For the issue essay, you select one of two topics to write on, and you have 45 minutes, which is just enough time to plan, compose, and briefly review what you have written. Forty-five minutes is not much time, but with a little bit of planning and practice, it's quite easy.
As the name implies, you are given an issue on which you are asked to agree or disagree, AND provide reasoning for and examples as proof to why you agree or disagree with that statement. All of the issue topics are broad, and for each one you can write a great essay either arguing for or against that issue. It's not which side you choose that counts, but instead how you back up your claims and how your present your argument.
Test Tip |
In the issue section, you'll want to quickly come up with ideas and examples that support or refute the statement that you are writing about. Your score will be based not on whether you choose to agree or disagree, but how well you back up your claims. |
In this tutorial, we present to you a series of steps which we have found to be helpful when writing the issue essay. Do you have to use these steps? No, of course not, but you'll find that these methods and, hopefully, your way of attacking the issue essay are quite similar. However you attack the issue essay, your goal is to present a thorough analysis of the issue, present and develop supporting ideas for your stance, and, yes, to write coherently and in a clear, fluid manner. To that extent, our steps include the following:
- Brainstorm and Summarize for BOTH sides of the issue
- Provide evidence for BOTH sides of the issue
- Take a stance and select which side you want to argue for
- Utilize specific details to help your argument
The most important step is the third step, where you take a stance and back up your claim. The issue essay is not a summary essay, nor is it a review essay. It's an issue essay where you are asked to take a stance and to support your ideas. In the next few sections, we'll show you how to organize your thoughts and how to handle each of the four steps listed above.
And how can you possibly hope to organize your thoughts in just 10 minutes so that you'll have plenty of time to write things out? It's best to come up with a system and stick to it; different things work well for different people. One organization and brainstorming technique that we suggest is the use of spider graphs -- those diagrams that you may have used in elementary or middle school to help you make connections and help you to focus and organize your thoughts.