The Analytical Writing section tests your critical thinking and analytical writing skills. It assesses your ability to articulate and support complex ideas, construct and evaluate arguments, and sustain a focused and coherent discussion. It does not assess specific content knowledge.
The Analytical Writing section consists of two separately-timed analytical writing tasks:
∙ a 30-minute "Analyze an Issue" task
∙ a 30-minute "Analyze an Argument" task
| Issue | Argument |
|---|---|
| presents an opinion on an issue of broad interest followed by specific instructions on how to respond to that issue | it requires you to evaluate a given argument according to specific instructions. |
| You are required to evaluate the issue, considering its complexities, and develop an argument with reasons and examples to support your views | You will need to consider the logical soundness of the argument rather than to agree or disagree with the position it presents. |
| requires you to construct your own argument by taking a position and providing evidence supporting your views on the issue | requires you to evaluate someone else's argument by assessing its claims and evaluating the evidence it provides. |
Preparing for the Analytical Writing Section
Test-Taking Strategies for the Analytical Writing Section
It is important to budget your time. Within the 30-minute time limit for the Issue task, you will need to allow sufficient time to consider the issue and the specific instructions, plan a response, and compose your essay.
Save a few minutes at the end of each timed task to check for obvious errors.
How the Analytical Writing Section is Scored
Each response is holistically scored on a 6-point scale according to the criteria published in the GRE Analytical Writing Scoring Guides (see pages 30 and 31). Holistic scoring means that each response is judged as a whole: readers do not separate the response into component parts and award a certain number of points for a particular criterion or element such as ideas, organization, sentence structure, or language.