Please comment and grade on my GRE argument essay.

[dilotor]

Argument Topic:

In the argument, Dr. Karp concludes that children in Tertia are reared by their biological parents, instead of by an entire village, as Dr. Field suggested, after interviewing them and noticing they talk more about their biological parents than about the other adults in the village.

 

Answer:

First of all, it is important to note that there is some subjectivity to the matter. Before reaching any conclusion, a definition about what rearing children means, must be established before discrediting Dr. Karp´s or Dr. Field´s methods. After having done this, each of their approaches should be evaluated separately to validate de solidity of their arguments.

In modern societies, children are commonly raised by their biological parents, but many other people in our communities, such as teachers and friends, play important roles as well. In some cases, they even play a bigger role, for this reason, defining what raising is and determining who does it, is crucial.

The fact that children spoke more about their biological parents, rather than talking about other adults in their tribe, can be part of the answer to who raises the children in Tertia. Still, this is insufficient to reach the conclusion Dr. Karp reached and discard Dr. Field´s.

The facts presented by Dr. Karp do point partially in the direction he established, because children of Tertia speaking about their biological parents could mean it was them who raised the children instead of other villagers, but it could also mean the opposite, since the children could have talked about the lack of presence of their biological parents during their interview. It wasn´t specified what was said about them, which is crucial for determining their role in raising the children. 

In conclusion, the subjectivity of the matter means that Dr. Karp´s argument needs further establishment of the definition of what rearing means and further evidence based upon the best practices in anthropology.