Analysis of an Issue - What's your perspective?

Let me begin with the good news. And the good thing about this section is that you are given a choice to pick any of the two topics displayed on the screen. And the bad news? is that you still have to present your perspective on the chosen one and can't get away with it :) and the most intimidating part? is the time limit you have to be watchful of!! Am I scaring you already? Don't worry, read along and I promise, you'll be a lot more motivated by the end of this post.

Before anything else, always remember your clock's ticking constantly and no matter what, by the end of 45th minute, you'll be moved to another section. What I am trying to say is that you must be conscious at all times to finish your essay within the time, at the least, if not anything more. An incomplete essay will fetch you nothing even if it have excellent beginning and a perfect grammar.

Your screen at this point will look something like this:

"Present your perspective on the issue below, using relevant reasons and/or examples to support your views."

Topic 1

OR

Topic 2

My advice to you here is - Don't even look at the question for a second. Give a patient and careful reading of the two issues and instead of jumping into a topic, give an entire minute to think through each of them and then make a selection of the one you feel comfortable with.

It's now time for other important aspects you need to take care of. In fact I pulled out some useful notes from my old Barrons book which I want to talk about here. I'm sure everyone of you must be holding a copy of GRE Barrons right now and those of you who don't, grab one soon. That's my recommended book for the test.

The section evaluators test you on certain very specific aspects of writing, like the following, and score you accordingly. The earlier you know of them, the better.

• Have you understood the central issue presented in the statement?
• Have you communicated precisely if you agree with all or with any part of the statement? If it is a part of the statement, which part do you agree?
• Have you presented your reasons as to why you agree with the statement or parts of it or why not?
• In some cases, where applicable, have you been able to identify specific instances in which the statement is valid and where it is not?
• Have you been able to support your position on the issue with reasons that include examples — either hypothetical or drawn from readings or direct experiences?
• Have you been able to identify and highlight reasons that someone might use to refute or undermine your position? Have you acknowledged those and do you have a good defense against those views?

Here are some of my recommendations while approaching a topic:

1. Spend one or two minutes to plan your writing. Within this little time, quickly jot down a few points on both sides of the argument and decide which side to support. That way, you're making available all your main ideas you want to present, well before you begin writing. And now you can focus on the writing part without worrying about the points (they are now on your scrap paper).
2. A preferred structure for such essays is to have one starting paragraph to address the central issue and explain briefly about your perspective on it (against/for/somewhere in between). By doing so, it serves two main purposes - a) you tell the evaluator that you understand what the issue b) the evaluator gets a clear picture of what to expect from the following paragraphs. It's simple, straightforward and fetches you score then and there. Next, dedicate one or two paragraphs to put your perspective in two or three short points/arguments/reasons (feel free to look up your scrap paper in between). Make sure you provide a specific example to support that sub-argument you're currently describing. That way, you're perspective is better understood. And the evaluators keenly watch for such examples. And finally, make your conclusion in your last paragraph within 3-4 sentences. It would be nice if you're able to summarise your points but if time doesn't permit it, atleast include a brief conclusion to re-inforce your standpoint you made in the beginning paragraph.
3. No matter what, ALWAYS leave 5 minutes for revisiting your essay. I know it may sound like a waste of time but there are somethings you don't wanna go without double check - like spelling mistakes, silly grammatical mistakes and typo errors. I just cannot emphasise enough on this.
4. And finally, did you know that the GRE test makers have a pool of issue topics posted on their official site and that the topics appearing in the test day will be very similar to some of those? If not, it's a very useful information to know. My advice to all of you is to read through all the topics listed there once or twice to have a mental picture of what to expect on the test day but don't waste your time on working on each one of them, coz there are lots in their.

People do ask me for a lot of sample essays. I looked for them too, during my time of preparation. I have a collection of sample essays on most of the topics which I'll share soon with you all.