Each GRE exam begins with the essay section, which is comprised of two separate
essays that you have to write.
Essay 1: Present Your Perspective on an Issue (45 minutes), where you present
your opinion on a topic that is usually controversial. You choose from two possible
essay topics.
Essay 2:
Analysis of Argument (30 minutes), where you analyze and critique the reasoning
on an argument. You do not have a choice of topics, but must write on the topic
that you are given.
Your score on the essay section is used by graduate schools to evaluate your writing
and analytical skills. Although in the essay section grammar and spelling is important,
it's much more important that you concentrate on writing a coherent, complete, and
persuasive essay.
Test
Tip
Best of all, there are no RIGHT answers to the essay questions, so you can be creative,
just as long as you follow a few simple rules and demonstrate a coherent writing
sytle. (Don't worry, we'll show you how to organize your thoughts and write a stellar
essay)
And can you practice for the essay sections? Yes, you should! You should practice
under timed conditions. Best of all, the list of available essay topics is available
on the ETS website, and the essays questions that you will see on the GRE will be
one of those. So although you shouldn't attempt to write essays for each of the
topics and try to memorize your answers, you should scan through the lists to get
a feel for the types of topics that you'll be asked to write about.
