Chapter 20: Introduction to Analytical Writing (start on
page 429 in Kaplan)
Theoretically, the AWA (Analytical
Writing Assessment) measures your ability to analyze complex propositions and
formulate responses using critical thinking skills to construct and evaluate
arguments. Organization and formulation of your ideas are what the test
measures. These skills are necessary for graduate school as well.
Chapter 20 just gives an overview
of the two essays. These are the Issue task (formulate your own argument) and
the Argument task (evaluate someone else’s argument).
Scoring is based on an overall impression
of your essay (i.e., it is holistic). At one point the GRE attempted to use a computer to grade essays, but they now use two humans to grade every essay. If they differ by more than a certain unspecified margin, a third human will be brought in. Humans grade in two minutes or less – so don’t expect
them to grade for detailed errors and corrections! Instead, they use a short rubric
judging whether or not you are on topic, follow directions, and generally use
language correctly. The scores on the two essays get averaged together and
become your overall AWA score.
Your essay
score will NOT be available the day you take the test, unlike your Verbal and
Quantitative sections. See the chart on p. 431 for a comparison of numeric
scores and percentile scores.
You only have 30 minutes per essay! You will need to pace
yourself carefully and use your scratch sheet to analyze the essay prompt (2
minutes), decide what points you want to make (5 minutes), organize your ideas
(1 minute), write (20 minutes), and then proofread (2 minutes).
To get the
best practice environment for your essays, TURN OFF proofreading marks on your
word processor! These will not exist in the GRE/GMAT essay word processors.
Chapter 21: Analytical Writing Foundations and Content
Review (start on page 435)
Style tips: The Elements of Style by Strunk and White
To write correctly, clearly, and concisely, Kaplan offers
several grammatical tips:
Correctly:
·
Avoid fragments and run-on sentences
o
Global warming. That is what the scientists and
journalists are worried about these days. <This sentence no verb.>
§
Global warming is causing concern among
scientists and journalists these days.
o
Current insurance practices are unfair they
discriminate against the people who need insurance most.
§
Current insurance practices are unfair. They discriminate
against the people who need insurance most.
§
Current insurance practices are unfair; they
discriminate against the people who need insurance most.
§
Current insurance practices are unfair because
they discriminate against the people who need insurance most.
o
FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) - these conjunctions require a comma before the conjunction.
o Additional conjunctions that do not need a comma: Because and moreover.
NOTE: these words cannot connect clauses: however, nevertheless, furthermore, likewise, and therefore - so use them after a semicolon and put a comma after them.
·
Subject-verb agreement matters
o
The joy of undertaking risky pursuits,
especially if one has dependents, are selfish.
§
The joy of undertaking risky pursuits,
especially if one has dependents, is selfish.
o
The president, along with the secretary of state
and the director of the CIA, are sometimes misinformed.
§
The president, along with…, is sometimes
misinformed.
o
Collective nouns: group, audience, committee, majority
= SINGULAR verb
o
Nouns joined by a conjunction = PLURAL
verb
§
Karl and George have started a restaurant.
o
Nouns joined by OR or NOR = agrees with closer
noun
§
Either the dog or the cats are hungry.
§
Either the cats or the dog is hungry.
o
Indefinite pronouns: anybody, everybody, someone,
each = SINGULAR
§
Anyone is susceptible to pollution.
o
Noncount nouns: mathematics, joy, sadness = SINGULAR
§
Mathematics is a department in the university.
o
Expressions of quantity and measurement:
§
Depends on what follows 'of' (singular noun --> singular verb and plural noun --> plural verb:
·
All of the children have asthma.
·
All of the air was polluted.
§
Time, distance, amount, and percent as a
subject --> SINGULAR verb:
·
Four days is a long time to wait.
·
10 percent is too high a percentage of children
with asthma.
o
Adjectives used as nouns: The poor, the rich,
the French, the English = PLURAL
§
The poor are tired and hungry.
§
The English are colonizers.
·
Pronouns must have referents
o
An effective teacher tells a student she is
talented.
§
If students are talented, an effective teacher
tells them so.
o
Mary and Sue met on the sidewalk and she said, “Hello!”
to her.
§
Mary and Sue met on the sidewalk and Mary said, “Hello!”
to Sue.
o
Many people would rather settle in Albuquerque
than in Phoenix, although it has a higher crime rate.
§
Many people would rather settle in Albuquerque
than in Phoenix, although Albuquerque has a higher crime rate.
o
Make the referent clear! Pronouns include: he, him, his, she, her, hers, it, its, they, their, that, which, everybody, someone, anyone, each, etc.
·
No dangling participles or modifiers without
referents
o
Workers meet to discuss the problem of
inefficiency in the office.
§
Workers meet in the office to discuss the
problem of inefficiency.
§
Workers meet to discuss the problem of office inefficiency.
o
Coming out of context, Peter was startled by
Julia’s perceptiveness.
§
Julia’s remark, coming out of context, startled
Peter with its perceptiveness.
·
Parallel structures must have the same elements
o
They are sturdy, attractive, and cost very
little.
§
They are sturdy and attractive, and they cost
very little.
§
They are sturdy, attractive, and inexpensive.
o
All business students should learn word
processing, accounting, and how to program computers.
§
All business students should learn word processing,
accounting, and computer programming.
o
She went to the store to buy grapes, some bread,
and an apple.
§
She went to the store to buy some grapes, some
bread, and some apples.
§
She went to the store to buy an apple, a loaf of
bread, and a bunch of grapes.
o
People can invest their money in stocks, real
estate, and in gold.
§
People can invest their money in stocks, in real
estate, and in gold.
§
People can invest their money in stocks, real
estate, and gold.
o
The view from a humble cottage may be as
spectacular as from a lavish penthouse.
§
The view from a humble cottage may be as
spectacular as the view from a lavish penthouse.
·
Commas are for dependent clauses (and the Oxford
comma is non-optional in my class)
o
Leonardo da Vinci who is known primarily as an
artist, was also an accomplished scientist.
§
Leonardo da Vinci, who is known primarily as an
artist, was also an accomplished scientist.
o
Some nations have struggled to maintain a
democratic form of government for many decades, yet have not experienced a
breakdown in the rule of law.
§
Some nations have struggled to maintain a
democratic form of government for many decades, yet they have not experienced a
breakdown in the rule of law.
§
Some nations have struggled to maintain a
democratic form of government for many decades yet have not experienced a
breakdown in the rule of law.
o
The manatee is a round, blubbery, bewhiskered,
creature whose continued presence in American waters is endangered by careless
boaters.
§
The manatee is a round, blubbery, bewhiskered
creature…
·
Semicolons are for independent clauses; colons
are for lists
o
Because whooping cranes are an endangered
species; wildlife conservationists are working hard to breed the birds in captivity.
§
Because whooping cranes are an endangered species,
wildlife conservationists are working hard to breed the birds in captivity.
§
Wildlife conservationists are working hard to
breed whooping cranes in captivity because the cranes are an endangered
species.
§
Whooping cranes are an endangered species;
wildlife conservationists are working hard to breed the birds in captivity.
o CORRECT: The whooping crane population has recovered
somewhat from its low of only a few hundred individuals; however, the species
is still in danger of extinction.
o CORRECT: Three important dates in the history of China
are 1368, when the Ming Dynasty overthrew the Mongols; 1644, when China annexed
Mongolia and Tibet; and 1949, when Mao Zedong defeated the Nationalists and
established the People’s Republic of China.
o
At an ideal high school, students would study:
English, another modern language, and Latin; biology, chemistry, and physics;
and the visual and performing arts.
§
At an ideal high school, students would study
the following: English, another modern language, and Latin; biology, chemistry, and physics; and the visual and performing arts.
START HERE WEDNESDAY
·
Apostrophes are only for possessives (we don’t
use contractions in GRE writing)
o
The student (noun) à The student’s laptop
(possessive)
o
Saint Francis à Saint Francis’s life
o
The students (plural noun) à
The students’ teacher
o
The children (plural noun) à
The children’s well-being
o
Their: Great respect had been theirs for many
years.
o
You/It: Your product cannot be delivered. The
institution will harm its reputation.
§
Contraction: You’re and it’s = you are & it is
Clearly:
·
Use a variety of sentence structures, not just
simple sentences repeatedly
o
One independent clause = simple sentence = one
subject, one predicate
§
The new product is unlikely to be profitable.
o
Two independent clauses = compound sentence =
two subjects, two predicates, joined by a coordinating conjunction.
§
The new product is unlikely to be profitable, and
management should not invest in its development.
o
One independent + one dependent clause = complex
sentence = two subjects, two predicates, joined by a subordinating conjunction.
§
Because the new product is unlikely to be
profitable, management should not invest in its development.
o
Two independent + one dependent clause = compound-complex
sentence = multiple subjects and predicates with both or either subordinating
and coordinating conjunctions
§
Because the new product is unlikely to be
profitable, management should not invest in its development, but other new products
may show more promise.
Good example: anything written by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"The Letter from Birmingham Jail." https://www.csuchico.edu/iege/_assets/documents/susi-letter-from-birmingham-jail.pdf
"I Have a Dream" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smEqnnklfYs
·
Use active voice as much as possible and avoid
passive voice
o
Passive shifts the subject out of the sentence
entirely; the sentence will sound much more powerful with active voice instead.
o
The estimate of this year’s tax revenues was
prepared by the city manager.
§
The city manager prepared the estimate of this
year’s tax revenues.
o
Earth’s axis would be shifted by the impact of
the asteroid.
§
The asteroid’s impact would shift Earth’s axis.
o
An error has been made in computing these data.
§
I made an error in computing these data.
·
Open your sentences strongly by beginning with a
subject and predicate (NOT “there is” or “there are”)
o
There isn’t much wilderness left so we should
protect what we have.
§
We should protect what little wilderness we have
left.
Concisely:
·
Remove unnecessary sentences
o
Don’t write sentences that stray from the thesis.
o
Don’t ask rhetorical questions (just write declarative
sentences).
o
Don’t merely copy the prompt. Instead say "I understand this prompt to be saying..." or "I understand the claim to be..." or "I understand the question to be asking..."
o
Don’t write a whole sentence and announce that
you’re going to change the subject.
·
Avoid needless self-reference
o
Don’t begin with “I believe,” “I feel,” etc.
unless it is integral to the sentence.
o
My beliefs are important to me.
o
“In my experience, people are strange.” < “People
are strange.”
·
Streamline wordy phrases
o
I am of the opinion that the aforementioned
salespeople should be advised that they will be evaluated with regard to the
utilization of responsive organizational software for the purpose of devising a
dynamic network of customers.
§
Managers should tell salespeople that sales
staff will be evaluated on their use of flexible computerized databases to
develop a customer network.
·
Eliminate redundancy
o
Refer back = refer
o
Few in number = few
o
Small-sized = small
o
From their own personal viewpoint = from their viewpoint
·
Avoid excessive qualification
o
More unique = unique
o
The very worst = the worst
o
Completely full = full
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