Another 6.0 Thread

[Anonymoose]

Copied from my thread in the "Just Finished My Gmat" forum:

I got a 6 on the AWA, so I guess I can speak about it with some confidence. Basically, keep in mind that you are being graded in part by a computer program; although we obviously don't know the exact rules it uses, it seems to like specific keywords, correct spelling and grammar, and length.

SPECIFIC KEYWORDS: The templates you see floating around, as well as the logic (critical reasoning) questions themselves, all contain a number of words in common. "The first error in reasoning this argument commits is..." "The second logical fallacy the author uses is..." "Not only... but also," etc. Remember, the GMAT uses a special type of English, so use those idioms from SC; use that terminology from critical reasoning; etc etc etc.

CORRECT SPELLING AND GRAMMAR: Try to finish with about 7 minutes left so you can go back through your essay and proofread it. "Minor spelling/grammar mistakes will not count against you" presumably means you are given a margin of error, but if you go above that margin it is not terribly unreasonable to assume the program will lower your score.

LENGTH: The one rule you can throw out from GMAT English is the one regarding wordy sentences. Studies have shown that longer essays score higher, and truthfully, if I were to write a computer program that had to try to grade an essay, I'd probably make length one of the factors as well. To be honest, however, I didn't really have to write any fluff; for the Argument essay just giving examples of possible situations that the argument overlooks fills up a lot of space, and the examples for my Issue essay were even more detailed and involved, so in the end length wasn't really a problem.

To the specific sections:

ARGUMENT ESSAY: You basically should treat the given argument as a critical reasoning question and try to find the hidden assumptions that are necessary to make the argument valid (e.g. for the conclusion to be entailed by the premises). You can usually find 2-3. The first paragraph of your essay should explicitly state the given argument's conclusion, calling it the conclusion, and then state the premises, calling them the premises/evidence. You should then explicity write out the assumptions, one per body paragraph, and give examples of how they may not be true. For instance, if the assumption is that A caused B, you can say that the author overlooks the possibility that B caused A due to [make up some reason], and follow up with "because the author overlooks this possibility, her argument is vulnerable to attack on these grounds." If you find yourself stuck with only 2 assumptions, try to split one of them into two. Following with my "A causes B" assumption, split it into "the author overlooks that B may cause A" and "the author also overlooks that a third event may cause both A and B." Your conclusion can then list a bunch of possible strengtheners, i.e. possibilities that coincide with, rather than conflict with, the assumptions.

ISSUE ESSAY: Take a stand (pick a side) based on what you think you can find 3 clear supporting points for. In the intro, first give an overview of your 3 points; then admit a possible counter-argument; then explicitly state your stance, using a phrase along the lines of "however, in the final analysis, I believe that X." Use your 3 points to make 3 body paragraphs, giving concrete examples of each (these examples can be purely hypothetical if you can't think of any real ones). For the summary... just restate your intro in different words

All in all, I wrote 2 practice essays of each type before I took the real test. I think this helped me because I was surprised to find myself pressed for time. By making myself write practice essays within the strict 30 minute time limit beforehand, I was able to finish with about ten minutes left in each section on the real test day. I'd recommend practicing beforehand until you are comfortable with doing all of the above in just a little over 20 minutes (leaving enough time for proofreading).