Strong Argument vs Complete Essay

[alwayshungry88]

While practicing the issue essay portion I always seem to run out of time to create conclusions and introductions that are longer than 1 sentence. Does anyone know how important these paragraphs are? Is it better to have a strong argument or complete essay?  

[Monochrome Spring]

Both are important and the graders will expect you to have both for a high score

[alwayshungry88]

Both are important and the graders will expect you to have both for a high score

 

 

Right, I realize this. But which one would you think is more important? I would assume that since grad school is more about critically engaging with ideas a strong argument would be better than a complete essay, especially in a time restrictive context. 

[panicking]

Are you talking about GRE AW session? Isn't it graded by machine though (e-rater or something)? So it's important to have all the keywords in, and write something long.

[Monochrome Spring]

I think that it is equally important to complete the essay and write a strong essay. In graduate school, you will be expected to develop a strong argument and complete the entire assignment given.

 

If you find yourself running out of time now, then you need to practice writing these timed essays so that you have enough time when the test comes around. Learn to time each section and pace yourself so that you don't run out of time. Other test takers are able to complete both tasks you listed in the allotted time, and they are the ones who get the high scores. I'm not the computer, and therefore can't tell you whether you'll be docked more for a bad argument or for not completing the entire essay. And I don't think you should be going about it that way either. You should be looking to improve upon whatever your problem with the essay is, so that you can complete both tasks in the time allotted.

 

Also, I don't think you should be throwing in key words just for a higher score either. The words that will be important for grading this essay (which really is just a 5-paragraph simple essay we all should have mastered before high school) are like transition words, connecting words, and words that demonstrate that you are taking a strong stance. You should be using these words already in your essays, so don't worry about throwing out more.

 

Also, although length is important for the sake of getting many points in and elaborating on them, length alone is not the most important factor. I think that each of my 5 paragraphs for the 2 essays were about 3-4 sentences each, which isn't very "long" compared to what they could be. Focus on discussing about as many points as possible. Elaborate on these points. Discuss why they address the prompt. And make sure that your writing is concise. That is more important than arbitrary length.

 

http://magoosh.com/gre/2012/awa-time-saving-tips/ Magoosh has some good tips on their blog about the AWA section. And although they say to keep the introduction and conclusion short, try for 2-3 sentences. Adding 1-2 more sentences to what you already have shouldn't be too hard.

[zipykido]

Your argument can't really be strong without a complete essay. You need to learn to condense down your argument to the strongest points and build around those ideas. Write the body of your paragraph first then summarize it with one topic sentence. If you have multiple ideas to put into the paragraph, make it two shorter paragraphs. 

[alwayshungry88]

Helpful replies, thanks everyone! 

[PeakPerformance]

I would say a one sentence conclusion is not as problematic as a one sentence introduction. You really only need 3 sentences in your introduction to set up your argument effectively. These two extra sentences should not compromise the quality of your argument. If you take the time to segue into your thesis and then briefly touch upon the reasons you will introduce to support your thesis, then both you and your reader will have a clearer sense of the structure of your essay and the sequence of your ideas is likely to flow better.

[DogsArePeopleToo]

OK, bumping this thread with these thoughts:

I received my AWA scores today. This was my second attempt and I got 5.5 (up from 5 in the first attempt). My strategy going in was twofold:

1. Write a longer essay
2. Deploy transition words (moreover, nonetheless, it can be argued, on the other hand).

Writing a longer essay meant I didn't get to revise the last couple of paragraphs before time ran out. And I have always felt like overuse of transition words made an essay sound choppier and less elegant, but because this is a computer grader taught to look for, and reward, this kind of writing, I gave it a go.

When I finished the essay, I didn't feel particularly great about the substance of what I wrote - my argument on the Issue task seemed contrived and my analysis of the Argument was less sharp than the first GRE essay I wrote. But although I felt I wrote a poorer essay, I got a better score.

It seems to me that length and strategic deployment of keywords can improve one's score as long as the writing is largely error-free, responds to the prompts and has an intro-body-conclusion structure. This advice probably applies more to essays that are doing fairly well already (think 4 and above). For essays below this, mechanics such as punctuation and grammar are also probably quite important.

The computer grading software doesn't see and can't judge the substance of the argument all that well, but it can see essay length, keywords and punctuation, etc. It is believed that the human grader usually spends 45 seconds to a minute, which is probably not enough for anyone to evaluate the substance of an essay -- which explains the bias towards essay length. There's some research that suggests that essays that are 500-600 words tend to score higher than shorter ones. Of course, I wouldn't sacrifice accurate syntax and mechanics for length, but if you're already on sure footing there, a longer essay is a better essay on the GRE. Substance counts too, but if you're looking to bump your 4 essay to a 5 or a 5 to a 6, length and keywords could help.