Ideas for GRE AWA Issue

[second_rate]

I'm wondering where you would get the ideas to write about for the GRE Issue essay. It seems to me that without looking at the issue pool before the exam day, it would be hard to brainstorm for ideas to write.

I haven't really been keeping up with current events nor have I taken numerous courses on the humanities so I feel that I would be just lucky if I have a lot to say about the issue I receive on the exam day itself.

Any thoughts/suggestions on this?

[contretemps]

What I did was (though it is a little time consuming) I grouped the questions into broad topics such as education, science, art, government, politics, etc. and brainstormed some ideas. It also helped that I read some sample essays to have some ideas on what to write.

Now take this with a grain of salt since I didn't really score high on the AW part. I think my argument essay pulled up my total score.

[emmm]

I didn't even look at the pool of topics before going for the exam. The topics do not really require special knowledge.

[second_rate]

What I did was (though it is a little time consuming) I grouped the questions into broad topics such as education, science, art, government, politics, etc. and brainstormed some ideas. It also helped that I read some sample essays to have some ideas on what to write.

Now take this with a grain of salt since I didn't really score high on the AW part. I think my argument essay pulled up my total score.

thanks contretremps. where'd you get the sample essays aside from the ones on the ets website? and are the questions for those sample essays from the issue pool?

[second_rate]

I didn't even look at the pool of topics before going for the exam. The topics do not really require special knowledge.

it seems that they do require general knowledge, something which I lack. of course, personal experiences could help but by any chance, you can get an issue that you haven't heard of at all. it's best to think of me this way: i live a quite secluded life wherein i only give attention to things that cater to my very limited interests which is math.

i'm suffering from it now, going over the issue pool and not knowing what to write even though i know how to write. any suggestions as to how to help me? thanks!

[Helpplease123]

it seems that they do require general knowledge, something which I lack. of course, personal experiences could help but by any chance, you can get an issue that you haven't heard of at all. it's best to think of me this way: i live a quite secluded life wherein i only give attention to things that cater to my very limited interests which is math.

i'm suffering from it now, going over the issue pool and not knowing what to write even though i know how to write. any suggestions as to how to help me? thanks!

I agree with emmm on this, no preparation for either essay question - wouldn't even know where you would start, the idea that you would need to know information on every topic in the world is crazy. They can all be answered with common sense and basic general knowledge (i.e. I mentioned that we're in a recession in my essay and I would be very surprised if you weren't aware of current affairs at that basic of a level)!

Maybe try reading the economist up until your test - then you'll have a vague idea of what's going on and you can discuss some current affairs...they're not going to ask any questions that actually require specific knowledge of a topic, even if it may look that way.

So if they talk about governments looking ahead rather than only dealing with current issues they're asking that you have some common sense and say, no, that doesn't sound very clever. Logically if you ignore future issues you're going to get screwed over, we're in a recession now, maybe if governments had looked ahead we wouldn't be. That's really the extent of it, they're not looking for "well in 1973 prime minister so and so ignored the impending x crisis and then y happened" etc - there's no way anyone could be brushed up to that level on all of the possible subject areas.

Really don't panic about it and if you have only limited time you really should focus on the verbal and quant sections, I got a 5.5 in my AWA on a subject I knew nothing about really - you'll be fine!

[Starlajane]

You certainly can prepare for the AWA simply by doing several practice tests at home. Practice tests are available through ETS as well as any and all prep books (Princeton Review, Kaplan, Barron's).

It helps to do at least a couple of practice essays beforehand so that you can get used to writing and thinking as quickly as possible on a variety of subjects in 30 minutes.

When I prepped, I used a stopwatch and wrote out my essays in Word; I turned off spell check because you don't get to use anything like that on the actual test and I didn't look at the question beforehand because you won't be able to do that on the real test either.

A lot of prep courses suggest brainstorming and then writing the essay. However, I've found that you really don't have time to do even that. It's best to just start writing a generic intro with thesis statement while you begin thinking of examples that you will use in the essay. Examples and fluency really are the key to a good score on the essay.

The first time I wrote out a practice essay, it was terrible; I relied too much on the guidleines given by the prep course/books and I spent too much time prepping/brainstorming rather than writing. Suffice to say, I didn't budget my time well and ended up not being able to finish the essay, which really was not well written because it lacked fluency.

But by the second and third practice, I was thinking and writing much more quickly and with much more fluency. I had internalized the structure (intro, three graphs with examples and conclusion) and just started writing it as soon as the clock started, which I think is a much better strategy; you really need to be able to think and write at the same time and with as few errors as possible.

I ended up getting a 6.0 on my AWA and the only reason that I did was because I practiced beforehand. I can't imagine not practicing the essay beforehand because, for me, it was probably the most difficult and nerve-wracking part of the test.

[emmm]

I agree with the posters above. There really is no special knowledge you need for the issue essay. You can use whatever examples you can think of -- there are no specific right answers. I really don't see how you could prepare beforehand for all the possible topics. However, practicing your timed writing skills WOULD be helpful, and you can use some of the topics for that. I "prepared" by working as a writing tutor for a year.

[poeteer]

Yeah, the topics are really very general. Every single Issue question can be answered with the barest amount of outside knowledge and independent thought (like, for example, "is a nation's greatness determined by the welfare of its people or the achievements of its rulers, scientists, and artists? or both?"--everyone currently lives in a country and has studied some of its history and thus should be able to develop a coherent argument in response). On top of that, they give you two options for the Issue essay, just in case one of them is a bust. All you need is an opinion and the ability to defend it in writing in a half hour. Practicing is really the only way to prepare. Maybe go through the list of topics on the ETS website and do practice essays for the few topics that really stump you, since some topics will rouse you more than others, and some are just plain lousy.

[second_rate]

To all the posters, thanks so much for the advice! I have just browsed through the practice essay questions on Kaplan and boy, I thought they were hard. I simply didn't have anything to talk about and this left me to read the sample answers without trying to write at all.

For instance, one topic was about nuclear plants. All I know about these things are 1) the waste, 2) what happened to Chernobyl, and 3) the recent tsunami in Japan. Yet looking at the sample essay with score of 6, it merely talked about 1) & 2) in 1 paragraph while going on to elaborate on things such as politics behind nuclear plants as well as alternatives like solar and hydraulic energy. (I swear, I know nothing about the latter stuff).

Another practice essay is on perceived greatness of politicians. I forgot my history, know nothing about current events so I basically cannot supply my essay with examples, rendering it unconvincing.

And finally, the essay on progress as the aim for a great society left me confused.

So in light of this, I'm wondering whether the actual essay questions come from the Issue Pool on the ETS website. Is this true? This would certainly help me brainstorm and read up on material beforehand.

[poeteer]

Here is the pool of topics:

http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/issue/pool

I'm pretty sure they give you all of them. They're mainly about politics and education, sometimes about a link between the two.

[non humilis mulier]

I made up evidence in my essays and got a six-- you'll be fine!

[second_rate]

Wow thanks guys! thanks @non humilis mulier, @poeteer, @emmm, @slarlajane, and @helppleasw123! i never thought people here on thegradcafe would be this cozy.

[Helpplease123]

what was the prompt about nuclear plants?! That does sound complicated!