If writing essays is not your forte, then you need to sit up and take stock of the amount of preparation you will need for getting a good score in the Analytical Writing test section of the GRE. This test section is an assessment of your analytical writing and critical thinking skills. You will be evaluated for your abilities to express your ideas coherently and appraise arguments while maintaining a focused and logical discussion at the same time. These requirements make it amply clear that you are unlikely to perform well in this section of the GRE unless you have had enough practice with GRE sample essays. Not only do you need to read through GRE sample essays, but you also need to look for topics on which you can write GRE sample essays yourself and have them evaluated. There are numerous websites that will help you in evaluating your essays and also in providing you with useful GRE sample essays.

All about GRE Sample Essays

The first thing to do before you start looking for GRE sample essays is to understand what the Analytical Writing test section is all about. Going through GRE sample essays or attempting to write them yourself will be fruitless if you are unaware of what the Analytical Writing section is all about. Therefore, if you want to understand the GRE sample essays clearly, you must first go through the following links which will give you a fair idea of how to prepare for this test section, what the test section contains and what all to keep in mind while writing the essays.

• • GRE Essays

• • GRE AWA Section

GRE Sample Essays for the Issue Task

You will be given two tasks in the Analytical Writing test section. One of these tasks would be the ‘Analyze an Issue’ task in which you will be presented with an Issue topic. This topic will basically be a claim that is generic in nature. You will be assessed for your abilities to think critically and to discuss the given topic from your perspective. You will need to support your viewpoint with relevant examples and evidence and frame your response in accordance with the specific instructions that will accompany the Issue task. It is difficult to understand the requirements of this task without first going through relevant GRE sample essays. You will have to read several GRE sample essays based on the Issue task before you are able to grasp the way in which your response should be framed so as to achieve a good score in this test section. You can go through the following links for familiarising yourself with GRE sample essays pertaining to the Issue task.

GRE Sample Essays for the Argument Task

The other task in the Analytical Writing test section is the ‘Analyze an Argument’ task. This task consists of a brief passage accompanied with specific instructions for framing your response. The passage will contain claims supported by evidence and reasons. You will be required to critically scrutinize the evidence and reasons presented in support of the claims and respond to the task by writing an essay that demonstrates your abilities to analyze and evaluate arguments. Needless to say, it will not be possible for you to tackle this task unless you have had exposure to these types of essays, which is possible only through GRE sample essays. You need to specifically read GRE sample essays that pertain to the Argument task. The links listed below will lead you to pages with useful GRE sample essays for the Argument task.