own biological parents. Evidence of Dr. Field’s study would be helpful to prove that Dr. Field did indeed conduct this study. A published report or video of Dr. Field’s study and observations would help determine if Dr. Field’s study was conducted accurately, in the stated place and time with the stated observations. Evidence that helps prove that Dr. Field did indeed observe or report observations that children in Tertia were reared by an entire village would be helpful for Dr. Karp’s argument that Dr. Field’s conclusion about childrearing in Tertia is as Dr. Karp reports. Dr. Karp also writes that his recent interviews with children living in a group of islands that includes Tertia show that these children spend much more time talking about their biological parents than other adults. Evidence that Tertia is indeed a part of the group of islands that he studies would be helpful for Dr. Karp’s argument. This could be in the form of a map or an official classification guide of the group of islands that Dr. Karp is studying. Evidence that reports of children in Tertia (not just in the group of islands that Tertia belongs to) show that children talk more about their own parents would be helpful. This could be in the form of a study that shows a causal effect between being raised by your own parents instead of an entire town and talking about your parents more often. Documented interviews or videos of these interviews with Tertian children would be helpful to show that the children really said what Dr. Karp reports. Dr. Karp would also benefit from evidence that these children are not lying to him about what they did or how they feel about their own parents, that they are not overstating their relationship with their parents. This could be in a form of a proven lie detector test, or perhaps interviews with the children’s parents or other people in the town to confirm that the children are telling the truth and are not overstating their relationship with their parents. This evidence would help Dr. Karp’s argument that his research about the childrearing in Tertia is more valid than Dr. Field’s. Dr. Karp would also benefit from evidence that Tertia is currently the same as it was 20 years ago, when Dr. Field conducted his research. Perhaps he could look into other research or studies done 20 years ago of the culture in Tertia to note if any changes occurred. This would help prove that the disparity between Dr. Field’s conclusion 20 years ago and Dr. Karp’s current conclusion is not just a result of Tertian culture shifting within the span of 20 years. This evidence would help Dr. Karp’s argument that Dr. Field’s research was indeed invalid. Dr. Karp continues to write that his research proves that Dr. Field’s conclusion is invalid, and that because of this, it proves that the entire observation-centered approach is invalid as well. For this argument to be valid, Dr. Karp would benefit from evidence that Dr. Field’s research is representative of all observation-centered research. Dr. Karp would benefit from evidence that shows exactly how Dr. Field’s research is indicative of all observation-centered research, and how observation-centered research fails in other study contexts. Dr. Karp concludes that his interview-centered method is currently using will establish a much more accurate understanding of child-rearing traditions there and in other island cultures. Dr. Karp would benefit from evidence that his interview-centered method will be just as effective in other island cultures. He would benefit from evidence that shows that other island cultures will be just as likely to speak, will be just as forthcoming and just as honest as he believes the people in Tertia are. He would benefit from evidence that shows people in other island cultures will be able to understand and communicate with him easily. In conclusion, Dr. Karp’s argument could be much more strengthened by specific evidence that helps prove his argument.

Hi GradCafe, I wrote this essay in preparation for the GRE and would appreciate any comments! Thanks! Nature's Way, a chain of stores selling health food and other health-related products, is opening its next franchise in the town of Plainsville. The store should prove to be very successful: Nature's Way franchises tend to be most profitable in areas where residents lead healthy lives, and clearly Plainsville is such an area. Plainsville merchants report that sales of running shoes and exercise clothing are at all-time highs. The local health club has more members than ever, and the weight training and aerobics classes are always full. Finally, Plainsville's schoolchildren represent a new generation of potential customers: these schoolchildren are required to participate in a fitness-for-life program, which emphasizes the benefits of regular exercise at an early age. 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 these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted. There are many stated and unstated assumptions in this passage that would render the argument invalid if they prove unwarranted. I will go over each of these assumptions in turn. Firstly, this passage assumes that since residents are more likely to buy health food in general, they will also buy more Nature’s Way products. It’s possible that because Plainsville is known for its healthy eating choices, many other health food brands can saturate the area and entice Plainsville residents to buy their products instead of Nature’s Way products. A related assumption is that Nature’s Way health products are seen as healthy by the general public. They may be marketing their food as health products, but residents may not perceive their food in that way for various reasons. It’s possible that their marketing failed to convey their food as health products, or that Plainsville residents are keen in reading the nutrition facts and have discovered that Nature’s Way products are not healthy at all. Thus, even if Plainsville residents are more likely to eat healthier and purchase more health food products, it does not necessarily mean that they will purchase Nature’s Way products. Thus, the argument that Plainsville residents will buy more Nature’s Way products because they lead healthy lives and eat healthier is invalid. Another assumption is that Nature’s Way franchises are most profitable in areas where residents lead healthy lives. It’s possible that the profitability of Nature’s Way is not related to the healthy lifestyles of the residents at all. Perhaps Nature’s Way franchises are most profitable in wealthy areas, where residents are more prone to buying food items that are healthier than the cheaper fast food options. In this case, it could mean that even if residents “lead healthy lives” by exercising a lot or eating healthier, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will benefit the profitability of Nature’s Way. This passage also assumes that because running shoes and exercise clothing are selling at all time highs, and the local health club has more members than ever, it means that exercise clothing have become the latest trend and people are wearing these clothes for fashion purposes. Thus, just because people are purchasing exercise clothes does not mean they are exercising more. Along the same lines, it could have become trendy to join the local health club and become a member, but it doesn’t mean that people are frequenting the local health club more often and exercising more. It’s possible that the local health club had a good deal going on that attracted a lot of people, or it became trendy for people join together in large groups, but they never bothered to continue with the exercising. It’s possible that people joined the local health club for other reasons, such as for companionship or educational purposes. Thus, the argument that Plainsville residents lead healthier lifestyles because they are purchasing exercise clothing and gym memberships to the local health club is invalid. Because this argument is invalid, this means that residents may not necessarily lead healthier lifestyles and therefore not be more inclined to buy Nature’s Way health products. Another assumption is that because the local aerobics and weight training classes are always full, residents of Plainsville are attending the gym more often. It’s possible that these classes have become very popular and other residents have traveled from neighboring towns to take these classes. Perhaps these are the only classes offered in a large vicinity, and they are always full because many people must come from far away to take them. Thus just because the local aerobics and weight training classes are always full does not mean residents of Plainsvilles are attending the gym more often, which means they don’t necessarily lead healthier lives and may not be more inclined to buy healthy food products such as Nature’s Way products. Even if the residents exercise a lot, it does not mean they will purchase more health food. It’s possible that the exercise makes them hungrier and crave more unhealthy food. It’s possible that their fitness programs only emphasize exercise, and not health food. Thus, just because residents exercise a lot does not mean they are buying more health food. The argument that because residents are exercising more, they will buy more health food and thus more Nature’s Way products is invalid. In conclusion, this passage includes many stated and unstated assumptions that would render the argument invalid if rendered untrue.

Hi GradCafe, I'm applying to PT school this year and will be taking the GRE for the first time in one month. I've just written my first practice GRE "Issue" essay and would really appreciate if you could help me critique it! I turned off spellcheck and wrote it in 30 minutes to simulate test day conditions. Thanks in advance! I'd appreciate any help you could offer me. You don't have to look at the scoring guide if you don't have time, just feel free to offer any critique or anything I can improve on. Here's the prompt: The best way to teach—whether as an educator, employer, or parent—is to praise positive actions and ignore negative ones. Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position. Here's my essay: While I agree that it is best to praise positive actions as a teacher, I do not agree that negative actions should be completely ignored. Although I do believe that praising is much more effective than punishment, negative actions should nonetheless be kindly addressed so that the student or learner can improve on their mistakes. People respond more positively when they are praised rather than punished. With praise, people gain the confidence to believe that they can achieve the goal that they want to achieve, thereby motivating them to do the best they can to achieve that goal. If one is always punished for their negative actions and never praised, then the learner will lack confidence and believe that they don’t have what it takes to learn or be excellent in their craft. Confidence as a learner is important, because in order to take on a goal and to learn something, one needs the confidence to believe that they can do it. If the bar is set too high and the learner does not have the confidence that they can do it, then the learner will not try, and thus not achieve their goal. On the other hand, if bar is set even higher, but the learner is given the confidence that they can achieve that goal, they will be motivated and do everything they can to achieve that goal. As a teacher, it is important to make sure that your learner has the confidence that they can achieve their goal, which is why praise is beneficial, and punishment is not. For example, if a student is constantly praised for their good math skills, they will believe they are a good math student, and thus have the confidence and motivation to do well on their math tests. Because the bar for this student is set high, and the student believes they can achieve it, the student will work hard to achieve their goal. On the other hand, another student can have the same skill in math in the beginning, but if they are constantly punished for every question they get wrong, they will start doubting their math ability. They’ll begin believing that they won’t be able to get that A on the math test, and will either be extremely nervous during the test, continue doubting themselves, and thus not do well, or not even try, because they believe they’re not good at it. Thus, praising is much more effective than only punishment. However, this does not mean that negative actions should be completely ignored. Being a teacher of any kind implies that the person you’re teaching is depending on you to learn something. As a learner, it’s very common to make mistakes and to do something wrong or negative. One would be remiss as an educator to ignore everything that their student does wrong, because the student would never be able to improve or learn anything. If you only praise what they do correctly, they will learn nothing from their mistakes, which is often where the most valuable lessons lay. Instead of ignoring negative actions, it would be more effective to kindly point them out and let the person know that they did something that could be improved on. However, instead of punishing or harping on the negative, it would be most effective to let them know that their skill can be improved upon with some change, and to give them the confidence that they can do it. For example, if a person is a tax accountant and they made a lot of mistakes on their first time filling out a tax form, it would be ineffective to only praise them for the things they filled out correctly, and ignore everything they filled out incorrectly. This would cause the fledgling tax accountant to believe that they are perfect, and they will continue to fill out tax returns incorrectly in the future. Instead of punishing, it would be more effective to point out the things they can improve on, and at the same time praise them for the things they did good. Showing compassion by letting them know that it’s okay to make mistakes, and instilling the confidence in them that they have the ability to be great in the future will give them the motivation they need to improve. In conclusion, it is best to praise positive actions while pointing out negative actions in a compassionate and kind way. This approach instills the confidence in the learner that they have the ability to be great, while letting them know concretely where they can improve. Scoring guide: https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/argument/scoring_guide Thanks!

Hi GradCafe, I'm applying to PT school this year and will be taking the GRE for the first time in one month. I've just written my first practice GRE "Argument" essay and would really appreciate if you could help me critique it! I turned off spellcheck and wrote it in 30 minutes to simulate test day conditions. Thanks in advance! I'd appreciate any help you could offer me. Here's the prompt: The following appeared as part of an article in a business magazine. "A recent study rating 300 male and female Mentian advertising executives according to the average number of hours they sleep per night showed an association between the amount of sleep the executives need and the success of their firms. Of the advertising firms studied, those whose executives reported needing no more than 6 hours of sleep per night had higher profit margins and faster growth. These results suggest that if a business wants to prosper, it should hire only people who need less than 6 hours of sleep per night." 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 these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted. My essay: This argument relies on a number of stated and unstated assumptions, and would not be valid if the assumptions prove unwarranted. In this essay, I will go over each of the assumptions in turn and explain the effects these assumptions have on the passage. Firstly, the passage states that a study finds an association between the amount of sleep their advertising executives need and the success of their firms. An assumption made here is that the study was valid. Depending on the controls, variables, and testing procedures, the study may or may not have been valid. If the study were not valid, and did not show any correlation between the sleep of advertising executives and the success of their firms, this entire argument can be refuted. It goes on further to say that if a business wants to prosper, it should hire only people who need less than 6 hours of sleep per night. One assumption made here is that correlation equals causation. This argument assumes that the success of these business increase when the sleep of their advertising executives decrease. If the study were valid and there was an actual negative correlation between the success of these business and the sleep of their advertising executives, it does not mean that one causes the other. It could be that the more successful businesses cause advertising executives to have less sleep, or it could be that less sleeping of advertising executives causes businesses to be more successful. It could also be due to random chance – maybe those advertising executives that sleep less just happen to be in more successful businesses. Many factors go into whether or not a business is successful or not, and there are many other top employees at play – not just the advertising executive. The first sentence also shows that the study assumes that the average hours of sleep the advertising executives get is equal to how much sleep they need. Just because an executive is only sleeping 6 hours a night does not mean that is all the sleep that they need to function at their prime. They could be needing much more sleep, but are not getting it. They may have gotten accustomed to sleeping less and are in a constant state of sleepiness, or they could be purposely cutting their sleep short for various reasons. Stating that a business should hire those that need less than 6 hours of sleep based on the above assumption shows faulty reasoning. Even if the study were valid and even if causation could be drawn from correlation (that successful businesses are caused by advertising executives that sleep less), this passage assumes that the success caused by sleeping less will apply to the rest of the population, beyond the 300 people in the study. It could be that sleeping less only causes success of businesses in the advertising executive position. It could be that sleeping less doesn’t cause more success in any of the rest of the population at all. If any of the above assumptions prove to be untrue, the statement that businesses should hire only people that need less than 6 hours of sleep a night if they want a successful business would be rendered invalid. Scoring guide: https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/argument/scoring_guide

Hi, If anyone could help me critique my GRE Issue essay I'd greatly appreciate it! I'm planning to apply Physical Therapy school this year and I'm taking the GRE end of January 2016. I wrote this in 30 minutes with no spell check, as I'll need to do during the test. Thanks in advance! I appreciate any help I can get. Issue: People should undertake risky action only after they have carefully considered its consequences. Prompt: Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, describe specific circumstances in which adopting the recommendation would or would not be advantageous and explain how these examples shape your position. The advice that people should undertake risky action only after they have carefully considered its consequences should be taken with a grain of salt. Carefully considering consequences in a risky situation can be advantageous in situations that do not require immediate action, or in risky social situations, but can be disadvantageous when situations require a split-second decision, or when pragmatic consideration of consequences undermine inner passions. Carefully considering consequences can be helpful when you can afford take the time to think about the potential consequences of your action. For example, if you’re making a very important decision that will affect you for years in the future, it may be helpful to consider everything that can result from your decision. If you’re deciding if you want to quit your job and find a new career path, or maybe even just another job, you can afford to take some time and think about your decision. The potential new career path or job will still be there as you take the time to weigh out the pros and cons of your new job versus your old job. These large, life altering decisions will affect your future in a major way. It can affect how happy you are and how much money you make, so major decisions like what you do with your life is a decision that should be carefully considered. It can also be helpful to think about the consequences if you are in a risky social situation, where anger, retaliation, or privacy is involved. More often than not, it is helpful to think about the consequences of acting on your impulse in a social situation when one is angry, or when one is trying to hold onto a secret. One’s impulse when angry may be to act with violence, or to retaliate immediately, which can lead to regrets later. Also, another impulse in a social situation would be to spill secrets about somebody that you swore to keep safe. It would be helpful to think about the consequences in these situations to prevent doing something that you might regret later on. However, taking the time to carefully consider consequences of an action can be harmful when the situation requires split-second action. For example, if an elderly woman falls in front of you, or if a child is drowning in a pool, or if someone is about to get hit by a car, you don’t have time to consider the consequences of your actions. The situation is a fleeting moment, and taking the time to consider your actions will result in no action at all, and it will be too late. It would be more advantageous to act with instinct to catch the woman before she falls, to jump into the pool to save a child, or to push the person away from the car. Thinking too much in these situations will cause inaction. It can also be disadvantageous for someone who is considering taking on a new hobby that they’ve always had passion for, but is paralyzed by thinking too much about the advantages or disadvantages of doing so. For example, if someone has always wanted to try a dance class, but thinks too much about the consequences of taking dance class, such as possible injury or that they don’t want to spend extra money, then they would be giving up something that could potentially make them much happier than the money could. Thus, carefully considering the pragmatic consequences of taking on something that could bring intrinsic happiness could lead to somebody forgoing a passion that could make them very happy. In conclusion, carefully considering the consequences of risky actions can be advantageous or disadvantageous, depending on the situation. One should take this advice with a grain of salt. The question is not whether one should always consider consequences before acting, rather the challenge lies in when it’s appropriate to go with your first instinct versus when to consider the consequences before acting. I believe that one should think carefully about one’s decision when the situation calls for it, and go with one’s instinct when one finds it appropriate. Here is the scoring guide for your reference: https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/argument/scoring_guide