The argument essay, for which you have 30 minutes, requires you to analyze a statement and respond accordingly. You do not have a choice of which topic to write on. Because you have only 30 minutes, often-times students perceive the argument essay to be more difficult and stressful that the issue essay, for which you have 45 minutes. However, the argument essay is somewhat different in nature than the issue essay in that you only need to point out a few key facts and inconsistencies. The instructions are straight forward:
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument
For example, consider the following argument essay topic:
| "Speed limits on our state's highways should be eliminated in order to increase our state's prosperity. Because greater speed means more efficient travel, commercial deliveries will be faster, increasing business profits. Elimination of speed limits will also make driving more attractive to motorists, so that more people will use the highways, providing more highway toll revenues for the state. At the same time, safety on our highways will not be affected: daytime speed limits were eliminated last year in the western states of our country, and no significant increase in the number of accidents in these states has been reported." |
As the instructions imply, for the argument essay you will need to evaluate the argument that is presented. Luckily, many of the argument topics have flawed conclusions that are easily noticed and for which you can quickly respond and indicate any inconsistencies. For the above argument topic, for example, the conclusion is that speed limits on highways should be eliminated, and several reasons are given why the speed limits should be eliminated. To point out inconsistencies in the argument, you may choose to write about the fact that not all people wish to drive fast, many people will avoid highways if the speed limits are removed, and you may want to point out the fact that the study that is referred to may have been flawed and for which there are no details given, and so any responsible reader should be skeptical about such an unsupported statistic.
In all, during the course of the argument essay you will need to demonstrate your ability to write well, but more importantly you need to demonstrate your ability to dissect an argument, which further gives evidence of your skill as a discerning reader. Just as in the issue essay, there is more than one "right" answer; what matters most is that you give proof of your ability to intelligently respond to an argument and be able to critique details and ideas. In graduate school you are required to not only read over a large amount of material, but more importantly you are required to truly understand, critique, analyze and response to a host of arguments and topics, and it is these skills that the GRE test takers are looking for.