G'R'E ANALYTICAL WRITING PREPARATION COURSE

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G.R.E ANALYTICAL WRITINGPREPARATION COURSE

• THE ARGUMENT ESSAY.
• Module 2.

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1.INTRODUCTION .

• AT THE ONSET YOU NEED TO KNOW..
• 1.1 WHAT AN ARGUMENT IS
• 1.2 HOW YOU CAN RESPOND TO IT
• (IN A NUT SHELL)
• 1.3THE YARDSTICK OF EVALUATION

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(No Transcript)
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1.1 SO WHAT IS AN ARGUMENT? (1its in our blood)

• ARGUMENTS FROM DAILY LIFE

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.AND IN THE GOVERNMENT AS WELL
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EVEN IN THE DAYS OF YOREThis dramatic print
shows a violent argument that occurred in
Congress on May 22, 1856, which inflamed
sectional passion.
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to illustrate.

• The traditional meaning of the word usually
  implies a yes/no, right/wrong, agree/disagree
  situation,or a debate.
• A yes/no conclusion fails when the context or
  situation is altered.
• Hence an argument has a deeper meaning.
• For the given argument you are not asked to agree
  or disagree because this is futile as argued
  above.
• The difference in issue and argument analysis

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Any persuasive written piece may be an argument

• Prompted by the question is there a God?
• it is not possible to prove that there is a God
  by reason or argument.it is possible for example
  to prove that the sum of the angles of a triangle
  equals two right angles, but that is only because
  we are allowed to assume certain truths before
  starting the theorem.These axioms on which all
  scientific knowledge rests are acts of faith.
  Hence scientific knowledge like religious
  knowledge rests on a foundation of faith
• By Godfrey Robinson, Stephen Inward, here is the
  answer

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An argument comprises..

• 1.PREMISES
• 2.EVIDENCE
• 3.ASSUMPTIONS
• 4.CONCLUSIONS

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THE GRE ARGUMENT

• An Argument-a persuasive piece of writing
  converging to a conclusion WRITING WITH A
  PURPOSE.
• The writer tries to convince the reader to
  believe something (THE STATED CONCLUSION)
• A certain pattern of development is used
• A flaw (weakness, fallacy, error) is a week point
  in the writers logic or his pattern of
  development.

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SAMPLE GRE ARGUMENT-1.

• The following appeared in a magazine article
  about graduates in the city of Boston
• In Boston the no. of business school
  graduates who went to work for large firms
  declined by 10 over the past 5 years, but an
  increasing no. of graduates took jobs in small
  firms. even though large firms usually offer much
  higher salaries, graduates are choosing to work
  for smaller firms most likely because they
  experience greater job satisfaction at smaller
  firms. in a survey of graduating students at a
  leading business school most indicated that job
  satisfaction was more important than making a
  high salary. This suggests that the larger firms
  of Boston would need to offer graduates more
  benefits and other incentives and reduce
  employees workload.

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Sample Introduction

• The line of reasoning stated is sound in one
  respect but flawed in the conclusion. the writer
  indicates that the no. of graduates seeking jobs
  in bigger companies has declined by 10, while
  those seeking jobs in smaller firms has
  increased in the last 5 years. the soundness of
  the logic centers around the students own
  admission that they wanted job satisfaction more
  that high salaries. There is however a jump in
  logic to conclude that bigger companies can lure
  the new graduates with more money and less time
  at work. these points need to be analyzed
  further.

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1.2 HOW YOU CAN RESPOND TO IT (IN A NUT
SHELL)

• First, recognize the pattern of development.
• Second, identify the flaws in the argument
• Finally analyze the flaws
• Then check your
• Content
• Organization
• Execution

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1.3 THE YARDSTICK OF EVALUATION

• the people who grade the analysis of an argument
  section for the GRE expect the following i)
  They want an essay that analyzes the several
  aspects of the argument with critical insight.
  ii) They want a cogently developed essay.

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• iii) They want a coherent essay with well-chosen
  transitional devices.iv) They also expect an
  essay that uses varied sentence structure and
  vocabulary.v) They expect an essay that is free
  of mechanical errors in spelling, punctuation,
  capitalization, grammar and errors in the use of
  standard written English.
• (Role of E-Rating software)

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2.The theory behind analyzing an argument

• 2.1 Patterns of development
• 2.2 Logical fallacies

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2.1 Patterns of development

• Comparison contrast
• Definition
• Cause-effect
• E.g. Racism exists predominately in south
  America, due to the higher presence of ex-slave
  states there as in contrast to the north of
  America.

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2.2 Logical fallacies

• 1. Non sequitur (does not follow)
• John loves children he should be a good
  teacher.
• 2. False analogy
• If we can build weapons of mass destruction we
  should be able to wipe out disease.
• 3. Either/or fallacy
• The government has two choices regarding the
  budget either cut the defense spending or people
  go hunger

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• 4. Circular reasoning
• A genius has high IQ, because S/he is smart.
• 5. Begging the question
• if X is true then Y follows.
• 6. Ad Hominem (towards the man )
• Senator John Does tax plan will fail, as he
  admitted to involvement in a scam.
• 7. Bandwagon appeal
• 70 of the people surveyed agree that brand X is
  the best drink in America.
• 8. Hasty generalization (stereotyping)
• All Math majors are intelligent, because my
  friend is a math major and he is the most
  intelligent person I know

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GRE sample argument 2

• The following appeared in a letter sent by a
  group of concerned parents from the academy
  private school to all of the school board
  members.
• two years ago students in nearby south Hampton
  community instituted a set of rules on how the
  students should dress. Since then the incidence
  of violence on private campus has decreases by
  30.we should adopt our own set of restrictions
  on how our students should dress at school