GMAT AWA Template For Success
One of the easiest ways to succeed in the GMAT AWA section is by preparing beforehand for the essay that awaits. Having a ready-made template in mind can be extremely helpful, especially because you can use that same template for every single topic you’ll come across in the exam. Also, it will be easier and less time-consuming for you to simply fill in the missing information once you read the passage.
Check out our ready-made GMAT AWA essay template that will make your life easier and will help you get the score you’re aiming for!
The First Step
Before going in to write your essay, there is one major thing that you need to consider. This step will not be the most time-consuming one as the actual writing of the essay will take the greatest portion of your time, however, it is crucial to the final essay that you’ll be producing. Your very first step after reading the passage is a mental analysis of the construction of the argument presented to you in the passage. To do that, you’ll need to consider 3 main points:
- Understanding what the author of the text is inferring/ claiming
- Pointing out how the argument is flawed as it relies on premises that are based on assumptions rather than actual facts
- Deciding how the argument can be strengthened in order to make it more viable, or how it can be weakened if certain counterexamples are introduced.
1. Understanding the Author’s Claim
This is a crucial step to the whole process, as it leads the way for the analysis to follow. After reading the passage, you should be able to carefully consider the argument that the author is introducing, and you’ll also be able to evaluate the logical reasoning behind it. Try answering these questions: Is the conclusion reasonable and logical, or otherwise, can it be weakened or strengthened if other information is presented?
After you’ve answered those questions, you can identify the key points of the argument and you can rank them in order of importance. You will have to discuss every single one in detail in the body paragraphs when you write the essay.
2. Pointing out How the Author’s Argument is Flawed
After pinpointing the premises of the argument, you can easily decide how they are flawed, and if they do not flow logically. The fact that you can identify things in the argument that do not make sense and are not logical, make the argument flawed and unconvincing, and that is basically your thesis statement that you’re going to discuss in detail in your body paragraphs.
3. Deciding How to Strengthen/Weaken the Argument
As your final step in your initial analysis, you’ll have to come up with ways to either strengthen the author’s claim in order to make it more convincing and sound or to weaken the author’s argument by using certain counterexamples or other evidence that claims otherwise. You’ll have the opportunity to draw examples or point out information that is missing in the passage in order to further support your analysis.
The Final Step
Once you have taken the 3 above-mentioned steps and have analyzed the argument in detail, you’ll have a ready-made outline in mind that you can easily follow in order to write your final essay as all you’ll need to do is put everything down in a written form.
Introduction:
This section is essentially where you’ll be able to clearly state that the argument in the passage is flawed. You can state the different flaws that you were able to point out and then make sure to state your clear intention of discussing them, what evidence they are lacking and how they can be made more convincing. Here are a few expressions you can use:
- The argument/ author claims that…
- In this state, the argument seems flawed/unsound/unconvincing because…
- The argument will not be deemed convincing until further evidence is presented to prove the assumption that…
- As it is, the argument also fails to mention… and further discuss…
Body Paragraphs:
In these body paragraphs, you’ll get the opportunity to discuss in detail every single flaw you were able to point out in the argument. Make sure to clearly state what is wrong with said flaw and discuss how it fails to be convincing and use counterexamples and other details to prove your point. Suggest ways the flaw can be improved in order to make the argument more plausible at the end of every paragraph.
- Initially/ Firstly/ To begin with…
- Secondly/ To add more/ In addition…
- Thirdly/ Finally…
- That claim is unlikely/flawed/unconvincing because…
- Something else that undermines the argument is the lack of supporting evidence like…
- The argument can be strengthened by mentioning… (another possible scenario, another example, other supporting evidence)
- The argument assumes that…
- That is a weak claim as it assumes that…
- To further illustrate, the claim does not clearly state that…
- The lack of supportive evidence makes the claim…
- If further evidence that… was provided, then…
- In order to make the argument more convincing, the author should have mentioned… (suggestion, supporting example, etc.)
- The author concludes that …
- The lack of supporting evidence that…, is proof of the poor reasoning on the side of the author.
- The insufficient evidence and the conflicting claims that… are also an indication that…
- To further strengthen the argument, the author should provide evidence that…
Conclusion:
The last paragraph is your chance to recap the thesis statement and acknowledge once again that the argument is flawed because of what you mentioned in the body paragraphs. You can also briefly mention that even though in the current state the argument is unconvincing, it can be strengthened by providing supporting evidence and more specific information.
- In conclusion/ To conclude/ In summary…
- The argument that… is flawed because… (briefly mention Flaw 1, Flaw 2 and Flaw 3)
- In order to make the argument fully convincing and sound, the author would have to provide further details and evidence that…
- In the current state, the argument that the author makes remains weak and flawed because of the lack of evidence that…
For more GMAT AWA information read: 4 Tips for success of the AWA Section.
Contributor: Altea Sulollari
Date: 23rd October, 2020