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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.

In most professions and academic fields, imagination is more important than knowledge. 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. Everyone develops an imagination once they come to be a certain age. However, knowledge, on the other hand, is accumulated and constructed over time as we get older in age and further along in our academic career. Being able to have a broad sense of imagination allows for a multitude of new ideas that can potentially enhance a profession or academic field. Consequently, being able to supply that skill of imagination with a surplus of knowledge is ideal in perfecting one’s profession or academic field. However, the prompt states that imagination is actually more important than knowledge when it comes to most professions or an academic fields. I moderately disagree with this proposal, as being educated, backing claims or ideas with empirical support are far stronger than making a claim based on one’s imagination, for two reasons. First, since everyone develops an imagination at some point in their life, there would be no use for education and higher education if humans solely relied on their imagination. One’s imagination allows them to go so far until further knowledge is needed. For instance, a doctor that holds a PhD in Pediatric Neurosurgery did not finish their bachelor’s degree by imagining the different brain parts and functions of a three-year-old. Nor did they learn how to operate on a small human brain by closing their eyes and imagining how they would complete such a travailing surgery. The above example indicates that it is evident that a successful doctor that holds such a high degree accomplished this through gaining knowledge over the course of their life. Professions that include operating on people, saving people’s lives, or that require one to be cogent during a situation, are all professions that must have required some amount of knowledge. Relying on purely imagination would not allow for people’s lives to be saved each and every day. Secondly, gaining knowledge over the course of one’s life allows human interaction to be enhanced because different pieces of information are being shared with a solid foundation, thus enhancing the human race by allowing for even more knowledge to be absorbed. For instance, if a person without a certification in nutrition wanted to understand how they should be eating and properly fueling their body, chances are they would find a certified intrusions The reason for listening to someone of this caliber is because they are, in fact, knowledgeable about the topic that needs to be discussed about. Very rarely would we see someone taking any type of advice from another person that claims the advice is based on purely imagination. While being able to imagine different cases in which someone would lose this much weight or have to eat this amount of protein is important in determining the best plan for someone, it is ultimately based on the foundation of one’s knowledge. Of course, some may claim that not everyone has the opportunity to gain a greater amount of knowledge, so they resort to their imagination instead. While this may remain true, it is a mistake to say that most professions and academic fields rely more on imagination because one’s imagination has to be based on some type of knowledge or we would not have a starting point for that idea. For the above reasons, I find it problematic to say most professions rely on imagination rather than knowledge. If imagination was enough, there would be no need for technology, teachers, or higher levels of education.

Hello all, Feeling good to be a part of www.urch.community. Wrote GRE general test two times but the AWA score never went up above 3. I am looking for help from someone to evaluate my essays. Thank you

I followed gregmat's structure for both the argument and the issue essay. I feel confident about the argument essay, as greg himself mentions, it is easily do able based on the structure and I'm pretty much convinced with the way I wrote it too, but the Issue essay seems to be a little tougher and ambiguous. Would be great if any one of you could review and suggest any tips/improvements! TIA. Issue essay question: The best way for a society to prepare its young people for leadership in government, industry, or other fields is by instilling in them a sense of cooperation, not competition. 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. Essay (written during a timed mock): A perfect leader is someone who not only has in depth knowledge about his team/organization/industry but also has the ability to get things done diligently. A leader is the one who is considered to be the best in the lot and hence the position, and to justify that, he has to possess a strong sense of cooperation, without giving up on the competition, in the right spirit. In my opinion, I think the statement's support towards cooperation is very much valid with respect to the scenario considered -- preparing young people for leadership. I'd like to support the same by calling forth two topics along with examples and hypothetical instances. The history has seen numerous leaders who have rose up to supreme authority by virtue of their competitive spirit, likewise, history has also witnessed these leaders falling apart in short time. What could possibly be the reason? Lack of cooperation? Yes -- if not the only reason, a major reason. Once someone rises to the top, the most important aspect would be to stay there and to be able to do that, that person has to be able to work 'with' his/her team and this directly translates to being cooperative at all times. I'd like to state an example to support the same. The Indian cricket team's best player of all times is Sachin Tendulkar, undoubtedly. And when he went up the ladder breaking through all the competition as the best cricket player of his time, people cheered his talent and competitive spirit. Soon, he was offered the captaincy of the Indian cricket team by the selectors and the coach without any second thoughts. But he failed miserably, as a player and as a leader. Why was that so? Many claim that he wasn't capable of working 'with' his teammates and always focused on being the best in the lot. He was a start individually, but lacked cooperation with his teammates. This example asserts that cooperation plays a formidable role in determining a leader's potential and success in any domain. Secondly, is competition bad for a young leader? Of course, young people need to have the competitive spirit in order to progress and accomplish their goals. But for people who aspire to be leaders, competition could be a bane. For instance, let's assume that a Manager has a fantastic team and always gets the work done on time. But slowly, the management comes to the realization that there is a start performer in his team who is getting most of the work done. In this case, if the manager holds a competitive spirit in the wrong sense, he might not like his teammate burgeoning. This leads to a lot of mix ups. Instead, if he is a person who has faith in cooperation, he would rather prefer walking up to his amazing teammate and have an open conversation about his success and learn and work together, and ultimately increasing his abilities and the team's standards. The statement strongly supports cooperation over competition, which might not hold water in all cases, but very well does in this case, where the focus is on the society trying to prepare its young people for leadership in various fields. In conclusion, I strongly support the claim that the statement makes and the above analysis provides the basis to my support.

Nations should pass laws to preserve any remaining wilderness areas in their natural state, even if these areas could be developed for economic gain. Write a response in which you discuss your views on the policy and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider the possible consequences of implementing the policy and explain how these consequences shape your position. A country ought to preserve its forest areas because forests are one of the most crucial resources of oxygen, ores and herbs; however, the economic conditions of a country can not be neglected. Many a time, to stabilize the economy, the government has to use some areas of the jungle. Firstly, it is very important to have at least 33% area for the forest in any country to have a stable ecosystem because according to World Health Organization (WHO), 33% forests are enough to replenish the oxygen into the environment. So, the government should make the rules and regulations for the preservation of wilderness areas of the country. Having good control over these areas help in the reduction of the extinction of the species. On the other hand, wilderness areas also provide the raw material for various businesses. For example, cotton for clothes, wood for furniture, and paper. After having such benefits from jungles, the government should work upon the implementation of the laws for saving forests. However, we cannot ignore the fact that without a good economical conditions a government cannot run the country. So in order to improve the economy, the Government has to utilize some areas of the Jungle. Because if there is not a good economical condition of a country then there is no sense of having a rich wilderness area. By doing this, the government is opening doors for various mines and oil refineries because according to ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Company, India) there are plenty of resources of crude oil in various wilderness area across the globe. But, we can not forget the fact that if we want a healthy life then at least the 33 % area of the land must be preserved for the jungle. So, A government must make a policy for the country in which it should allocate as much as land possible to the forests and if it requires some area for the economic development of the country then they only utilize the area which is needed and which should not decrease the forest area of the country lesser than 33%. If these policies were implemented successfully then there would be an equilibrium in the ecosystem as well as the government can utilize only some portion of the land which will help to leverage its economy. Finally, after analysing each factor the conclusion could be that the government should preserve the remaining forests and in an emergency, if required they should use some forest area.

Hi I would really appreciate if someone could grade my GRE Issue Essay!! :))) The prompt is: Claim: Restaurants should be required to display nutritional information about the food they serve. Reason: This knowledge will help diners make healthy choices and reduce their risk of diet-related health problems. Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim and the reason on which the claim is based. My essay: As diet-related health issues continues to grow and diversify, it becomes increasingly critical for people to have knowledge of the nutritional contents in the food they eat. Places like grocery stores solve this problem by placing nutritional labels on practically all their products, but restaurants have yet to adopt the same concept. As a customer of a restaurant, besides a brief description of a dish on the menu, one would have no knowledge of what goes into making their meal. This becomes especially imperative in cases of allergies or other dietary restrictions such as vegetarianism or veganism. Additionally, the increasing prevalence of obesity and its diet-related health issues makes it crucial for people to have the information that they can use to make healthier choices. For these reasons, it should be a requirement of restaurants to display the nutritional information of all foods that they serve or have this information ready upon request. Food allergies are becoming increasingly popular and can often be life-threatening. Although most people are aware of the foods they’re allergic too, a common reason why people still suffer from allergy attacks, is because they are not aware that the allergen is present in the food they eat. Waiters and waitresses are required to inquire about any food allergies amongst their customers, however this information isn’t always passed along to the chef or they might not fully be aware of the presence of that food in every dish. These errors can often lead to life-threatening trips to the hospital and can be avoided by simply adding nutritional labels to the menu. These types of errors amongst restaurant staff is also critical in the case of other dietary restrictions such as vegetarianism and veganism. More people are starting to adopt lifestyle choices that restrict their diets in very different ways. Restaurant staff might not always be aware of all the different customizes someone might make to their diet. Personally, I have had an experience at a restaurant in which after telling the waiter I was vegan, I received food containing cheese because the waiter didn’t know that being vegan meant I couldn’t eat cheese. However, nutritional information doesn’t just contain the contents of the food we eat, but also the calorific count. We currently live in a society that has the highest obesity rates that we have ever seen. This leads to all sorts of diet-related health issues such as the infamous diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc. In order to combat this growing concern, people need to be given the information that will help them make healthier dietary choices. Although it might seem obvious what foods people should be eating or avoiding, even ordering a salad can be deceivingly unhealthy, containing an upwards of 1000 calories; approximately half one’s recommended daily intake. Often, restaurants add fattening products to their “healthier choices” to make them taste better sometimes making them unhealthier than the desserts. By providing the calorific information of each restaurant dish, customers will be able to make well-informed choices without the deception. One might present the argument that by providing the nutritional information of foods with high calorific contents, restaurants could be driving away their customers and thus reducing their income. Although this might be true, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing; as it might even encourage restaurants alter their dishes to become healthier and less calorific. Restaurants like “B. Good” and “Sweet green” even profit off the concept of publicizing the nutritional content of their food and marketing it as a healthy alternative. Additionally, the transparency creates more of a trusting relationship between the customer and the restaurant, causing customers to feel more comfortable knowing exactly what is in their food. Requiring restaurants to display the nutritional information of their food would benefit both the customer and the restaurant itself. It allows customers to have knowledge of the exact contents of their meals, which is critical in cases of food allergies and diverse dietary restrictions. It also allows them to make smarter, well-informed choices that will improve their overall heath and help reduce the risk of diet-related health issues. Restaurants can even benefit from the growing popularity of healthy food, and the increasing trust of their customers. Overall, these benefits are vast and make a convincing case to adopt this requirement in restaurants all over the nation.

AWA argument : Airline industry representatives have recently argued that flying is safer than driving,citing two separate studies. First, U.S. statistics show that each year there areapproximately 40,000 deaths in automobile accidents versus only approximately 200in flight accidents. Second, studies indicate that pilots are four times less likely thanaverage to have accidents on the road.Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered inorder to determine whether the argument is reasonable. Be sure to explain whateffects the answers to these questions would have on the validity of the argument My essay: The above argument claims that flying is safer than driving after citing two different studies. But the author fails to mention under what conditions are those studies correct. Are the weather conditions for flying always favourable ? Is the flight always in a good condition to be flown ? Are all the pilots good are handling exceptions in climate and flight accidents ? Comparing flying and driving is a very broad idea and it is almost impossible to compare these two without checking the parameters for the comparison such as distance, location, weather conditions, vehicle condition. What if it is heavily raining or there is a high probabilty of having a thunderstorm, is flying still better then ? What if the distance to be travelled only a few kilometers , is flying option available for such distances ? Obviously not, and hence the comparison is baseless in this case. The author compares by just considering the number of accidents in both cases. A road is full of vehicles and commuters wheras a sky is clear and open space. Therefore, the chances of having an automobile accident is very high than that of having a flight accident. Do pilots face a traffic jam in air ? Of course not, then why is the number of accidents compared ? Is it possible for everyone to use a flight as a daily mode of travel ? Pilots are trained for the best and worst scenarios and so are drivers. The author simply mentions that pilots are four time less likely than average to have accidents on the road but doesn't mention the mode of travel on road used by the pilot i.e is he walking, driving a car, riding a bike or simply travelling through a cab or a taxi. It fails to mention, whether, pilots if driving are driving with high speed or with low speed or an average speed. The above argument is dependent on lot of assumptions and fails to address a lot of factors and hence it can be concluded that the argument is not at all valid. Sample essay: The purpose of the airline industry’s argument, elucidated in the passage above, isto convince the reader that flying is safer than driving. The industry representativescite two pieces of evidence to support their conclusion—first, that fewer people dieper year in flight; second, that airline pilots get into fewer driving accidents. To showthat these arguments are reasonable, several questions need to be answered. The firstquestion has to do with the proportion of deaths represented by the figures of annualdeaths; the second has to do with the degree to which being a safe driver translatesinto being a safe pilot.Suppose the CEO of a car company tried to convince shareholders that thecompany was succeeding in a marketing campaign to sell a certain kind of car bysaying that over 10,000 cars had sold since the campaign began. The obviousquestion on the shareholders’ minds should be the fraction of the total number of carssold that this figure represents. If 10,000 cars represents less than 1% of the entiremarket on cars for this period, presumably they would not be very pleased with thecampaign. Similarly, knowing that only 200 people, versus 40,000 people, died inflight versus on the road is not informative until we know the proportion of the totalnumber of fliers and drivers that these numbers represent. If far fewer people fly thandrive, 200 could represent a large fraction of all fliers. And if the proportion of flightdeaths is higher than the proportion of car-deaths, then regardless of the total number,it would be fair to say that flying is not safer than driving. The question that needs tobe answered, in other words, is how many people fly and drive each year. This wouldthen allow us to calculate the portion of the total that these figures represent.Turning to the second piece of evidence used to support the argument that flying issafer than driving, we learn that airline pilots are safer-than-average drivers, havingfour times fewer accidents than the norm. In order for this fact to be convincing,several questions would need to be answered. First of all, we would need to knowwhether being a safe driver translates into being a safe pilot. But more than this, wewould need to know what being a safe pilot means. Keep in mind that we are solelyevaluating the argument that flying is safe relative to driving. So knowing that pilotsare “safe fliers” is nonsensical unless we can evaluate that claim in the context ofdriving. Therefore, a question that needs to be answered to make this argument validis what having a “safe pilot” means for airline passengers. An example of an answerto this question that would make the argument more valid would be that for any given hourof flight, pilots are vastly less likely to crash than for a given hour of driving. This is quiteclearly a long distance away from the statement as initially phrased—evidence that theargument as-is is in need of serious revision.In sum, we see in this passage the beginnings of a coherent argument, but moreinformation is needed in order to fully evaluate the strength of the claims. Namely,we would need to know what fractions 200 and 40,000 represent of the entirepopulation of fliers and drivers, respectively, and also what implications being a safedriver has for being a safe airline pilot.

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.

Scandals are useful because they focus our attention on problems in ways that no speaker or reformer ever could. 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. Society is two-fold, benign people helping to improve society and deceptive individuals contriving to make more profits for their selfish motives. Scandals expose these immoral activities and sometimes bad characters of certain people regarded with utmost value. Therefore, the issue of scandals being a useful tool for showcasing problems that aren't mentioned by speakers or reformers is absolutely justifiable. Scandals bring out the illegal activities done by various organizations to the common masses who are unaware of these problems and they work hard together to find appropriate solutions. For instance, during the British colonization, they introduced a farming in India known as 'Indigo Farming' that increases crop production to almost double than average. However, people were unaware of the detrimental effects, like rapid decrease in the soils' nutritive properties in later years, of such a method. Later this scandal was revealed and caused farmers to revolt against this ill practice. No speaker or reformer mentioned this during their speeches, since they were more concerned about other problems like increasing prices of the crops, eliminating the middle man in their trading process and others. Hence, such scandals are necessary to expose activities that are causing latent problems or will be prime reasons for conundrums in future. Scandals also pave way for good reforms for a better future. Had the 'Indigo Farming' scandal not have been brought to limelight, there would not have been a more significant unity in struggling for India's independence from the British. Recent scandals like 'Volkswagen Emission Scandal' showed how car manufacturers exploited emission rules to make high performance cars. These cars emitted pollution beyond certain standardized benchmarks but was the common masses weren't aware of such an illegal activity until the scandal happened. Hence, with such scandals, there is a strive to improve laws that will help society coexist with Nature.It was rumoured that a lot of prominent reformers knew about this activity by Volkswagen, but didn't mention them because of the influence Volkswagen had on the automobile market. Therefore, even though reformers try to change the prevalent evil in the existing society, a lot of them are mere 'puppets' to magnanimous institutions and hence won't bring certain problems to light. In conclusion, scandals are a way to bring certain problems infront of the people. Since speakers and reformers generally talk about problems that are widely known to people so that they gain more attention, catching secret illicit activities wouldn't have been possible otherwise.

Hello!! if anyone could give me feedback on this issue task essay it would be awesome. Thank you so much in advance. To understand the most important characteristics of a society, one must study its major cities. 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. Characteristics of a society: Culture, Religion, Political. Opinion: True but not totally. Reasons: Culture in the rural area of the country. Although it is true that many of a society’s characteristics can be evidenced by studying its major cities, leaving out minor cities or towns might produce a biased result originating a misconception. Some of the most important characteristics of a society are culture, religion and politics. And all three may vary greatly depending on the location of study. A society’s culture can be almost fully understood by studying the major cities since its were people from many parts of the country come together. The only problem is that when so many traditions get mixed, the original essence of culture is lost. People are so lost in a sea of traditions that no one holds a unique identity anymore. This can be evidenced in Colombia, Cali is one of its major cities and serves as home for people from all over the country and abroad. Some may argue that Cali displays the whole cultural spectrum of the country, but the truth is that Salsa is not the most important component of Colombian culture. One would have to travel to Salento or Manizales which are both small towns in order to pickup coffee from the fields or listen to traditional stories since Cali offers neither. Moreover, religion has been shifting greatly in the last few years. Globalization and access to information has made people more critic. This along with news that damage the catholic church reputation has created a wave of skepticism in major cities where studied people live. This is not the case for small towns and minor cities were the church influence might be far too great and people may not be as informed as in major cities. For instance, the religious point of view might be very different in Cali when compared to Buga which is a small town greatly known for its church which is said to hold a religious treasure from times past. Contrary to the statement, the political view of a country is not determined by the political view of the major cities. In Colombia people from the cities wished for a more socialist government which would concentrate its efforts on education and keeping the newly acquired peace. On the other hand, people from the countryside wished for a far right government which would attack rebel groups that constantly produce violence. Therefore, although major cities do hold a large number of people which can provide an idea of a society’s most important characteristics. It is unwise to leave towns and minor cities out of the picture, since it is thanks to the little details given by them that a society’s characteristics can be truly understood.

My GRE exam is on 20th August, still I am not confident about awa and facing hard times how to improve it. here i have attached 2 essays from my power prep 1 test. It would be so helpful if someone could give me valuable suggestion about how to focus on the topic, improve writing by adding some skills and what points I am missing in the writings. Also If I write essays like this level what score in AWA I am supposed to get? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Hey all, I've been really excited about my GRE scores since seeing the 'unofficial' scores when I finished but was disappointed with my AWA that I just received tonight. Verbal: 168 Quant: 167 AWA: 4 To give a bit of context this is overall improvement from when I took it last year: Verbal: 161 Quant: 163 AWA: 4.5 I plan to apply broadly to the top 30 programs since I'm coming out of an LAC with the knowledge that I may have to take an RA position if I have no luck in my first run with applications. Should I think about retaking because of the AWA? Thanks!

TOPIC: A nation should require all of its students to study the same national curriculum until they enter college. I agree with the fact that a nation should require all its students to study the same national curriculum until they enter college. The major reason is that a common curriculum provides a fair basis for students to be evaluated and a reliable guide for teachers to plan lessons. One example of a nation having the same national curriculum is the Common Core curriculum implemented in the United States. Previously, education in the United States was a state issue, and different states used different educational standards and emphasized different topics. From the student’s perspective, this lead to some states having lower or higher standards than others in different skills, and lead to students being unfairly biased to do well in certain subjects simply because they were living in a certain state. When it comes time for them to take the SAT, a standard test taken by almost all high school students to get into college, they would be unequally prepared, which leads to a geographic bias for good performance on the SAT. Having a non-uniform national curriculum also forms a bias in the way students learn, and has an unfair influence on the jobs they decide to pursue, and the way they live their life. For a start, this situation leads to a bias on the college majors and professions they would choose to pursue. If they came from a state that limited their exposure to computer science classes, for example, they would tend to not pick a computer science major in college. In the local workforce, there would be a dearth of software engineers. This imbalance may adversely affect the economy. So, we could see that having a non-uniform national curriculum forms a bias in the way students learn, and has an unfair influence on the jobs they decide to pursue, and the way they live their life. From a teacher’s point of view, having a unified curriculum such as the Common Core makes educating students a more efficient process. The common core standards provide a clear metric to evaluate teacher (and student) performance across all states in the country. Having a common curriculum also takes a great deal of uncertainty out of lesson planning, and teachers would be able to devote more time to the teaching students rather than thinking of which lessons they’d like to learn. Also, extracurricular help would be easier and less costly to access. For one thing, practice workbooks would be able to be used nationwide, mass produced, and lowering costs. Also, in person tutoring would be more readily available. For example, out of state tutors can help students online, since they are using the same curriculum. In conclusion, implementing unified education standards such as the Common Core across a country is beneficial for both students and teachers. For students, it makes standardized exams a fairer basis for comparing academic performance, and eliminates geographic performance bias. For teachers, it makes lesson planning a more efficient and unambiguous process, and additional resources more accessible. A unified education standard would have long-lasting impacts on the education and future success of the next generation.

AWA is one of the crucial areas for your GRE/GMAT exam preparation. Biggest problems students face is, they wanted to know how good their passage is and how good others are writing the answer for the given passage. So to solve this problem, have developed an open place where you can see other people answers and you share your reviews to others , and you can get reviews from other students and experts. Check out this link for AWA peer reviews , GroupsOne - AWA Open Hub Will be posting topics every day. To get daily updates , you can join my facebook group from here. https://www.facebook.com/groups/442774586057556/ Reach out to me if you have any doubts.

Question: "Nations should pass laws to preserve any remaining wilderness areas in their natural state, even if these areas could be developed for economic gain." Write a response in which you discuss your views on the policy and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider the possible consequences of implementing the policy and explain how these consequences shape your position. Response: Mankind's relationship with mother nature had purely been that of symbiosis until the late eighteenth century, which saw a metamorphosis of this sacred bond to one that can be considered more or less parasitic in current times. It was 1600 when the european sailors first set foot on a lush green island of sumatra. This Island was home to around 3.5 million species. The indonesia of then was a land teeming with floral and faunal beauty. The sailors commissioned by monarchies and emerging economic forces in europe, immediately found a gamut of invaluable items for trade this land had to offer. The entire commodity spectrum spanning from exotic spices, orchids, tea to flavour food of the people north of the mediteranean to iron ores and wood to catalyze the colonialism that was to engulf the whole world for the next 4 centuries. After all, someone had to compensate for the highly paced so called modernization of the human race-"The Industrial Revolution". Fast forward 150 years, and here we are caught in the loop, constantly chasing the utopian impossibility of so called cliche "development", defined narrowly by a few privileged, almost two centuries ago. The word "economic development" painting before us a vivid picture of a "consumer based economy". We often begin to imagine- grandeur, ampleness, luxurious lifestyle, big malls, accessibility, popular culture, amalagamisation of trends in the scope of this definition. Time and again humanity has been chasing frantically for this perfection, and what has this cost us? -Poverty, melting icebergs, deforestation, aggressive natural imbalance and extinction, a threat to humanity's survival. It is time, all nations in the world identifed and placed in context their meaning of "development" so as to ensure a sustainable development of their culture and ecological heritage. The present day Indonesia, has about 140 extinct species as per UNEP report in 2012. Forests are gone and in their place are vast palm oil plantations all over. Gone are the days of yore when, spices and forest based products used to form a majority of country's export. These palm oil plantations are investments of MNCs that supply to fast food chains all over the world. Many of these fast food chains are today household names across the world- McDonalds, Dominoes, KFC etc. One very pertinent question in the wake of this realization is- Who is paying for this colossal, relentless modernization? Jawan tiger- a subspecies of tiger family is extinct. Pollution levels are increasing as days pass. The story of Indonesia emphasises the necessity for countries across the world to pass laws to preserve whatever of the precious wilderness that remains in their area of their administration. As seen in context of Indonesia, there are numerous examples of this colossal carnage that nature has endured so as to allow for rapid, haphazard urbanization of floral landscape. There are several factors that need to be considered- First, Countries should strategically examine their development goals and urbanization needs. This shall help them place in context and understand their demographical urbanization needs. Meanwhile, they would also be able to arrive at a more realistic and achievable goals of wilderness conservation. A centrist economic policy between socialistic and capitalist extremes would a good choice to ensure, the monetary gap between the privilged and the middle class does not widen irreparably. Second, Countries should look for opportunities to identify prudential opportunities in the form of green tourism, export items that the wilderness has to offer in modern times, without compromising the natural habitat. Third, a long term strategy must be formulated to ensure, a maximal usage of available land does not lead to its overutilisation. This shall help ensure, the resources at their behest do not get completely overutilised before an alternative technology to compensate for their sparse availability is developed. Fourth and the most important, countries should try to indigenously search for alternative ways to meet supply demand chain which does not affect conserved wilderness. This proper legislation by countries shall help countries maintain a sustainable growth across generations without compromising the delicate balance of nature. Recently, a massive crack in the main Iceberg of greenland was captured by the NASA. In a scenario with polar ice caps shrinking, ozone layer thinning, companies coming up with products such as canned breathable air, it is important we realize as a species that we are in a transition phase of our planet transgressing into an ecological armageddon. True, such precautionary measures suggested will never allow a tribal from dense swampy lands of Mawsynram, India to ever live the great American dream, experience the lavishness, the comfort at promise but this shall surely provide him/her an opportunity to live sustainably a life full of experiences, wake up to chirp of birds, experience the petrichor when the first drops of monsoon touch the thirsty paddy fields. A restraint on agressive anthropological expansion shall help us as a species in the long run to evolve, search for energy solutions, unwrong the miscalculations our granddads had made. As Gandhi said, Mother Nature has something for everyone, but not everything for few. Its time, we put in action what is aggressively discussion in conventions, conferences and parliaments. Let's legislate for a better future of our planet.

Analytical Writing: Issue Essay 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. Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with these statements and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statements might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I believe that hiring outside consultants to suggest possible changes is an effective method for improving processes and incorporating new and imaginative ideas in the workplace. When employees are all trained to do a certain activity and have been doing it successfully for some time, there is little need to seek possible improvements. Hiring a third party with a fresh set of eyes and an in-depth understanding of the industry is a great way to challenge the current status-quo of the hiring company. As far as the profitability of this action, it can be a risk. These consultants often charge a large fee and it would result in a loss of profits if they find nothing to significantly improve. Companies should spend some time listening to what their employees have to say and have periodic team meetings about current problems and possible improvements. Holding these meetings will better identify areas that need improvement and allows management to give them some flexibility to try their proposed new methods. Since it is not the specialty of the employees to this, they would be getting paid to do something other than the job they are best at and obligated to do; so it would be wise to rarely have such meetings. Listening to your employees is a great way to determine if you need to hire a third party consultant, but it is best for them to spend most of their time working on what they do best. If innovation is deemed necessary by management, it is best to opt to hire professional consultants if there is a sense that improvements must be made. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Analytical Writing: Argument Many lives might be saved if inoculations against cow flu were routinely administered to all people in areas where 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. 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 passage states that many lives can be saved with the routine administration of inoculations for cow flu, but indicates there is a small percentage chance that a person with die after it is administered to them. This seems like a heavy risk/reward trade-off, especially with no hard numbers like to back it up like: how many people contract cow flu each year, how many die from the disease, how large the area and population density is in the detected areas, the percentage expected to die from the inoculations and if any age/gender/ethnicity is especially prone to fatality from the inoculations. No matter what, if there is even a slight chance of death there will have to be heavy regulations, warnings and public service announcements to help educate the public. If research is conducted and it is found that .001% of people die from receiving an inoculation, 5% of people who contract the virus die, cow flu is effecting a large, densely populated area and it is easily spread; this would greatly weaken the argument and routine administration should be approved. If research is conducted and it is found that 2% of people die from receiving an inoculation, .01% of people who contract the virus die, cow flu is detected in a small, less populated area and it is doesn't spread easily or is easily combated by a normal immune system; this would tremendously strengthen the argument and routine administration should be denied. For something this serious, large clinical trials from top medical research institutions would need to provide conclusive numbers to determine the risk/reward and amount of regulation needed. The government would have to analyze the numbers provided by the institutions and make a hard choice. In my examples, the numbers were large to demonstrate appropriate actions; but there is a point to where either enough people are dying from cow flu and we must take immediate action or there are relatively few deaths each year with a significantly high fatality rate from inoculations and we should not administer the inoculations until more research is done to provide a new vaccine with a lower fatality rate or if cow flu is at risk for becoming a national epidemic.

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 time 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 just canceled their advertising contracts with us. Therefore, in order to attract more viewers to the program and to avoid losing any further advertising revenues,we should restore the time devoted to weather and local news to its former level.” 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 is that restoring airtime to its former weather and local news glory will increase viewership. However, this stance is flawed for various reasons, all related to the wrongfully contrived assumptions leading to this conclusion. This argument is wrongfully based on the assumption that local businesses have pulled their advertising because late night news programs focus on national news. These businesses might have different more relevant reasons for canceling their commercials. They may have noticed that advertizing, whether at this time, through this medium, or on this channel, has not increased their sales or profit. Their target audience might not regularly watch late night news, or the news at all, so their ads are fruitless if aired then. They may belong to a younger demographic that is uninterested in news stories, whether it be local or national, and do not tune in. Therefore, the assumption that these companies have pulled their advertizing due to the lack of local and weather reports is invalid. An assumption that the complaints overrule the positive comments also persists in this conclusion. There is note of complaints, and that these complaints mostly concern local and weather coverage, but there is a lack of indication as to whether these complaints are minuscule compared to the successes of national news stories. This is tied in with the assumption that these national news stories are not wanted. Perhaps viewers previously complained that there were not enough national stories; therefore the channel decided to increase national coverage. These stories could now be beloved, with many celebrating its inclusion, while a small population persists a return to more consistent local coverage. The memorandum is unclear about these details, therefore rendering the conclusion that increased local news would mollify and reintroduce a wide range of viewers inconclusive. There may even be more viewers now, due to the inclusion of national news stories. This further invalidates the conclusion. The assumption that all the complaints are concerned with the lack of weather and local news coverage is also flawed. The memorandum states that complaints are concerned with the local/weather coverage, but it does not explicitly state that they are concerned with the lack of such coverage. It may be concerned with the content of the coverage, such as its relevancy or interest to viewers. It could also concern the appropriateness of the coverage. The assumption that the complaints received are about the lack of coverage is unwarranted. The assumption that increased attention of local and weather news stories would welcome more viewers and reintroduce advertising interests does not stand soundly based on the memorandum’s details.

The true test of greatness of a work of art is the ability to be understood by masses. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is a famous saying, "It is lonely on the top." It is true that the highest stage in any field is achieved by very few people. Great artists possess a higher level of creativity than commoners. The work they produce sometimes may not be understood by laymen. But that doesn't make the greatness of art or artist any less. Hence the ability to be understood by the masses is not an appropriate measure of the greatness of a work of art. Consider film industry for an instance. Movies which are of very high quality are appreciated widely, in spite of their reach. A commercial film might attract masses, but it would never be considered a great work of art. A sophisticated film with many convoluted abstract concepts may not be understood by masses but is a great work of art in the eyes of critics. Nobody denies its worth. Great artists like Picasso and Vincent Vangogh created beautiful paintings, which are widely renown for their greatness, but even today, the meanings of several of their paintings remain a mystery for most of the common people. So their greatness is not determined their reach to the masses. Even though, the greatness of an artwork might not be dependent on the mass recognition, it is certainly an additional qualification. An arcane artwork, when appreciated by the masses, could be considered the most successful. The ability to be understood by the masses is an icing on top of a cake for great works of art. Hence the ability to be understood by the masses is good but not a true test for an artwork. Because often, great art is above the reach of masses.

Claim: Even though young people often receive the advice to “follow your dreams,” more emphasis should be placed on picking worthy goals. Reason: Many people’s dreams are inherently selfish. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The statement claims that young people should focus on the worthy goals rather than following their dreams and reasons that dreams are inherently selfish. I strongly disagree with this statement as this statement is not general and assumes an extreme reasoning while giving suggestions for the young people. Dreams are natural, however, science believes that dreams are no different than our own thoughts. More specifically, dreams convert our thought process to some visionary non-existent world. Although dreams are non-existent, it exists in reality in different forms or we make dreams into reality as it is purely related to our heart. The author of the statement makes an extreme assumption while giving advice to the young people. If we summarize author's point, we can paraphrase it like that dreams are inherently selfish, and young people should focus on the worthy goals rather than following their own dreams. However, this assumption is not valid always, and often the opposite is true. The young people are more talented and creative that people from other age groups. It is evident that in the world whatever change we have, the young people have contributed a lot on this. Starting from achieving freedom to a nation, fighting for the justice, railing against crime, modernizing the world and also contributing everyday from their staunch to development of the human life. If we centralize their efforts to a single factor that would be none other than their dreams. It is because of their dream that they could see the world from a different point of view, changing the world by their fledgling but innovative effort. Although it is possible that some people's dream are selfish that could bring disorder in the society and also can ruin the young people's life, however, on a broader sense we cannot make judgement like that. To substantiate the last point, let us consider an example. A college student want to help other people and want to spread his helping hand by becoming a doctor. However, his parents believe that although medical profession is a noble profession, today's doctor are only making money by prescribing the patients with number of medicines and recommending innumerable unnecessary tests. So, they are forcing their child not to become a doctor, rather become an engineer, make safer money-although not very much-but lead a peaceful life. However, his parents should be friendly enough to talk with him in this regard, as he is dreaming to become a doctor by not being selfish, but rather being a magnanimous one. Also, it is evident that the people do whatever his heart says, do justice to their tasks and become successful in most cases. Again, think of a child who wants to be a politician and want to uproot all the filthy elements from the society to make this world a better place. Although we have a prior believe that politics is the worst profession is the world, where selflessness are way too unlikely. But we cannot disrespect a young kid's desire to be a good politician. In the world the best examples of politicians we have, they were not destined and fell into the prey of politics world, rather they believed in themselves and wanted to be a politician from the their young age. In addition to the point that dreams are not selfish that often lead the young people to their ultimate goal, sometimes other side story is also true. As young people are not matured enough to make the right choice, their parents, teachers, or seniors might help in this case. And, selfishness not always mean to acrimonious or harmful for the society, also it could mean that whatever the young people are believing through their dream are idiosyncratic and often lead to no good to society as a whole. In these situations, they should be provided with proper counselling and help them to make the right choice. In summary, I believe that young people should follow their heart to make the right choice.

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. The claims made by the statement that woven baskets with a distinctive pattern were previously found only in the immediate vicinity of the village of Palea. There has been, however, no information provided about the source of this fact and if the archaeological study that published this fact actually covered sites other than those of Palea and its vicinity. As a regression of this, the actual origin of the peculiar basket pattern might have been made a rather different city around Palea or was a distinctive pattern of the region rather than being a patron of Palea village. Moving forward in the argument, the argument states that a basket with the patterns which were assumed to a be a doctrine of Palea was found across the Brim river. As due to the size and magnanimity of the river allows it to be crossed only by boat and no trace of boats were found, the baskets should have been made somewhere on the other side of Brim river. This statement has major loopholes in the assumptions it makes.Firstly,as very evident in the passage itself, absence of archaeological evidence doesn't gurrantee the absence of an item as happened in the case of later discovery of basket in Lithos. Generalizing from specific results doesn't always turn out be a truth as happened in case of Palea village's association with the distinctive pattern. It is quite possible for Paleans to have boats in the prehistoric times which our archaeological geniuses have not been able to discover yet. Secondly, the fact that boats were not found is a recent truth after or during the Lithos site discovery mission or a subsumed fact in the Palea baskets is not clearly stated to understand if the fact is recent enough after the Lithos discovery to be relevant. On a different wavelength, as stated that the discovery of a single such basket in Lithos can be an indicator of the presence of more such basket but doesn't prove it. Drawing the conclusion that presence of one basket marks the existence of basket in the village is rather an extrapolation. This fact can be easily explained by the mention of the Brim river. The basket might have been floated across the river to reach Lithos from the Palean shore. The argument contains multiple assumptions which may weaken or strengthen the argument as has been elaborated above.

Hi! I would GREATLY appreciate if someone would mind critiquing my Issue Task writing below. This is my first attempt at one. After reading it over myself, I do realize that more detailed examples would help to support the argument. However, I had a difficult time thinking of one that wouldn't be able to be argued that it's a generalization. Ex. Someone pursuing a medical or law degree for the sole reason that their family is encouraging them to (for obvious reasons of job security and pay). And using this as an example as someone being more likely to burnout or be unhappy with their career if they choose a field just because someone told them to and not because it is their passion. PROMPT: Educational institutions have a responsibility to dissuade students from pursuing fields of study in which they are unlikely to succeed. 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. Education institutions have many duties, including helping to guide student. However, dissuading a student based upon what other individuals think would be best for the student is not a responsibility educational institutions should care. While going through the educational process students are not only learning the content and material of the courses they are taking, but they are also learning about themselves. As they are doing this they are finding out their passions and where they would like to hone in on their studies for ideally what will be the career of their dreams. To direct someone during this process based upon outside opinion and not based upon the students thoughts or passions of their own would be doing a disservice and could very well prevent a student from pursuing their passion. Another point educational institutions should consider is the variety of students within the institution. Not every student is at the same point of deciding what they want to pursue as a future career. Just as that varies, so do student’s motivations to do well. Some enjoy doing what comes easy to them. There are other types of individuals out there that enjoy doing something for the sole reason that it is a challenge. We’ve all heard of the type. When someone is told that they cannot do something, it only drives them even more to do it. However, as important as self-guidance is, I do agree that there should be some balance between self guidance and outside guidance. Being critiqued and given other points of perspectives of one’s self is always helpful, whether or not it seriously be taken into consideration or not. In the end though, I feel that it should ultimately be up to the student and what drives them and where their passion lies. If you think about yourself, what activity do you really enjoy? Now what drives you to actually do that activity, the fact that you yourself want to do it or the though that someone else wants you to do it? Guidance is always helpful but in the end, only the students themselves can truly know what field of study would be best for them to pursue. To go as far to dissuade an individual against a field they feel they might be passionate about would be a disservice done by the educational institution. Especially considering, they will be the ones actually doing it, not their mentors or teachers. Thank you so much!!!

Question: As people rely more and more on technology to solve problems, the ability of humans to think for themselves will surely deteriorate. Through times, technology has been developed very impressively; if you remind 100 years ago, there was no television and, of course, no smart phone. People live in the high-tech world now. People can see the person whom they want to see and meet via smart phone, they can find various information which they are curious about through Internet, and even more they can go anywhere in a day with airplane. All these things can be happened due to the development of technology. Therefore, the genuine ability of humans will not diminish or deteriorate, even though we live in the world with full of high technology. First of all, any high-tech devices does not have any ability to think. Those devices only can do what is asked to do by users, who is using them. For example, smart phone has the function to alarm the time, but it needs the person who sets the alarm; without setting the alarm, it cannot operate its function by itself. People is the one who think they need to wake up early, and chose to set the alarm for tomorrow morning. In other words, people still are required to think and make decisions for themselves, and technology only supports people in some ways. Next, with well-developed technology, people can utilize their ability to think themselves. People can make records for themselves, and remember more than before. For 100 years ago, if a person wanted to remember a specific day, he or she was hard to remind it because it was difficult to keep recording; they might write a journal every day, and that was all. However, now a days, people can take pictures whenever they want, and even more they can record a video. Also, people can upload those photos on the website, and can see whenever and wherever they want to. With these recording about themselves, people can have more memory about themselves, and have more opportunity to think of themselves. Some people worry about the development of technology, because it will be harmful for the ability of humans to think themselves. However, I think that technology not only supports human beings but also utilizes the abilities of humans.

Hi, Here is the header and my answer. It would be very helpful to me that somebody says what would be the approx score and give some tips! Thanks in advance. The following appeared in a medical magazine: "Art and music have long been understood to have therapeutic effects for individuals who suffer from either physical or mental illnesses. However, most doctors rarely recommend to patients some form of art or music therapy. Instead, doctors focus almost all of their attention on costly drug treatments and invasive procedures that carry serious risks and side-effects. By focusing on these expensive procedures rather than low-cost treatments such as art and music therapy, doctors are doing a disservice to their patients and contributing to the rising cost of health care in the United States." My answer: The given argument is not correct and takes some facts to draw a conclusion that is not correlated. In the next paragraphs I am going to show how the text is flawed. First, the text states that the art and the music are therapeutic but doctors recommend other procedures with serious risks and side-effects. The author of the argument also implies that this is a bad thing, but maybe the art and music cannot solve the problem or have no effect in all patients. Also, maybe the risks that the drug treatments and invasive procedures carry are worthy comparing them to the beneficial effect that they have. In order to prove all this and strengthen the argument, data should be provided, for example, the rate of effectiveness of the drug treatments and the invasive procedures, and also that of art and music therapies. Second, the text states that these expensive procedures make the cost of health care in the United States higher. It cannot be said that there is a direct relation with that without data proving it. Maybe there are other factors that affect the cost of health care, maybe the higher use of these procedures make companies invest more on them and discover new, cheaper and less invasive procedures that can lower the cost of health care. Finally, the argument says that doctors are doing a disservice to their patients. This is a really personal opinion with now facts at all to support it. In order to strengthen this idea it would be necessary to present some cases showing the bad practices of the doctors. As I have shown, the argument is really weak and flawed. To make a strong argument, more information would be needed.

Issue Topic: Universities should require students to take courses only within those fields they are interested in studying. My Response --------------------- If being a student would have been a vocation, it would be tougher than the toughest jobs out there. Expectations from a student run the gamut from being a protean performer who can handle any subject with equanimity to adhering to the strictest disciplines of life. What if in a divine intervention a student was allowed to take the only courses required to excel in the field of study that she -- herself -- opted for? That would surely be beatific, not to mention the grades would surge to new heights. Today in freshman year a student is expected to study a vast array of subjects that has nothing to do with the field of study that she has opted for. A student enrolled in the hopes of making a career out of electrical engineering is supposed to remember what would happen if the pH balance of a its-difficult-to-even-pronounce mixture goes up and how to counteract it; the annals of computer science programming; of how the stoic Brutus was led by the fell Cassius to act against the redoubtable Caesar. As a result: her grade suffers, her confidence plummets, a feat of depression takes over. She would be better off had her university granted a curriculum that delved into the works of Faraday and Tesla instead of Keats and Shakespeare. In addition to the plight and pathos a student has to suffer, the immense pressure of the irrelevant curriculum deteriorates her grades. Even the second year syllabus won't cater to the exact requirements of her vocation -- no, not even the third year. There will always be a subject or two hounding her, determined not to let her study with peace. Thereafter, she will suddenly be facing an awe-inspiring recruiter from an esteemed company who would be asking her questions not from the marginalia of her curriculum but from the very core subjects that she is expected to know having opted for a specialization in that particular field. It is not to say that thousands of students heretofore have not cracked difficult job interviews, notwithstanding the pressure of a superfluous curriculum, but it is certainly difficult and also places an extra amount of stress on the student. Apart from the added stress thrust upon students, they are required to spend an extra year (on an average) in order to complete the course. This is dilatory and frustrating for a student who is eagerly looking forward to either a career in research or an industrial job after passing out. Also, an extra year at a university requires extra fees; not every student can afford that with equal ease and it places a pecuniary burden either directly on the student or on her family. This is infelicitous considering that the student could have completely done without the unnecessary courses and obtained her degree much earlier. Refuting this point of view, one might argue that in absence of a curriculum that offers a wide range of subjects to students, a student would have been unable to glean knowledge from diverse domains. Undoubtedly having an understanding of concepts from different genres help sharpen the research acumen of students and the extra burden helps them to deal with the pressure they have to endure in real life once they leave the comfort of campus life only to step in the treacherous waters of anonymity; but, there could have been other ways and means to accustom students to real life situations and also allowing them to explore different genres. For example, there could be one elective per semester allowing students to choose from a wide pool of subjects that can help them explore areas other than what they are already studying. This way neither is a student forced to accept subjects with an altogether different parlance nor does her grades take a toll. In conclusion, there is nothing more difficult for a student to step into a graduate course and being subjected to a grinding curriculum. They should enjoy the prerogative to study their subjects of choice, study them with passion and work hard towards achieving what they had set out to achieve in the field of education. Extra subjects should not be meted out to them as a punishment but rather should be proffered and students willing to venture into new territories to find that extra edge and flexibility should take them up confidently. This way a perfect balance can be struck and would benefit both the students and the society as a whole.

Hi, Please critique this essay. I am in urgent need of help for AWA. I don't get many ideas always get stuck on one or two. Please suggest me a way to fix this problem. Also, please suggest how do I increase the length of my essays. Topic: The real talent of a popular musician cannot accurately be assessed until the musician has been dead for several generations, so that his or her fame does not interfere with honest assessment. 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. Response: An honest assessment of any artist is very necessary in order to get a true sense of the quality of his work. But saying that an honest assessment of a musician can not be performed till he has been dead for several generations is fallacious. There are numerous musicians who were popular when they were alive and still are counted among the best. Take the example of Mozart, No one can deny his popularity when he was alive. But today also, prospective musicians worship him as their idol. His classical symphonies are still played and considered to be the culmination of musical genius. Another example can be taken of Beethoven, the effect whose symphonies and the sonatas has not reduced with time. A musician gets his fame only when he produces quality music. Thus an accurate analysis can be done even when the musician is alive. Sometimes people tend to estimate the talent of a musician based on his one or two works which made him famous. A great example of this is Psy, who became famous with his song titled "Gangnam style". People started calling him a great musician based on just a single work. In the end, I would like to state that an honest assessment can be performed even when the musician is alive. We have had numerous musicians who were considered great when they were alive and are still counted as one of the best. Thanks :)