Bad Argument Essays

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All of my GRE and GMAT essay students have heard me say that the argument essay--your second task on test day, right after the issue essay--should really be called the "bad argument essay." That's because every argument you see is going to be flawed in several ways, usually because of missing or incomplete evidence, unwarranted assumptions, and/or questionable survey or research results. Students are often more intimidated by the argument essay than the issue essay, since the issue essay just asks you to give your own perspective on a topic, rather than to evaluate someone else's argument. But there are several factors that make the argument essay the simpler (and, with some focused practice, the easier) of the two:


1. The argument essay can always be written in the same, easy-to-memorize format.

Basically, you have three tasks when you read the argument stimulus: First, show that you understand the argument by paraphrasing the conclusion and summarizing the evidence. Second, identify the various flaws in the argument, and briefly discuss how they damage the argument. Finally, discuss further evidence which might be used to strengthen the argument. The second and third step are similar, but demonstrate subtilely different skills.


2. The same types of rhetorical and logical flaws appear over and over again in the prompts.

Even if you've never been trained in logic or rhetoric, with a little practice and guidance from your instructor you'll start to recognize the common holes that plague the argument essay prompts. For instance, if the prompt discusses a survey or research project, there are always problems with the way the survey was conducted, or its relevance to the facts at hand. Common problems include not telling us how many people responded to the survey, but rather saying only that "85% of the people who responded" said whatever whatever blah blah blah. If only 20 people responded to the survey, that's unlikely to be a diverse enough sample. Similarly, a survey that concerns national averages or conditions may not apply to the particular locale appicable to the argument.
There are lots of other common flaws--bias, vagueness, extremism, even flat-out non sequiturs--that plague the arguments. As you read, start asking yourself "what else would I like to know? What facts are not supplied?"


3. The flaws are intentionally included by the testmakers for you to find, and just identifying them gets you points.
Remember that the arguments you'll be analyzing aren't flawed because the testmakers are too dumb to write a good argument; the flaws are like easter eggs that you're meant to find and discuss. Although the grader is paying some attention to sentence structure, use of language, etc., the main thing they'll be looking for is just whether you spotted the relevant flaws. That means that you can gain points without having to engage in esoteric discussion or philosophizing.


4. The argument essays are fairly easy to practice.
You can rev up for the argument essays without writing too many of them. The main thing is to review lots and lots of argument prompts, learning to identify the common rhetorical flaws. Practice brainstorming for and prioritizing the importance of flaws, because you'll want to address the biggest flaws first. Also, try to develop a boilerplate (i.e., standardized) phrase that you can use to identify each flaw. For example, memorize "The survey is problematic, because it concerns the economic wellbeing of the nation as a whole, rather than that of the specific area in question." Having a few of these phrases ready to go will save you time, and assure that you are able to clearly show the grader that you comprehend the argument and its shortcomings.