Showing posts with label GMAT AWA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GMAT AWA. Show all posts

Friday, April 16, 2010

GMAT Critical reasoning and AWA tips

hey guys, if you have been seriously preparing for GMAT, you would have noticed a lot of overlaps in critical reasoning and argument task of the writing section.

The logic as well as the way to analyse these is almost the same. So generously draw from your CR learning to analyse and compose response to your argument essay.(assuming that you did good preparation for CR). The argument topic presents a short passage(just as in CR) that presents an argument and specific instructions on how to respond to that passage.

The instruction is common across argument topics -to assess the logical soundness of the given argument.

keep in mind that the instruction for the issue topic varies from topic to topic).

The essays test you on critical thinking and analytical writing. Know that you are NOT being asked to present your own views on the subject.( that is in the issue topic). Here you have to analyse somebody else’s claim( easier right? To find fault with some one else! I find argument essay easier).

Make sure that you support your analysis with relevant reasons and/or counter examples( yes, if eg is used in issue, you use counter eg in arg; don’t forget we are finding fault with the speaker of the arg.) you can give hypothetical eg – drawn , personal, observed, read about..just ensure that your example is intelligible to a stranger…eg can be news items, research findings, general beliefs and so on. Ensure that they are relevant and positioned at the right place.

If the claim in the argument, for instance, is that Atkins diet is found to bring down blood glucose levels. So those who are diabetic should shift to Atkins diet. You may counter it by referring to a hypothetical report on the importance of physical activity in the lowering of blood sugar levels and that diet alone is no solution…etc etc.

Argument essay integrates critical thinking and writing skills. So don’t ignore language.

On that and snippets on issue task, iam saving for the nxt time…happy prep


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Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Guided composition for GMAT issue topic

Presented below is an issue topic. I have given preliminary notes around which you can write your issue essay. Try it out...

Present your perspective on the issue below using relevant reasons and/or examples to support your views

“Only through mistakes can there be discovery or progress”

Preliminary notes:
  • Do I agree completely with the statement?
  • Can’t there be progress without mistake? - Yes, there can be
  • Does mistake lead to progress – Yes – but is it only through mistakes that we make progress- no – does this mean serendipity?
  • What about man’s intellectual curiosity that motivates him to discover new knowledge? – it is true
  • Let me qualify the statement examples
  • Scientist purposefully searches fro new knowledge with out having made mistakes – a nation can learn from its past mistakes.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Brainstorming for GMAT essays


Issue topic: “Facts are stubborn things. They cannot be altered by our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions.”

Preliminary notes: what is a fact? Is it truth, reality, belief? Proven? Can’t facts be changed? If facts depict reality, they can’t be changed. For instance: Who cut own the tree- we may believe the forest dept did; the reality is something else, the rosewood smugglers did it. So if fact is belief, facts are not stubborn, can change, but reality is stubborn, so if fact is reality, then it is stubborn. Another instance: the earth was believed to be flat which later proved to be wrong. If fact is belief, it is subjected to change…
thus we can debate the statement from both perspectives. The statement is agreeable or disagreeable based on the definition of ‘fact’.
Visit this place more topic brainstorming….
visit www.semanticslearning.com for more details