Search the Community

A recent sales study indicates that consumption of seafood dishes in Bay City restaurants has increased by 30 percent during the past five years. Yet there are no currently operating city restaurants whose specialty is seafood. Moreover, the majority of families in Bay City are two-income families, and a nationwide study has shown that such families eat significantly fewer home-cooked meals than they did a decade ago but at the same time express more concern about healthful eating. Therefore, the new Captain Seafood restaurant that specializes in seafood should be quite popular and profitable. Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument. Words Limit 450-600 words Introduction: The following argument is flawed for numerous reasons. Primarliy, the argument is based on a sales study, that the consumption of sea food in bay city has increased rendering the main Point, which is the authenticity of this sales study, and they have not Provided any evidence to support the authenticity of the sales study. Body: Fallacy 1: The argument fails to provide any evidence about the authenticity of the sales study. For one, they haven’t provided any criteria on how they had choosed residents, they might be talking to minority of people who like sea food. This lack of evidence could question the legitimacy of this case study. Moreover, the reason for there is no sea food restaurants are in Bay city area is because majority of the people in Bay city might don’t like sea food. Strengthening the argument: Had the argument provided any information regarding the criteria how they have choosed residents, Even then, the argument would have to further prove that, the majority of people in Bay city like Sea food. Fallacy 2: Moreover, the majority of families in Bay City are two-income families, and a nationwide study has shown that such families eat significantly fewer home-cooked meals than they did a decade ago but at the same time express more concern about healthful eating. This argument also leaves many unanswered questions. Even if the Two income families nationwide significantly eat at fewer house meals, doesn’t necessarily mean that the bay city will also not like Home meals. Nonetheless, they are also assuming that the two income families will also likely to eat seafood, when they will go to restaurants. Fallacy 3: Therefore, the new Captain Seafood restaurant that specializes in seafood should be quite popular and profitable. Finally, the argument claims without warrant that what held 5 years ago will hold true today for Captain Food restaurant. Even if we assume that Two income families would likely to eat outside, the argument is still lacking because it does not provide information to show that the general economic climate will not change. Due to rising inflation they might would not be able to afford Seafood Conclusion: Because the argument makes several unwarranted assumptions, it fails to make a convincing case that People of bay city would likely to buy Seafood from Captain restaurant.

Prompt: Manned space flight is costly and dangerous. Moreover, the recent success of a series of unmanned space probes and satellites has demonstrated that a great deal of useful information can be gathered without the costs and risks associated with sending men and women into space. Therefore, we should invest our resources in unmanned space flight." Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted. Essay: The argument states that we should invest our resources in unmanned space flight rather than manned space flight because of the following factors. The first factor is manned space flight is expensive and involves risk. The second factor is recent success of a series of unmanned space probes and satellites. The arguer does not take all the factors into account. The argument depends on few assumptions. If the assumptions prove invalid, then the argument falls apart. Firstly, the arguer assumes a great deal of information can be gathered without costs and risks associated with sending men and women by stating recent success series of unmanned space flights as evidence. The arguer does not state what is the information gathered from recent success series and is that information useful for everyone. The recent success series cannot guarantee future success of unmanned space flights. There are cases where more useful information can be gathered from manned space flight as unmanned space flights can gather only the intended information. In manned space flight, a man can gather information about unknown things. If any information could be gathered using using unmanned space flight, then it offers support to the argument Secondly, the arguer assumes that unmanned space flight is better compared to manned space flight as unmanned space flights are cheaper and involves less risk. The arguer does not state if any information can be gathered by unmanned flight. In case of manned space flights, a man can know how to handle risks and gather information. If manned space flights can gather some information which could not be gathered by unmanned space flight, it is better to invest in manned space flight to reap more profits though it is costly. However, if most of the information can be gathered by using manned and unmanned space flights, then it offers support to the argument. If the above assumptions are unwarranted, then it undermines the argument. When all factors which are used for gathering the information are taken into account, they can be used to strengthen or weaken the argument.

Prompt: Paleo diets, in which one eats how early hominids (human ancestors) did, are becoming increasingly popular. Proponents claim our bodies evolved to eat these types of food, especially bone broth, a soup made by cooking animal bones for several hours. They believe it has many health-promoting nutrients, such as cartilage, which can heal our joints, and chondroitin, which promotes nerve regeneration. Skeptics point out that ingested cartilage can’t replenish cartilage in your knees or elbows and ingested chondroitin doesn’t make our brains any healthier. Yet, there is strong anecdotal evidence that people who consume bone broth have fewer metabolic and inflammatory diseases than those who don’t. Therefore, ancient humans knew something about our physiology that we don’t, and that by emulating the way they ate, we can cure many chronic illnesses. Directions: Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted. Essay: The following argument is flawed for numerous reasons. The holes in this argument primarily stem from the failure to address that the physiology of humans today is different than that of our ancestors and ingesting cartilage in the 21st century may not be responsible for the reduction in metabolic and inflammatory diseases. The first reason why this argument is flawed stems from the fact that it is making the assumption that the organ systems of humans today operate the same way physiologically as the organ systems of our ancestors. Although our ancestors evolved to eat foods such as bone broth, since then, our bodies have become much more advanced and it is likely that they have evolved to ingest more beneficial types of food. Furthermore, this could indicate that our bodies have actually lost the ability to digest bone broth over time as the skill became less useful and less adaptable to the changing environment. Therefore, the argument would have to include evidence as to the similarity of physiology between our ancestors and modern day people in order to substantiate the claim that the nutrients will be broken down and utilized in the same manner. An additional reason why this argument is unsubstantiated stems from the assumption of cause and effect. The argument uses anecdotal evidence to make the claim that people who consume bone broth have fewer metabolic and inflammatory diseases. This claim has no evidence to support the cause and effect nature. In fact, skeptics have actually pointed out that ingested cartilage should have no added health benefits. Therefore, it is possible that this relationship is purely correlational. It is possible that those in the modern day who ingest bone broth have fewer diseases because of their overall healthier lifestyle. For example, someone who cares enough about their health to read up on the benefits of bone broth and implement the changes in their life is likely to be a more active person who goes to the gym. Therefore, the fewer incidences of disease could be linked more to lifestyle than the pure ingestion of bone broth. Therefore, to strengthen the anecdotal argument, the proponents would have to include some sort of study to prove a cause and effect relationship. Finally, this argument also utilizes vague language which diminishes the strength. For example, the argument makes the assumption that ingesting bone broth has the capability to "cure many chronic illnessess." This is extremely vague because it does not detail the mechanism through which it will cure them nor does it specify exactly what type of chronic illnessess. Additionally, the argument addresses that ancient humans knew "something about our physiology." This is a huge assumption based on very vague language as it does not detail exactly what they could have known or how they could have known it without advanced technology. This argument would have to utilize much more specific language and examples to be effective. In conclusion, this argument relies on the assumptions that human physiology has remained the same since ancient times and that the consumption of bone broth is the cause of an increase in health. Since these assumptions are unsupported and vaguely stated, the argument fails to present cohesive points in favor of the consumption of bone broth.

Hi! I came here after recommendation from Magoosh. I would like someone to score my essays for GRE Argument Analysis Task and Comment if he/she has time. The data from a survey of high school math and science teachers show that in the district of Sanlee many of these teachers reported assigning daily homework, whereas in the district of Marlee, most science and math teachers reported assigning homework no more than two or three days per week. Despite receiving less frequent homework assignments, Marlee students earn better grades overall and are less likely to be required to repeat a year of school than are students in Sanlee. These results call into question the usefulness of frequent homework assignments. Most likely the Marlee students have more time to concentrate on individual assignments than do the Sanlee students who have homework every day. Therefore teachers in our high schools should assign homework no more than twice a week. Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument. _________________________________________________________________________________________ My response is: The author cites a survey in which high school students of two districts are compared. According to the survey, students in the district of Marley perform better in Science and Math as compared to those of Sanlee, the reason being lesser homework assignments. So, the author concludes that all high schools should assign homework no more than twice a week. A closer look would reveal that the conclusion to this argument is unconvincing due to a number of reasons. Firstly, the argument does not contain any detailed information about the survey, which raises some questions: how many schools from both districts took part in the survey? Was the number of students taking part in the survey from each school was same? Without addressing these questions, the credibility of this survey is questionable. Secondly, the argument suffers from this unjustified assumption that earning better grades indicates the academic performance of a student. Admittedly, if a student earns good grades, he is performing well. However, there are a number of other factors that should be considered while comparing the school(s) from the two districts: the grading system, competition among students, level of difficulty of exams. Therefore, to judge the academic performance of students by good grades, other parameters should be kept same. Even if other parameters are kept same, comparison of students between two geographically remote areas is not fair. For example, it is possible that students at Marlee are sharper because they have used iodized salt in their diets; perhaps, they have got better elementary education; it maybe that students at Sanlee struggle with their grades because they have to commute a long distance to school; teaching methods can also vary. Finally, the author’s conclusion that all high schools should follow in the footsteps of Marlee and assign homework no more than two times a week, is also flawed. First, the survey is about high school math and science teachers, this certainly does not apply to other subjects such as humanities. Second, Marlee and Sanlee are just two districts and to generalize their results to all the high school in the country is an over-generalization. In sum, the author’s argument is unconvincing. To better assess the argument, the reader would need to know about the accuracy of the survey and whether the sample size is large enough to generalize to results. The author can make the argument more compelling by specifying the number of students of schools, ensuring whether grades really are a comparing parameter in judging students performance and citing a survey where sample size is large enough to generalize the results.

Hi Everyone, This is my first post on urch and I recently took my second GRE practice test. Please find below my issue essay question stem along with the response. Please rate my response and kindly highlight my improvement areas. Thanks in advance. The city of Winston has two large department stores: Namen and Roscoe. Namen is known for its high-end designer fashions, while Roscoe is known for more affordable fashion options. Both Namen and Roscoe are each considering opening another store in the growing suburb of Salem, where the population has grown over 50% in the last three years and where the median income is $75,000. Namen’s executives argue that as population and median income increase, people are willing to spend more money on clothing. However, Roscoe’s executives believe that the suburbs are more family oriented, and therefore their store will be more profitable than their competitor Namen. Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation is likely to have the predicted result. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation. In this argument, it is stated that two stores in the city of Winston plan to expand their business and have their reasons to be successful in doing so. The conclusion of company Namen is based on the fact that increasing population and increasing median income hints at the possibility of people buying their high end apparel. On the contrary, the company Roscoe's conclusion rests on the premise that since most of the families living in the suburbs are more family oriented, they will be inclined to stay thrifty. The arguments rests on multiple assumptions that need to be answered in order to conclusively decide which company would benefit in the long run, and that can be done by answering the three questions asked below. Firstly, it is important to evaluate the argument based on statistical data since data provided at a higher level could reveal treacherous possibilities, if left unscathed. For example, the median percentage increase of $75000 in income could reveal a data plot that could be highly skewed in nature and thus be misleading. It is possible that few people had a huge rise in their incomes which lead to the above figure. In this case, the result would not be in favor of Namen. But if the income spread has gone up in a more well distributed manner, then it is possible that even conservative and family oriented people of Winston may start spending more. This would certainly benefit Roscoe. Thus it is very important to dive deeper into the details and the saying "the devil lies in the detail" fits seemingly well in this case to highlight an important assumption in the argument. Furthermore, the increase in population in the suburbs could also become a hub of many buyers but their purchasing power is not known. To answer this, it is important to consider other factors that have been scoped out of this argument and could play a vital role in the evaluation of the results. The growing population could have more liabilites such as increased taxes, child and healthcare etc. that would lead to decrease in purchasing power of the people even if their incomes go up the order. This would hamper Namen's idea of expanding in the suburbs of Winston. A decrease or constant rate of the above mentioned extraneous factors could also mean that families are able to afford the high end clothing offered by Namen and would support Roscoe's plan. Thus answering the above is also an important to evaluate the argument. Finally, changing times could also cause a change in the outlook of people and people being in a family oriented state of mind could change their mind with changing times. To elaborate, if the upcoming generations want to buy high end clothes, then irrespective of their financial position, they will try to buy clothes at Namen. But if the trend continues, then Roscoe has a great chance of succeeding among the expanding suburban areas of Winston. In conclusion , the argument, as it stands, rests on multiple assumptions that are unanswered and play a vital role in driving decisions for the companies mentioned in the argument. If the companies decide to expand their scope of vision and eliminate the uncertainities with more expedient research and analysis, decision making would certainly be eased out for them. The above mentioned three questions are probing enough to evaluate the crux of the argument and unless substantial evidence is put forth to answer the questions asked, it is difficult to evaluate the argument and the proposed recommendations.

ARGUMENT: The following appeared in the editorial section of a local newspaper: Nearly 70% of employers blamed inadequate training for the shortfall in skilled workers, yet 70% of education-providers believe they suitably prepare graduates for the jobs market. Similarly, employers complain that less than half of the young whom they hire have adequate problem-solving skills, yet nearly two-thirds of the young believe that they do have such skills. Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion. MY ESSAY: The argument provides two instances when two different parties claim and support contradictory statements. The author also provides figures which, at first glance, make the argument plausible. However, on close inspection, it is seen that their are many questions and alternatives not addressed. While the education-providers believe they suitably prepare graduates for the jobs, one possibility of why the employers still find their training inadequate is because of the pace of the job market. The markets progress and expand at a high pace and new jobs might be coming up requiring a whole new set of skills. It is possible that the education-providers are not yet aware of these advancements. If the author specifies that the employers are up to date with this information, then his argument would be strengthened. Another question that arises is that are the employers giving the newly hired youngsters adequate time to settle in before concluding that they lack problem-solving skills? As a fresher, it takes time to get used to the job and sometimes even guidance is necessary. It would be futile for the employers to expect a hundred percent performance from them on their first day. In continuation of the point above, an alternative explanation to the apparent contradictory figures and claims could be that the employers are not hiring workers with the relevant skills for the job role. For example, a well trained software engineer might not necessarily know how to work in the job role of a bank clerk. She would need some kind of training. Unless this unstated assumption is addressed, the argument falls apart. Last, even though two-thirds of the young believe that they do have problem-solving skills, their performance depends on their determination and sincerity to their current job role. Their ability of practically applying what they have been taught might also affect their performance. Hence, unless a specific mention of the source of the numbers mentioned in the argument, and a clarification of the points stated above are given, it can be concluded that the author fails to make a cogent and reasonable case. PS: I will be very grateful to whosoever takes out the time to review my essay. I have heard a lot about this forum, hoping it will help me out! Cheers!

SuperCorp recently moved its headquarters to Corporateville. The recent surge in the number of homeowners in Corporateville proves that Corporateville is a superior place to live than Middlesburg, the home of SuperCorp's original headquarters. Moreover, Middlesburg is a predominately urban area and according to an employee survey, SuperCorp has determined that its workers prefer to live in an area that is not urban. Finally, Corporateville has lower taxes than Middlesburg, making it not only a safer place to work but also a cheaper one. Therefore, Supercorp clearly made the best decision. Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on the assumptions and what the implications are if the assumptions prove unwarranted. From this argument we acknowledged that a company named supercorp moved its headquarters from middlesburg to corporateville, the Homeowners surge in corporateville and corporateville has lower taxes than middlesburg. From that argument we can assume that because employee of supercorp prefer to live in an urban area, the company moved to corporatville but in another point we notice that homeowners are rushing to corporateville, which is a clear sign that corporateville will not be a rural place in upcoming days. If that happened, the purpose of the company will go to the gutter. At another point we came to know that, the moved into town has lower taxes than moved out town. Town or cities which impose greater taxes also have better facilities. To maintain those facilities, they have to impose taxes, which are quite bigger. This indicates that corporateville has lower facility than middlesburg.So, the facilities like public transport, water supply or sewerage system will not as good as previous town. Which certainly will create problems in employee and also hamper their work productivity. From this discussion, we clearly understand that the main purpose of the move out will fail. Supercorp should take necessary steps to improve corporateville facilities.

Recent incursions by deep-sea fishermen into the habitat of the Madagascan shrimp have led to a significant reduction in the species population. With the breeding season fast approaching, the number of shrimps should soon begin to increase. Nonetheless, the population should not return to the levels before the fishing boats arrived. Because this trend is expected to continue over the next several years, the Madagascan shrimp will quickly become an endangered species. Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument. This argument assumes that because of deep sea fishermen the number of Madagascan shrimp led to a significant reduction. The breeding season is fast approaching and number of shrimps will increase, but won't return to the same level before it was. And Madagascar shrimp will be endangered. Firstly, there is not enough argument that deep-sea fishermen are the only reason for shrinking the shrimp population. There may be other elements too. That's assuming is not clear enough. If climate change also a reason for their reduction, then one can't only blame fishermen. Lacking evidence is weakening this point. Another point is that though the breeding season is coming, but it won't return to the level before fishermen are coming. We can't witness any reason or cause why the level won't become the same. Also, what should be the proportion of the shrimp before it was that also not included in the argument. Though it might be true if the incursion by the fishermen continue for several years, Madagascar shrimp maybe become endangered species, but only blaming them for this incident is doubtful. Though deep-sea fishermen are a cause for shrinking Madagascar shrimp, but there is not only enough evidence to blame them.

Social service, being a vital character of students, also serves to make him a better citizen of the society. The argument is based on many unwarranted assumptions which if not supported will fail to hold the argument valid. The argument heavily relies on the assumption that all the students will do the community service legitimately and assiduously. Although the majority of the students will be interested in serving the community, chances are good that students who aren't interested in such activities may produce spurious proofs on serving the community. That is, there is no mentioned method to verify if the student has truly engaged in community service and served for the specified duration; so students who are unlikely to be engaged with these social activities may not take part in the service. Had the argument provided a method to verify if the student has truly taken part in community service, it would provide better support to the argument. Another assumption the argument makes is that enforcing the 9 months community service as a requirement for graduation will not affect the students' performance in academics. For instance, consider a below-average student who barely makes it through the examinations. The community service, while making him a charitable and a solicitous member of the society, may well be a hindrance for his performance in academics. Had the college made it optional or reduced the service duration, it would have been better of the below-average students. Also, it would have been better if the college had formed a team, like the Community Service Scheme, involving students who are truly interested in social service, to engage in community service. Also, the argument assumes that all the local charities mentioned in the list will require the help of every student in the college. It is possible that most of the charities are already doing good in terms of man-power and may require other pecuniary support, which is not the aim of the community service rule enforced by the college. Hence, the college needs to make sure if all the mentioned charities need volunteers, which the argument has not mentioned. The argument, failing to provide support for the assumptions on which the argument depends, is pretentious and hence enforcing such a rule will likely fail to serve its purpose. Thank you,

The following was presented as part of a business plan by Apex Corporation. "To answer the increased demand for artisan coffee, Apex Corporation is releasing a new line of coffee, "Gourmet Select." Apex Corporation will first introduce the coffee into major supermarkets, where it hopes word-of-mouth advertising will sustain sales. After a few months Apex Corp. will run an advertising campaign aimed at television and radio while simultaneously releasing the brand to several major chain restaurants. Based on this strategy, Apex Corporation hopes to make "Gourmet Select" one of the top sellers in the coffee market." Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted. This argument assumes the Apex Corporation's intent without ever providing substantial evidence. It does not clearly argue why their strategy indicates wanting their coffee line to be a top seller. First off, the beginning statement detracts from the final conclusion. We are told that Apex is releasing this line only because the demand for artisan coffee increased, which does not necessarily mean that they want to make this line the top coffee seller. This sentence also greatly limits the scope and applicability of their product. Gourmet Select is implied to be a artisan coffee. Artisan coffee is in greater demand, but we do not know how in demand it is compared to all coffees in general. Maybe only 10% of coffee consumers buy artisan coffee and an increased demand means 11% now buy it. If this were the case, it would be silly for Apex to think that Gourmet Select could make it to the top charts. The statements are also too vague to come to conclusions. Sure they are releasing the line to major supermarkets, but how many and where? Are they trying to go global or is it just one area? They are running a advertisement campaign, but this is too general to draw any conclusions. Are they targeting other coffee lines? Do they even aim to beat other coffee lines? It is unclear if Apex even wants to compete seriously or if they simply want their product to sell well like all companies do. Without specification there is no way to tell if they want to be a top seller or not. Same with the chain restaurants; how many and how widespread is their reach? With just a few more details, this argument could be much stronger. So far, everything in the plan suggests that Apex wants their new brand to do well, but does not indicate to what degree. For example, they first put their new line in major supermarkets, but it says in "hopes to sustain sales." This does not scream "top seller" material and - if anything - undermines the idea that Gourmet Select will sell well. This argument is lacking any evidence that Apex truly wants to compete at a high level. It would have been better to compare Apex's campaign to other top coffee sellers' campaigns for supporting evidence. Even providing a direct quote from a Apex employee about the company's intent would have been suffcient. Reaching far outside the scope, vague, and lacking evidence for competition, this argument fails to convince the reader of Apex wanting Gourmet Select to be on top charts.

The following was presented as part of a business plan by Apex Corporation. "To answer the increased demand for artisan coffee, Apex Corporation is releasing a new line of coffee, "Gourmet Select." Apex Corporation will first introduce the coffee into major supermarkets, where it hopes word-of-mouth advertising will sustain sales. After a few months Apex Corp. will run an advertising campaign aimed at television and radio while simultaneously releasing the brand to several major chain restaurants. Based on this strategy, Apex Corporation hopes to make "Gourmet Select" one of the top sellers in the coffee market." Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted. This argument assumes the Apex Corporation's intent without ever providing substantial evidence. It does not clearly argue why their strategy indicates wanting their coffee line to be a top seller. First off, the beginning statement detracts from the final conclusion. We are told that Apex is releasing this line only because the demand for artisan coffee increased, which does not necessarily mean that they want to make this line the top coffee seller. This sentence also greatly limits the scope and applicability of their product. Gourmet Select is implied to be a artisan coffee. Artisan coffee is in greater demand, but we do not know how in demand it is compared to all coffees in general. Maybe only 10% of coffee consumers buy artisan coffee and an increased demand means 11% now buy it. If this were the case, it would be silly for Apex to think that Gourmet Select could make it to the top charts. The statements are also too vague to come to conclusions. Sure they are releasing the line to major supermarkets, but how many and where? Are they trying to go global or is it just one area? They are running a advertisement campaign, but this is too general to draw any conclusions. Are they targeting other coffee lines? Do they even aim to beat other coffee lines? It is unclear if Apex even wants to compete seriously or if they simply want their product to sell well like all companies do. Without specification there is no way to tell if they want to be a top seller or not. Same with the chain restaurants; how many and how widespread is their reach? With just a few more details, this argument could be much stronger. So far, everything in the plan suggests that Apex wants their new brand to do well, but does not indicate to what degree. For example, they first put their new line in major supermarkets, but it says in "hopes to sustain sales." This does not scream "top seller" material and - if anything - undermines the idea that Gourmet Select will sell well. This argument is lacking any evidence that Apex truly wants to compete at a high level. It would have been better to compare Apex's campaign to other top coffee sellers' campaigns for supporting evidence. Even providing a direct quote from a Apex employee about the company's intent would have been suffcient. Reaching far outside the scope, vague, and lacking evidence for competition, this argument fails to convince the reader of Apex wanting Gourmet Select to be on top charts.

Hi All! I have two essays that I'll love some feedback on. Issue: All too often, companies hire outside consultants to suggest ways for the company to operate more efficiently. If companies were to spend more time listening to their own employees, such consultants would be unnecessary. Essay: - It's always crucial to spend our time listening to our employee. In comparison to outside consultants, employees are the ones whom have been in the company the longest. They are also the driving force of the operation. However, there are also valid reasons companies should hire outside consultant. Primarily, they're a great candidate to provide fresh ideas. Secondly, they're professionally trained to advice companies so they can thrive. Hiring an outside consultant could be a rough process, as they can direct the company in one way or for the worse. Selecting someone from the outside that you can trust with a company is not easy. However, these are trained professionals that spots pitfalls and rooms for improvement. The problem with consulting within for one, is groupthink. There has been internally established roles of leadership within the company, established norms, and assigned authority. If those authorities are the ones to make decisions, it's difficult for the rest of the team to disagree, depending on the leader themselves. Furthermore, if the team is used to the decision of the leader, perhaps it's predictable, they're at a higher risk to blindly follow. Although, this may save their jobs, it can hurt the growth of the company. In another sense, hiring an outside consultant can help brainstorm different prospective. A great treatment of groupthink is also to find a different perspective, someone that has not been there from the beginning. They're more likely to pick up on the pitfalls of the plan and steer them in the right direction. Sometimes, companies are build on a firm goal, and after time spent focused on such goal, it's difficult to see outside of the box. Having a different perspective can elevate a company that may have not if they had stay consulting from within. Lastly, hiring a consultant is better because they're professional that have been trained in different ways that a company can thrive. If the qualified consultant has a great deal of experience, working with different industries and different companies. They're able to combine their experience, perhaps from different companies to tailor the best fit for the company. It would be difficult for the company to see what's making other companies so successful, unless they have a spy! Which in this case, would be highly unethical! Consultant within the company can save the company some money initially and also to build company morale as the employees feels that their opinion matters. However, speaking in longevity wise, the company can thrive with the resources of a fresh and different perspective, a highly experienced consultant can take the company to the next level that the company itself my have not known it's possible. - Argument: Many lives might be saved if inoculations against cow flu were routinely administered to all people in areas in which the disease is detected.However since there is a small possibility that a person will die as a result of the inoculations,we cannot permit inoculations against cow flu to be routinely administered Essay: This argument is flawed for numerous reasons. Primarily the argument is based on unwarranted assumptions that many lives can be saved if inoculations against cow flu were administered to all people in areas where the disease is detected, yet it fails to provide statistics or explanations on why it's a good idea. Therefore, it makes the argument invalid. The argument in the first sentence fails to provide explanations for the areas that are not detected. Lives might be saved for those areas that are detected, but what exactly are those areas? If those are more urban or wealthy areas with more support, then what about the more rural areas without much support? Had the argument had provided a fair explanation of the trustworthiness of how the disease can be detected, then it may have been a more sense, but even then, they would have to further explain the process of detecting the disease, and how often should it be done. The argument also leaves vague questions, for example, "since there is a small possibility that a person will die", that does not sound promising as all. What is the statistic of the possibility, as we understand that not every treatment is 100 percent guarantee to work. However, it would be more convincing and comprehendible had the argument provided some facts and statistics on the vague "possibility" of death. Even then, they would have to provide the validity of the statistics. If it was reproduced, or if it had been experimented professionally. Finally, the argument concludes by "we cannot permit inoculations against cow flu" after explicitly proposing that it can save many lives is an unnecessary statement unless there has a solution to the problem. This last sentence completely wipes out the importance of the whole argument. If this is not permitted, what are the other options to improve the success rate of the inoculations? Had this sentence been provided with more comforting solution, it would have made the argument valid. Because the argument was vague and made unwarranted assumptions. it failed to make a convincing case why inoculations against cow flu should be routinely administered to all people in detected areas. Please!!! Thank you so much! -Lea

Woven baskets characterized by a particular distinctive pattern have previously been found only in the immediate vicinity of the prehistoric village of Palea and therefore were believed to have been made only by the Palean people. Recently, however, archaeologists discovered such a "Palean" basket in Lithos, an ancient village across the Brim River from Palea. The Brim River is very deep and broad, and so the ancient Paleans could have crossed it only by boat, and no Palean boats have been found. Thus it follows that the so-called Palean baskets were not uniquely Palean. Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument. Given that baskets similar to those found in Palea village had been found in Lithos, it cannot be concluded that the Palean baskets were not distinctive to the village of Palea. The argument that the lack of proof of a boat is rife with holes to suggest that Palean baskets were not unique to the particular village. The argument mentions the Brim river to be broad and deep without giving any details on the climatic conditions that might have been during the prehistoric times. For instance, if the villages of Palea and Lithos had experienced torrid summers that drained the Brim river leaving it completely dry, people could have easily crossed the river without the aid of a boat. Therefore, this instance gives rise to the possibility of exchanging Palean basket with the people of Lithos. Since archaeologists came to the conclusion based on no traces found of a Palean boat, there might have been reasons for the disappearance of the boats. For instance, if the Brim river was much deeper and had stronger currents compared to today, the Paleans boats might have washed away and no traces are left as of today at those sites. Since the villages were pre-historic, there might have been major floods that had washed down any form of evidence that would lead to knowhow about the boat technology that they used. Another key point that weakens the argument is that we still don't have any notion of whether there were any boats made by the villagers in Lithos. The archaeologists have only sought after Palean boats. There is a possibility that the Paleans didn't have the required boat technology that people of Lithos had developed or even mastered. If there were Lithos boats, people might have used it to visit the Palean land and take some of the baskets with them as memories or souvenirs. Thus, a lack of information about the Lithos people fails to give a complete picture of the society and technological development back then. In conclusion, although Palean baskets had been found in the land of Lithos, there shouldn't be a quick jump to a conclusion based on incomplete facts. The archaeologists should work to discover more about the Lithos people and comparing both of them come to an agreement.

Hello there! I am taking the GRE in a few weeks and have just started to practice for the Writing sections. Underneath is one of my essays, that I would like to get some feedback on. Thank you very much in advance! Argument The following appeared as a letter to the editor from a Central Plaza store owner. "Over the past two years, the number of shoppers in Central Plaza has been steadily decreasing while the popularity of skateboarding has increased dramatically. Many Central Plaza store owners believe that the decrease in their business is due to the number of skateboard users in the plaza. There has also been a dramatic increase in the amount of litter and vandalism throughout the plaza. Thus, we recommend that the city prohibit skateboarding in Central Plaza. If skateboarding is prohibited here, we predict that business in Central Plaza will return to its previously high levels." Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation is likely to have the predicted result. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation. Response First of all, the severity of the changes in the number of shoppers in Central Plaza and the popularity of skateboarding is not the same. The letter to the editor mentions a steady decrease in the number of shoppers in Central plaza, while the increase in the popularity of skateboarding is called dramatic. It is important to think about whether a dramatic change in the popularity of skateboarding could have caused a steady change in the number of shoppers. Next to that, other possible causes that have been gradually changing should be studied, such as the amount of people that shop online or the change in population close to Central Plaza. Secondly, although an increase in the amount of litter and vandalism sounds like a plausible reason for the decrease in the number of shoppers, it is unclear whether this is caused by skateboard users. Thus, it must be determined who causes the litter and vandalism. If this is not caused by the group of skateboarders, it can be ineffective to prohibit skateboarding in Central Plaza. Next to that, the letter does not say anything about a possible overlap between the group of shoppers and the group of skateboard users. If skateboard users make up a large part of the group of people that shop at Central Plaza, it could be a huge mistake to prohibit skateboarding, as this could cause skateboarders to go to another mall instead, decreasing the business in Central Plaza even more. In short, in order to determine the most probable outcome of the recommendation, other possible causes of a decrease in business should be analyzed, the cause of the increase in litter and vandalism must be studied, and the part of the group of shoppers that is also a skateboard user should be determined.

Please review and score my first AWA essay so that I may know what my essay lacks in. My test is in 4 days. Any help will be much appreciated. Thank you . --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Men and women, because of their inherent physicaldifferences, cannot perform equitable tasks. Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position. The extent to which men and women cannot equally perform mundane to specialized tasks is a complex issue involving a tug of war between them. On balance, however, I tend to agree that all humans regardless of their gender are capable of performing work of equal caliber, despite the physical difference. One compelling argument against such difference or domination (men and women cannot perform similar duties) is that in contemporary world, men are preceded by women and vice versa in every field be it the engineering field, or law; medicine or aeronautics; modern art or archaic art; innovation or technology. In fact, men reached space first and following them females stepped on moon and Mars. To further support this notion, in Pakistan and still in most Asian countries, only males are allowed and eligible to be fighter pilots in Air Force, however, a female fighter pilot Ayesha Farooq broke the stereotypes and is one of the first Asian female jet fighter thus proving that women are capable of performing similar tasks whether they be mundane or dangerous and can follow the footsteps of men in any profession. A second compelling argument against such domination is that females are making equally significant contributions as their male counterparts in various fields. For instance, a woman came up with an idea of supercomputers in 1980s and invented one of them. Steve Jobs was so influenced and inspired by this lady that he followed her idea, took it to next level and founded his company - Apple. Thus, both of their efforts resulted in latest advancement in computer technologies. Another compelling argument against such domination is that media is playing a crucial role in dissemination of an important message - Women are equally strong as men and are valiant enough to face the challenges of the world. For instance, modern day American series such as The Flash, Arrows, Superwoman convey the same message that men and women are equally strong to make significance in the word, despite their physical difference. Similarly, not just in US, media is disseminating this very same message to worldwide. Korean TV Series Weight Lifting Fairy and Strong Woman Do Bong So are examples of such an argument. In these series, the lead actor/actress are shown the strong and depicting some superpowers and using them to fight evil in the society. Korean TV Series Weight Lifting Fairy revolves around a story of Weight Lifter Kim Book Jo. This series supports the female weightlifters in Olympics and other sports competitions. Those who disagree with my perspective might argue that by nature, men and women are physically different. Men cannot give birth and likely, both genders have different roles to play in society. Moreover, in past women were confined to homes and were required to do house-keeping while men did labor. This home confinement culture is still prevalent in some parts of the world such as Pakistan. However, most of the people are waking up to this call and sending their daughters to school. Another example is of 19th century, American author Louisa May Alcott. Her famous novel “Little Women” –jumbled with a conflict between family responsibilities and personal ambitions, life and death - is said to be based on her own early life. Despite her open-minded father, she supported herself and her sisters with woman’s work such as sewing, doing laundry, and acting as a domestic servant. Soon, she discovered she could make more money writing and later on, became one of the famous classical American writer. However, this argument ignores the fact that in modern day, half of women force are active in a field of science and technology – standing shoulders to shoulders with men and together fighting against the odds, according to research (on Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls). This argument also overlooks that a nation cannot progress until its women are not empowered and stood with shoulder to shoulder with their men. Admittedly, there are many examples in history depicting that women can achieve everything a man can- such as, a politician Benazir Bhutto was the first female to become a Prime Minister in the history of Pakistan, Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousfazai is a role model and inspiration for all those girls who are afraid to raise voice and demand their rights, and a film maker and female activist Sharmeen Obaid is the only and first woman to bring home the Oscars for her imminent work in film making. In conclusion, I acknowledge that females are, still, epitome of domestic servants in some parts of the world while males are the sole bread earners in family in some culture. Nevertheless, despite the inherent physical differences in men and women, both perform many tantamount duties and tasks, and do chores of similar nature thus, making history today in vast variety of fields- to name few – aeronautics, medicines, engineering, arts and designing, social sciences, bio informatics, etc. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please review and score my first AWA essay so that I may know what my essay lacks in. My test is in 4 days. Any help will be much appreciated. Thank you . --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Men and women, because of their inherent physicaldifferences, cannot perform equitable tasks. Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position. The extent to which men and women cannot equally perform mundane to specialized tasks is a complex issue involving a tug of war between them. On balance, however, I tend to agree that all humans regardless of their gender are capable of performing work of equal caliber, despite the physical difference. One compelling argument against such difference or domination (men and women cannot perform similar duties) is that in contemporary world, men are preceded by women and vice versa in every field be it the engineering field, or law; medicine or aeronautics; modern art or archaic art; innovation or technology. In fact, men reached space first and following them females stepped on moon and Mars. To further support this notion, in Pakistan and still in most Asian countries, only males are allowed and eligible to be fighter pilots in Air Force, however, a female fighter pilot Ayesha Farooq broke the stereotypes and is one of the first Asian female jet fighter thus proving that women are capable of performing similar tasks whether they be mundane or dangerous and can follow the footsteps of men in any profession. A second compelling argument against such domination is that females are making equally significant contributions as their male counterparts in various fields. For instance, a woman came up with an idea of supercomputers in 1980s and invented one of them. Steve Jobs was so influenced and inspired by this lady that he followed her idea, took it to next level and founded his company - Apple. Thus, both of their efforts resulted in latest advancement in computer technologies. Another compelling argument against such domination is that media is playing a crucial role in dissemination of an important message - Women are equally strong as men and are valiant enough to face the challenges of the world. For instance, modern day American series such as The Flash, Arrows, Superwoman convey the same message that men and women are equally strong to make significance in the word, despite their physical difference. Similarly, not just in US, media is disseminating this very same message to worldwide. Korean TV Series Weight Lifting Fairy and Strong Woman Do Bong So are examples of such an argument. In these series, the lead actor/actress are shown the strong and depicting some superpowers and using them to fight evil in the society. Korean TV Series Weight Lifting Fairy revolves around a story of Weight Lifter Kim Book Jo. This series supports the female weightlifters in Olympics and other sports competitions. Those who disagree with my perspective might argue that by nature, men and women are physically different. Men cannot give birth and likely, both genders have different roles to play in society. Moreover, in past women were confined to homes and were required to do house-keeping while men did labor. This home confinement culture is still prevalent in some parts of the world such as Pakistan. However, most of the people are waking up to this call and sending their daughters to school. Another example is of 19th century, American author Louisa May Alcott. Her famous novel “Little Women” –jumbled with a conflict between family responsibilities and personal ambitions, life and death - is said to be based on her own early life. Despite her open-minded father, she supported herself and her sisters with woman’s work such as sewing, doing laundry, and acting as a domestic servant. Soon, she discovered she could make more money writing and later on, became one of the famous classical American writer. However, this argument ignores the fact that in modern day, half of women force are active in a field of science and technology – standing shoulders to shoulders with men and together fighting against the odds, according to research (on Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls). This argument also overlooks that a nation cannot progress until its women are not empowered and stood with shoulder to shoulder with their men. Admittedly, there are many examples in history depicting that women can achieve everything a man can- such as, a politician Benazir Bhutto was the first female to become a Prime Minister in the history of Pakistan, Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousfazai is a role model and inspiration for all those girls who are afraid to raise voice and demand their rights, and a film maker and female activist Sharmeen Obaid is the only and first woman to bring home the Oscars for her imminent work in film making. In conclusion, I acknowledge that females are, still, epitome of domestic servants in some parts of the world while males are the sole bread earners in family in some culture. Nevertheless, despite the inherent physical differences in men and women, both perform many tantamount duties and tasks, and do chores of similar nature thus, making history today in vast variety of fields- to name few – aeronautics, medicines, engineering, arts and designing, social sciences, bio informatics, etc. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Claim: the best of an argument is the ability to convincesomeone with opposing view point. Reason :onlu by being forced to defend an idea agaist the doubts and contrasting views of others does one really discover the value of an idea The claim is saying that the best out of an argument comes when we try to convince someone with an opposing view point. What is argument i ask? From my point of view it is the point over which there are different views of different people.The reason of an argument can be aythng it may be the ambiguity of the statement or its how one construes the statement.So arguments relates with the thinking of a person.The claim is saying that the best out of an argument comes when we try to convince someone with an opposing view point. Here the claim itself serves as an argument.One may agree or disagrree with the claim and its reason,but when one needs to defend or they need to convince other his/her/their own point of view or they need to convince others they will think upon it more.They would try to come up with the ideas which support their views.When the opposing views are stronger than their views they would try strengthen their argument.Like in this example of the claim in the question, To support the claim and its reason i had to do some brainstroming activities. My aim is to convice my view to you and the only way to do it was strengthening my argument.Thus in this course of strengthening the argument i had to go through both pros and cons of this statement and thus made me realize the value of an argument.Likewise,it holds true for any argument.the success of an argument lies in convincing others our view point Thus, when we see both the contrasting views and try to strengthen our argument side of the argument and thereby either we get convinced about their viewor they get convinced aboutour viewand thus the argument gets at its best when any one with the opposing view agrees with the oppsite view.

#argument "An international development organization, in response to a vitamin A deficiency among people in the impoverished nation of Tagus, has engineered a new breed of millet high in vitamin A. While seeds for this new type of millet cost more, farmers will be paid subsidies for farming the new variety of millet. Since millet is already a staple food in Tagus, people will readily adopt the new variety. To combat vitamin A deficiency, the government of Tagus should do everything it can to promote this new type of millet." #Response: International development organization created a new bread millet high in vitamin A to cure its deficiency among people, where farmers are given subsidies for new seeds for increasing production of millet which is already a staple food in city. Creating new seeds high in vitamin A does not give justify that it will eradicate the deficiency in all the people. Because being already a staple food its not necessary that each deficient person would be consuming that food regularly. May be some people do not like that millet in Tagus. So there deficiency will not be cured. New seeds millet bread could taste different compared to already habitual taste of millet bread among Tagus people. Which can also hinder the possibility of eradication of vitamin A deficiency. because those having deficiency may would not like it and will not get cured. Also increasing the production of new seeds with giving subsidies, then may be farmers will start growing new one and those who do not have deficiency have to also consume the new one because its a city staple food. Giving subsidies only to farmer does shows that farmer will start producing those seeds because there production depends on the sale they make. And industries buying old millet seeds have machines and recipes of making old ones. They would not buy new one because they have to spend money for new machines or new production recipes. As government giving subsidies to only farmers but farmer can only grow raw seeds which manufacture require the most. So government should consider the production level of new millet seeds for making bread. so that they can produce products with more vitamin A in it. Arguments also does not address about people with no deficiency as they also have to eat those new millet bread which they don't want also. And may be this can lead to not produce new millet seed by farmers because may be more percentage of people in Tagus city are not vitamin A deficient. which will cause people with deficiency to suffer and government act will not be able to help those people.

1. Issue - A nation should require all of its students to study the same national curriculum until they enter college. Education is very important factor in the development of child and it is very important to provide a good education to all the children in the nation for the growth of nation and the betterment of the world. Throughout the years, many have argued for a same national curriculum for all the students in a nation while others argued for a different curriculum as per school requirements. However, a curriculum covering all the topics, if made same throughout the nation will serve as a good standard to provide education and it will also be easy to compare abilities of students. Currently, there is a huge gap among rich and poor children in matters of education provided to them. Few poor children who cannot bear the cost of education are forced to study in some low budget school which does not cover all the subjects to be taught to a child, while those who are rich send their children to a high budget school which provides a vast number of subjects by explaining them in detail. Primary Education is very important for the growth of a child and this step will reduce the differences among the education provided to rich and the poor to a great extent. Secondly, it will serve as a common standard for all the students and hence, it will be easy to judge ability of a person based on his primary education which is needed mostly in interviews and college registrations. Many companies have a minimum cut off marks for a student to enter in the company's interview. If a student has opted for some other curriculum where marking scheme is very strict or the course is very tough, he/she would have scored few marks in the school, giving a bad representation about the person to the interviewer. Hence, a common syllabus with same level of difficulty and same marking schemes is very important to judge a person's education in an easy way. Some people can argue that students with different interests would likely want a different curriculum but since a national curriculum is applied throughout the nation, it will cover all the major subjects which are important for a student for his/her primary education. Finally, a national curriculum will not only serve as a common standard but will also contribute greatly in eliminating the differences in the education rovded among the rich and poor 2. Argument - The following is a memorandum from the business manager of a television station. "Over the past year, our late-night news program has devoted increased time to national news and less time to weather and local news. During this period, most of the complaints received from viewers were concerned with our station's coverage of weather and local news. In addition, local businesses that used to advertise during our late-night news program have canceled their advertising contracts with us. Therefore, in order to attract more viewers to our news programs and to avoid losing any further advertising revenues, we should expand our coverage of weather and local news on all our news programs." Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted. The argument about restoring the time devoted to weather and local news due to complaints regarding station's coverage of local and weather news and decline in the number of advertising contracts and at first seems to be convincing, but when examined with a closed scrutiny lacks certain key evidences which would have bolstered the argument of the Business Manager. Firstly, most of the viewers complained regarding the station's coverage of local and weather news but this does not completely indicate that the station needs to increase the time devoted to these programs. Some viewers might have complained regarding the content provided in weather and local news; they might not be satisfied with it or did not like the presentation or consider it not genuine or any other case. In such a case, the shift goes from quantity to quality, ie , it means that the program must provide a bettter content in a simplified and fluent way. But since the argument never mentioned anything about the details of complaints, it is very difficult to say whether viewers are not satisfied with the content or the time alloted to such programs. Secondly, many advertising contracts have been cancelled for the late night news programs. But what were these late night news programs. They could have been Local news or National news, but the argument never mentioned exactly about these late night news programs. Hence, it is not appropriate to make any judgement based on this evidence. Also, there could be many reasons for local businesses to cancel the contract. The argument did not mention a single reason as to why the contract has been cancelled. Those businesses might like to invest their money in a different news company which they consider more profitable. The argument must provide a clear evidence regarding what the late night news programs are and it must dig deeper to find a reason why the contract was cancelled. It is very important to consider all factors before coming to any conclusion. Thus, the argument must consider the points mentioned above before it increases the time alloted to local and weather news in order to be profitable. Kindly review both of these if possible. I am giving GRE within 1 week, so I need to focus on my weaknesses in AWA.

The following appeared as a letter to the editor from a Central Plaza store owner. "Over the past two years, the number of shoppers in Central Plaza has been steadily decreasing while the popularity of skateboarding has increased dramatically. Many Central Plaza store owners believe that the decrease in their business is due to the number of skateboard users in the plaza. There has also been a dramatic increase in the amount of litter and vandalism throughout the plaza. Thus, we recommend that the city prohibit skateboarding in Central Plaza. If skateboarding is prohibited here, we predict that business in Central Plaza will return to its previously high levels." Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation is likely to have the predicted result. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation. In the preceding statement the author claims that the increased number of skateboarders is the main reason for the business downturn in Central Plaza. Accordingly, skateboarding should be banned there in order to overcome the crisis and improve the business. Though her claim may well have merit, the author presents a poorly reasoned argument, based on questionable premises and assumptions. Based solely on the evidence the author offers, we cannot accept her argument as valid. First of all, the fact that there is a coincidence between the raising number of skateboarders and decreasing number of shoppers, does not necessarily mean that those two phenomena are related. It is possible that there are other factors explaining recent negative changes in the business. For example, decreased average income of the population or increased average prices could be other reasonable explanations. As the author does not discuss other possible causes for such a situation, this is a serious flaw in the argument. Second, the author fails to explain the relationship between the number of skateboarders and the amount of garbage in the plaza. Skateboarders are not the only ones who may be responsible for disorders. For instance, it is possible that there has been a dramatic rise in crime all over the country, and Central Plaza is not an exception. Similarly, the number of bums in public places might have risen and thus, resulted in such a situation. Hence, the information about vandalism in the plaza without any supportive information does not strengthen the author's argument at all. Finally, the author fails to consider what real impact the prohibition of skateboarding may have on the business. It may be that the skateboarders are those who mainly shop at the plaza stores. Skateboarding and shopping are not mutually exclusive, and people can easily combine these two activities. If this is the case in Central Plaza then the forbiddance of skateboarding will result in even decreased level of the business. While the author does have several key issues with her argument's premises and assumptions, that is not to say the entire argument is without base. The author could provide statistics on the major local economic and social changes for the observed period that might have affected the business of the plaza. Similarly, she could compare Central Plaza with other local shopping centers to see whether the downturn is idiosyncratic or not. Another improvement would be to conduct a survey investigating the percentage of skateboarders among all shoppers. Though there are several issues with the author's reasoning at present, with research and clarification, she could improve her argument significantly. In sum, the author's illogical argument is based on unsupported premises and unsubstantiated assumptions that render her conclusion invalid. It cannot be said without more evidence and support that the prohibition of skateboarding will result in increased levels of the business. If the author truly hopes to change her readers' minds on the issue she would have largely restructure her argument, fix the flaws in her logic, clearly explicate her assumptions, and provide evidentiary support. Without these things her poorly reasoned argument will likely convince few people.

Hi! So this Analyze an Argument essay has been graded as 4.0 by the ETS ScoreItNow software. The software does provide you with a grade and very facile revision tools, but hardly any explanation. How could this essay be improved? Thanks!! The following appeared in an e-mail sent by the marketing director of the Classical Shakespeare Theatre of Bardville. "Over the past ten years, there has been a 20 percent decline in the size of the average audience at Classical Shakespeare Theatre productions. In spite of increased advertising, we are attracting fewer and fewer people to our shows, causing our profits to decrease significantly. We must take action to attract new audience members. The best way to do so is by instituting a 'Shakespeare in the Park' program this summer. Two years ago the nearby Avon Repertory Company started a 'Free Plays in the Park' program, and its profits have increased 10 percent since then. Therefore, I recommend that we start a 'Shakespeare in the Park' program of our own. If we do so, I predict that our profits will also see a significant increase." The proponent of this argument could be said to rightly assume that swift action should be taken to change the course of events, however both his account of the problem and his proposal are flawed with inaccuracies that could be best classified as a lack of panoramic view on the larger issues that could be at play behind the decreased attendance, and the need of a more critical stand as regards the Avon company initiative being imitated. First, his summary of the decrease in attendance is utterly facile. The twenty percent decline could imply either a significant decrease, or an infinitesimal change, since percentages are far from being absolute values. Similarly, the author cites a supposed paradox where greater spending in advertising does not imply greater attendance, although this effect could be linked to a misled marketing campaign or a limited increased of advertising from none to a token amount. Furthermore, the decrease in revenues could be linked to attendance dropping, but also to other phenomena such as "sneaking in" or a majority of spectators only buying the cheapest of entries available. We could go as far as considering whether a overall decreasing demography could be here reflected, in which case little change could be expected at all. The author does draw an feeble parallelims with the Avon company and its "Free Plays in the Park" but fails to ackwnowledge the underlying difference between both companies: the range of authors represented by Avon could be much broader than that of Shakespeare Theatre, and therefore attract more public. Should this hold true, the proposed answer would be deemed ineffective. Similarly, diachronic and spatial concerns should be raised, as a two-year time window could be wide enough for relevant changes to have occurred that would make "Shakespeare in the Park" unsuccessful even if "Free Plays in the park" was a full-house every day. Again, the author does use a percentage, but does not reveal the extent of that 10% increase in revenues for Avon, which could be consider a minimal amount if compared to Shakespeare. Even more, the comparison drawn between both companies could be subjected to much scrutiny since we lack any veritable information about the quality of both companies: should Shakespeare Theatre be of a much poorer quality, the success experience by Avon is likely not to occur again. In conclusion, we could diagnose this argument as being essentially flawed both in the supericial analysis of the causes leading to the present situation, when the use of percentages and the disregard of more complex tendencies and phenomena could hinder the logical structure; and in the proposed solution, which could be ineffective should a number of events and changes not considered here hold true, such as the companies having different qualities, or different repertories. Therefore, although the author could be right in demanding action, both his logical basis and conclusion could be irrelevant and ineffective.

Thank you for taking a look at my two essays.! Issue- "Technology, while apparently aimed to simplify our lives, only makes our lives more complicated.Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position." Communication is a large part of how humans interact with each other. Relationships are formed through conversation and understanding of two individuals. However, how do two friends continue that relationship as the fork in the road leads to the companions leading lives elsewhere in the world? There have been techonological advances in devices such as the telephone where simple communication can be achieved when two friends are miles apart. Techonology has hit it's head on the nail where it has aimed to make our lives much more simpler. The days have past where the pony express had to deliver mail to and fro from two people. Information moved at a snails pace through a mailman on a stallion at that time. Urgent news could be days away compared to a quick dial of a phone number leading to immediate satisfaction. The revalation that is the telephone has made lives easier in all walks of life. Another way that technology has simplified lives is the ability to become organized through our cellular phones. A singular device that fits in your pocket has the ability to do numerous tasks. Imagine an office desk; what does it comprise of? A few things would be a computer, access to the internet, a telephone, and many other sationary needs. The advances in technology has given the ability of a cell phone to be an office desk in the palm of your hands. Almost anything and everything one can task themselves with at their cubicle, they could do on a bus. The ability to do so has caused whole companies to move onto cellular phones. An example would be a taxi application called Uber. One could hail a personal taxi to their very position because of the global positioning system inside their phone. That taxi can take you wherver you'd like and payment is easy, again, right through the phone application. A complete business is run on a cellular phone and because of this, lives are made simpler not having to worry about transportation. Although technology has made insane movements to make lives easier, there are possible repercussions. Let's take the cellular phone again as an example. There have been reports stating that cellphones have caused the young adult generation to become anti-social; hiding behind their bright handheld screens keeping themselves away from human contact in public. Before cellphones were able to pull videos and articles to read through the air, people were reading books and newspapers in the same situations. Communication in public settings is not completely necessary. That video or news article can be educational to that person learning from it. Remember that information is as quick to surface as it arises. Now I remember that many parents always teach that talking to strangers is something that is not pivitol. So, that cellular phone does not make our lives anymore complicated because it is enlightening the users through the applications that it's able to perform. Technology has revolutionized the way that lives are lived. It is something that will continue to evolve as time moves on. There are technologies being developed to correct the human desolation of the earth. A problem that has been developed as a result to technology. However, because of increasing new technologies we are able to right our wrongs and learn from our mistakes, thus leading us to live simpler lives. Argument - "SuperCorp recently moved its headquarters to Corporateville. The recent surge in the number of homeowners in Corporateville proves that Corporateville is a superior place to live than Middlesburg, the home of SuperCorp's current headquarters. Moreover, Middleburg is a predominately urban area and according to an employee survey, SuperCorp has determined that its workers prefer to live in an area that is not urban. Finally, Corporateville has lower taxes than Middlesburg, making it not only a safer place to work but also a cheaper one. Therefore, Supercorp clearly made the best decision. Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on the assumptions and what the implications are if the assumptions prove unwarranted. SuperCorp's move to Corporateville has proved to be a better choice compared to Middlesburg in the eyes of the SuperCorp heads. As stated, the homeowners in Corporatevill state its superior. The people saying that Corporateville is a better place are the people already living in it. Just as anyone who is asked about their hometown will speak highly about it. Pride in cities are seen especially when asked about living situation or likeability. SuperCorp being a super corperation is a possible high income, white collared company. Employees that are taking a part in the survey would perfer a nicer neighborhood than to an urbanized area. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree in this statement. If someone's income is high, they will want to use that money to treat themselves to a better and safer life for them and their family. Being that the survey is only for the employees, only those that work at SuperCorp are able to respond to it. The employees working at a super corperation will be making a pretty penny when it comes to their position at SuperCorp. Therefore Corporateville will be favored over Middleburg. The names of these cities provides implications of status. Employees at SuperCorp will be happy to say that they are not of middle class, and are members of the one percents. These people would desire a city name, Corporateville, that reflects their status. Therefore, the employee survey issued to the high money making workers will provide answers stating that the move from Middlesburg to Corporateville will be favored. Assuming that a profitable company leaves an area, and moves to another, taxes are sure to rise wherever it goes. Because the higher the population in a city will allow the rise in maintinence and property taxes to deal with the influx of people. With this, it will be a sad day when said employees who have wanted to save money see that taxes rise because of their large successful company moving so an area where they have brought income to the area.

Hello Everyone, Can someone please review my analytical issue essay. I am writing it for first time and have my GRE exam scheduled for next week. I would really appreciate if someone can let me know the areas of improvement. Topic : Techcorporation is our top pick for investment this term. We urge all of our clients to invest in the new company. FOr the first time in ten years, a compnay that has developed satellite technology has been approved by FTA to complete with the current satellite provider. That company is Techcorporation. A consumer survey last year indicated that over eighty percent of repondants were dissatisfied with the current satellite television provider and would want to switch to another provider if the industry were not a monopoly. Thus, the new venture of Techcorporation into satellite television will prove to be highly profitabe for those who invest now. The article that appeared in a newsletter advices investors to make a blind invetment in techcorporation. The reason behind this is that, it is the only company in 10years to hav edeveloped a technology that has been approved by the FTA to cpete with the current satellite provider. Also a survey claims that eighty percent users were dissatisfied with the current satellite provider and would like to switch to another one. However, this advice seems to be flawed, as there is no strong evidence that would support this claim. The newsletter article states that for the first time in 10 years , a satellite built by a comapany has been approved by the FTA. However this statement cannot be blindly accepted. Eventhough the satellite might have been accepted by the FTA there is no guarantee that the satellite would live upto its expectations. As there has absolutely been no strong competitor in the past 10 years, there is no assurance that Techcorporation would succeed as a satellite provider inspite of their satellite being approved. Also the survey which indicated that 80% of the respondents were dissatisfied with their current satellite provider does not shed light towards the place the survey was conducted, the sample size, the survey questions. It could be that this opinion would be limited to only a small geographical area and the rest of the population would be happy with their current service provider. The newsletter article also doesnot take into account techcorporation's experience in the field. Inspite of developing a satellite, the might not have the means or the experience it convert it into a viable satellite television provider. Some data has to be provided regarding the schemes they offer, their execution plan, their stock prices which is vital for investors. Since no strong support data has been provided it is not wise to invest into techcorporation simply based on the newsletter. Proper statistical data has to be provided, only then should investors think of investing or else they could be digging their own grave. Thank you for your feedback.

The following appeared as part of a letter to the editor of a scientific journal. “A recent study of eighteen rhesus monkeys provides clues as to the effects of birth order on an individual’s levels of stimulation. The study showed that in stimulating situations (such as an encounter with unfamiliar monkey), firstborn infant monkey produce up to twice as much of the hormone cortisol, which primes the body for increased activity levels, as do their younger siblings. Firstborn humans also produce relatively high levels of cortisol in stimulating situations (such as the return of a parent after an absence). The study also found that during pregnancy, first-time mother monkeys had higher levels of cortisol than did those who had several offspring. Write a response in which you discuss one or more alternative explanations that could rival the proposed explanation and explain how your explanation(s) can plausibly account for the facts presented in the argument. The excerpt of the letter sent to the editor of a scitific journal present flawed results of the study realized in eighteen rhesus monkeys. Altough the author of the letter presents scientific arguments of the horme cortisol, it does not mean that the study us represetative, the assumption used to support the argument lacks sufficient supporting evidence, and therefore, it is flawed. It is necessary to the investigator demostrate the functionality of the research presented. Present more data about the levels of stimulation on rhesus monkeys to determine the importance of the study and make a comparisson with the human being. Eighteen monkeys where analyzed during the study, first of all the researcher have indicate that this sample is representative. Next indicate the methodology used to elaborate the research, if it was empirical, or if it was in a laboraty, or where it was realized. Second I has to be indicated in what region of the world this study was realized, this is so important, because it has to be proved that the rhesus monkeys of South America behave equaly to the rhesus monkys of China. The relevance of the sample is so imporant to determine the importance of the investigation. It is also so important for the investigator to indicate what does the stimulation situations means, this is a very ambiguos concept. It mentions that the monkeys under stimulating situations produce twice as much of the hormone of cortisol, but it is necessary to explain if it only apply for emotional situations (such as enconunter with unfamiliar monkey), what is the reaction of the horme cortisol in the rhesus monkey when it experiment a phisycal or spiritual situation. The researcher need to explain the scope of the estimulating situations beacause there is a very broad concept at the moment. Furthermore the author makes a comparison between the reaction of the rhesus monkeys and the humans in estimulating situations. The reaction of the monkeys cannot be extrapolated to the reaction of the humans, because the situation expresed in the excerpt its no equal. In one hand it is said that the emotional situation of the monkeys is for example when encounter with an unfamiliar monkey and in the other hand the human emtional situation is when a parent returns aftern abasence. In one it can be seen that never had been a conection between this two animals, in the other it exists a conection between the parent and the child, the have already met. The investigation must be based in comparable situations and not on assumptions that cannnot be prove. The comparison to the increase of the hormen cortisol in the first-time mother monkeys reveals that there are more explanations for the raising of the horme. The phisycal contact with another monkey of their species. It also can be involved the external factors like if the monkeys are captive, so the reactions to stimulating situations could be provoked. Finally if the monkey is sorrounded by certain stress factors can affect the increase of hormone of cortisol, the separation from the heard, the forecast of climate change. There are so many factors that increase the hormone cortisol, not only th stimulating situations. The author provides flawed evidence to determine that stimulating situation presented are the only ones to increase the hormone cortisol, his assumption relies on unproved facts that weaken the argument. The evidence must be based on a study with certain methodology, where it indicates the extent of the sample, the conditions, and the relevance of the comparison to the human being. The assumptions are discussed above, and the author should verify the key facts, not only an encounter with unfamiliar monkey or similar, it can be aver that this is the only reason to increase the hormone cortisol .

"Woven baskets characterized by a particular distinctive pattern have previously been found only in the immediate vicinity of the prehistoric village of Palea and therefore were believed to have been made only by the Palean people. Recently, however, archaeologists discovered such a "Palean" basket in Lithos, an ancient village across the Brim River from Palea. The Brim River is very deep and broad, and so the ancient Paleans could have crossed it only by boat, and no Palean boats have been found. Thus it follows that the so-called Palean baskets were not uniquely Palean. Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.Woven baskets characterized by a particular distinctive pattern have previously been found only in the immediate vicinity of the prehistoric village of Palea and therefore were believed to have been made only by the Palean people. Recently, however, archaeologists discovered such a "Palean" basket in Lithos, an ancient village across the Brim River from Palea. The Brim River is very deep and broad, and so the ancient Paleans could have crossed it only by boat, and no Palean boats have been found. Thus it follows that the so-called Palean baskets were not uniquely Palean.“ Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument. ============================================================================================================================================ The argument claims that a special kind of woven baskets, which was believed to have been made only by the Palean people, was not uniquely Palean. To support the argument the author cites the following facts: (1) the ancient village Lithos was across the Brim River from Palean and the river is very deep and broad now; (2) the ancient Paleans could cross the river only by boat, but no Palean boats have been found. Thus the author claimed that the "Palean" basket found in Lithos could not be made by the Paleans. However, these facts are insufficient to permit a proper evaluation of the argument's reasoning. First of all, the author provides no evidence that the Brim River was as deep and broad in the past as it is today. It is possible that the river was quite shallow and narrow, or even did not exist in the past, so the Paleans could easily swim or walk to Lithos with their baskets. Under this assumption, the argument would be seriously weakened. Accordingly, without knowing the ancient condition of the Brim River, we cannot accept the author's conclusion. Secondly, the author unfairly assumes that the Paleans did not have boat based on the fact that no evidence of boats was found. However, the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. The Paleans might build the boats from materials that could not survive until today. Alternatively, the search scope of evidences of boats might not be large enough. Substantiating the author's assumption requires a much deeper search of evidences. In this case, it would be helpful to scrutinize historical records of the ancient Paleans to judge whether they had boats. Thirdly, the author provides no justification that the only way for the Paleans to cross the river is by boat. He fails to acknowledge and rule out other possibilities. There might be a bridge above the river, but unfortunately it was ruined later. Or it is equally possible that their "boats" had such distinctive features that evidences of boats were overlooked by the research team. Consequently, unless the author can demonstrate that taking a boat is the only way for the Paleans to cross the river, his conclusion would be undermined. Finally, the author's implicit claim is poorly supported that the basket found in Lithos could be taken there only by the Paleans. However, he fails to take into account that it might be the Lithos traders who went to Palean and bought the baskets back. Lacking more specific information about this possibility, it is impossible to assess the reliability of the author's conclusion. In sum, the author's argument is not persuasive. To bolster the argument, the author should provide substantial evidences that Palean was such an isolated village that there was no way for their baskets to be taken out of their village. My first argument and also my first thread in this forum :P And what score do this argument deserve?