Analysis of an Argument EssayRule # 1 There is always something wrong with the argument presented. Your job is to explain it. Rule # 2Clues to the flaw in the argument can often be found in the sentence describing from where the argument is quotedRule # 3 Be organized—think linearly—and buildyour argument.Rule # 4 Use concrete examples, and avoid vague, “emotional” qualifiers.e.g."The argument that the company should move its production to China is just stupid—and un-American.”vs. “The argument that the company should move its production to China is not entirely convincing because it misses some critical points in both economic stability for the company and American financial security.Rule # 5Use good transitions, and use a good variety of sentence lengths—incorporate coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, and vary your sentence structures.Analysis of an Argument EssayThe following appeared as part of an annual report sent to stockholders by Olympic Foods, a processor of frozen foods.“Over time, the costs of processing go down because as organizations learn how to do things better, they become more efficient. In color film processing, for example, the cost of a 3-by-5-inch print fell from 50 cents for five-day service in 1970 to 20 cents for one-day service in 1984. The same principle applies to the processing of food. And since Olympic Foods will soon celebrate its twenty-fifth birthday, we can expect that our long experience will enable us to minimize costs and thus maximize profits.”Analysis of an Argument EssayThe same prompt every timeDiscuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanationsor counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion. Your initial steps—the true analysisThe following appeared as part of an annual report sent to stockholders by Olympic Foods, a processor of frozen foods.“Over time, the costs of processing go down because as organizations learn how to do things better, they become more efficient. In color film processing, for example, the cost of a 3-by-5-inch print fell from 50 cents for five-day service in 1970 to 20 cents for one-day service in 1984. The same principle applies to the processing of food. And since Olympic Foods will soon celebrate its twenty-fifth birthday, we can expect that our long experience will enable us to minimize costs and thus maximize profits.”1—How would you paraphrase the conclusion?2—What is the primary assumption the argument uses to get to that conclusion?3—What does the argument need to address4—What information is completely omittedThe Analysis of an Argument EssayThe argument that_____restate the conclusion of the argument___ is not entirely logically convincingbecause it ignores certain crucial assumptions.First,the argument assumes____________________Second,the argument never (convincingly)addresses________Finally,the argument omits___________________________ Thusthe argument is not completely sound. The evidence in support of the conclusion____give their example/premise______ does little to support___restate their conclusion again___. Ultimatley, the argument might have been strengthened by____Either paraphrase your second point or describe what would have made it a good argument and WHY_____________..Analysis of an Argument EssayThe following appeared in a memorandum issued by a large city’s council on the arts.“In a recent citywide poll, fifteen percent more residents said that they watch television programs about the visual arts than was the case in a poll conducted five years ago. During these past five years, the number of people visiting our city’s art museums has increased by a similar percentage. Since the corporate funding that supports public television, where most of the visual arts programs appear, is now being threatened with severe cuts, we can expect that attendance at our city’s art museums will also start to decrease. Thus some of the city’s funds for supporting the arts should be reallocated to public television.”Criteria for Scoring the GMAT Essays In evaluating the overall quality of your writing, the readers will consider four general areas of ability: Content:your ability to present cogent, persuasive, and relevant ideas and arguments through sound reasoning and supporting examples Organization:your ability to present your ideas in an organized and cohesive fashion Language:your control of the English language, including diction (word choice and usage) and syntax (sentence structure) Grammar:your facility with the conventions (grammar and punctuation) of Standard Written EnglishThe Scoring System for the GMAT Essays Each human reader will employ a "holistic" grading method by which he or she will assign a single score from 0 to 6 (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6) based on the overall quality of your writing. All readers employ the same specific ETS scoring criteria. E-Rater also scores your essay on a 0-6 scale. Here's how your AWA score is determined: 1)For each of your two essays, E-Rater's score is averaged together with the human reader's score. 2)For each essay, if E-Rater's score is within 1 point of the human reader's score, then the average of those two scores is your final score for that essay. 3)For each essay, if E-Rater's score differs from the human reader's score by more than 1 point, then a second human reader will read and grade the essay, and your final score for that essay will be the average of the two human readers' scores. 4)Your final AWA score is the average of the final score for each of your two essays, rounded up to the nearest half-point.Analysis of an Argument EssayWith responseThe following appeared in a memo from the sales director of Aura Cosmetics Company: "The best way to reverse Aura Cosmetic's recent decline in profitability is to require each new employee in Aura's sales division to enroll in the popular SureSale seminar. Last year, the software company TechAide began incorporating SureSale's week-long seminar into its training program for all new sales employees, and since that time TechAide's total sales have increased dramatically. Also, according to a recent article in a reputable business magazine, the SureSale sales system has been widely adopted among the nation's twenty largest companies, and the employee turnover rate at these companies is lower today than five years ago. Therefore, by enrolling Aura sales employees in the SureSale seminar Aura will also retain its highest caliber salespeople." Discuss how logically convincing you find this argument. In your discussion, you should analyze the argument's line of reasoning and use of evidence. It may be appropriate in your critique to call into question certain assumptions underlying the argument and/or to indicate what evidence might weaken or strengthen the argument. It may also be appropriate to discuss how you would alter the argument to make it more convincing and/or discuss what additional evidence, if any, would aid in evaluating the argument.Analysis of an Argument EssayResponse part IIn this argument Aura's sales director relies on certain anecdotal evidence about one other company, as well as certain statistics about general trends among large companies, to convince us of the merits of enrolling certain ABC employees in the SureSale seminar. Close inspection of this evidence reveals, however, that it provides scant support at best for the director's argument. Turning first to the anecdotal evidence, the director assumes too hastily that the SureSale seminar--rather than some other phenomenon--was responsible for the increase in TechAide's total sales. Perhaps the increase simply reflected general economic or supply-demand trends, or a misstep on the part of TechAide's chief competitor. For that matter, perhaps the increase is attributable to certain TechAide salespeople who are not new employees and who did not take the seminar. Without eliminating these and other plausible explanations for the increase in sales at TechAide, the director cannot convince me that the SureSale seminar was responsible for the increase--let alone that it would also enhance sales at Aura. Even if TechAide's sales increase is attributable to SureSale, the director's argument rests on the additional assumption that the seminar would provide a similar benefit at Aura. However, the memo fails to account for possible differences between Aura and TechAide that might have a bearing on the seminar's effectiveness. For example, perhaps the SureSale system is effective for companies that provide services and/or are technology-oriented, but ineffective for companies such as Aura that offer traditional products. If so, the memo's recommendation would be indefensible--at least based on TechAide's experience. Analysis of an Argument EssayResponse part IITurning to the memo's statistics about the largest twenty companies, the director fails to account for any possible reason--other than the SureSale method--for the decline in employee turnover. Even if SureSale deserves credit for this decline, it is unreasonable to conclude on this basis that Aura would benefit similarly by adopting the SureSale method. The increase in employee turnover at Aura might be due to certain factors--such as working conditions--that would remain unaffected by the seminar. If so, then the proposed course of action might not suffice to retain Aura's best salespeople. Finally, even assuming the SureSale seminar would serve to enhance Aura's profitability and reduce its employee turnover, the director has not convinced me that the proposed course of action is a necessary means toward these ends. Perhaps some other sales seminar, or certain cost-cutting measures, would prove more effective in enhancing Aura's profitability. By the same token, perhaps some other course of action--such as revising Aura's personnel policies or work environment--would be more effective in reducing employee turnover. In sum, as it stands the director's argument is weak. To strengthen it the director should provide statistical evidence showing that companies similar to Aura that have adopted the SureSale program have tended to benefit from it--both in terms of profitability and employee turnover. To better assess the argument, it would be useful to compare the proven benefits of the SureSale seminar to those of similar seminars. It would also be useful to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of alternative courses of action--including various revenue-enhancing as well as cost-cutting measures.Score 6Analysis of an Argument Essay example 2Response part IIThe following was excerpted from an article in a farming trade publication. "Farmers who switched from synthetic to organic farming last year have seen their crop yields decline. Many of these farmers feel that it would be too expensive to resume synthetic farming at this point, given the money that they invested in organic farming supplies and equipment. But their investments will be relatively minor compared to the losses from continued lower crop yields. Organic farmers should switch to synthetic farming rather than persist in an unwise course. And the choice to farm organically is financially unwise, given that it was motivated by environmental rather than economic concerns."Analysis of an Argument Essay example 2Response part IThere are some flaws in the above publication. First, synthetic farming had caused crop yields decline but the publication did not tell us the unit price which should be rising. Second, I do not agree that the choice to farm organically is financially unwise.The crop yields decline does not mean the losses in finance. The crop yields decline should be expected in the very beginning when farmers decided to shift synthetic farming to organic farming. They should certainly know that the losses in yields would be compensated by the unit price. Namely, the product of organic yields and organic unit price should be equal or larger than the product of synthetic yields and synthetic unit price. For example, I know that the organic chicken eggs are the double price of the synthetic eggs in superstore and the cost of one organic egg are also two times as large as synthetic one. But, organic eggs are sold out much quicker than synthetic ones. So, farmer did not lose money because the unit price is large enough to compensate the production decline.Whether it is wise or not for farmers to switch from organic farming to synthetic farming depends on the needs of market. Let me give you an elaborate example. There are altogether 100 farmers and each of them produce the same amount of chicken eggs. Certainly the cost of organic eggs is greater than that of synthetic ones. If the market needs 20 portions of organic eggs from above 100 farmers while there are only one farmer produing organic eggs; therefore, the farmer who produce organic eggs will certainly earn a lot of money and it is a wise choice. However, if there are 40 farmers produing organic eggs while the market still only needs 20 portions, those farmers must decline their unit price; therefore, they may loose money. Analysis of an Argument Essay example 2Response part IITo conclude, the above publication leaves out two important issues I just mentioned above. If the author took the consideration of unit price of organic farming and the principle of products to meet market needs, he or she may make a different conclusion.Score 3Analysis of an Argument Essay example 3The following appeared in a memorandum from the Director of Human Resources to the executive officers of Company X. "Last year, we surveyed our employees on improvements needed at Company X by having them rank, in order of importance, the issues presented in a list of possible improvements. Improved communications between employees and management was consistently ranked as the issue of highest importance by the employees who responded to the survey. As you know, we have since instituted regular communications sessions conducted by high-level management, which the employees can attend on a voluntary basis. Therefore, it is likely that most employees at Company X now feel that the improvement most needed at the company has been made."Analysis of an Argument Essay example 3Response part IWhen a survey was conducted amongst the employees on the improvements needed at the company ,it is said that the most important issue of the employees was to improve the communications between employees and management.So the director tried to resolve this issue by letting the employees voluntarily come up and communicate with the high level management on a regular basis and therfore assumes that the required improvement is made.The issue of the employees is very well adressed and I think it is given a a very good means to get resolved.But at the sme time it is the responsibility of the management to see that the problems of the employees are resolved.Just listening to the employees problems is not going to resolve the issue.It should be seen that the concerns are met and assurances to resolve the issues are to be made with the employees by the management.By doing this employees feel more happy and deliver better job and the company is going to benefit when the employees are happy.So I would like to say that just improving the means of communication is not going to help the problems to be resolved.It is the concern of the management towards the employees that isScore: 1 Analysis of an Argument Essay example 32ndresponse part IIn this argument, the author claims that most of the employees at Company x now think that the communication between the employees and management has been improved. To substantiate the conclusion, the author provides the result of a survey conducted last year. In addition, the author points out that the company has tried to improve the communication by instituting regular communications sessions. The evidence presented throughout the argument, however, is insufficient and therefore does not lend strong support to this argument.In the first place, the procedure of the sampling is unclear, which undermines the credulity of the survey. It is equally possible, for example, that the employees dared not elect other issues because of the presence of the manager and some other issues had passive influence on the manager. If so, the ranking would be unreliable so that the employees would be satisfied with the improvement.In the second place, the assumption on which the argument relies is problematic. In this argument, the author assumes that with the communications sessions, the crew will feel more contented. Nevertheless, the author fails to establish a casual relationship between the sessions and the satisfaction of the crew. There is another possibility that the employees are still unsatisfied with the communication in spite of these improvements. Perhaps the employees need communication in other ways such as one in which they can talk to the high-level management individually, but not at a meeting.Analysis of an Argument Essay example 32ndresponse part IIIn conclusion, the author fails to demonstrate that employees feel that improvement most needed has been made. To solidify the argument, the author would have to provide more evidence that the employees are indeed aware of the improvement. Furthermore, more concrete information about the survey should be presented in this argument.Score 4ESSAY IN GENERALHere are the procedural rules for the two AWA sections: The CAT system does not allow you to return to either of the two AWA essays once you've moved on. If you've completed either essay before the 30-minute time limit has elapsed, you can proceed immediately to the next section by clicking the EXIT SECTION button at the bottom of the screen. You're allowed a maximum of 5 minutes after the secondAWA section before moving on to the multiple-choice sections. (At the end of 5 minutes, the next section begins, whether or not you're ready!) No break is provided between the two 30-minute AWA sections. Pencils and scratch paper are provided. (The exam supervisor will collect these materials at the conclusion of your exam.) Vary Sentence Structure and lengthTelemarketers intrude in my life. The internet has become even worse. The average consumer can stand only so much. Everyone is tired of it. The telemarketers and advertizers and spammers aren't showing any signs of stopping.No doubt, telemarketers intrude in everyone'slife. The internet has become even worse, blocking web pages with pop-ups, and even illicitly downloading “spybots” to our PCs. The average consumer can stand only so much. Though everyone is clearlytired of it, telemarketers, advertizers, and spammers aren't showing any signs of stopping.TRANSITION “STRINGS”Transitional chains, to use in separating sections of a paragraph which is arranged linearly:first... second... third...generally... furthermore... finallyin the first place... also... lastlyin the first place... pursuing this further... finallyto be sure... additionally... lastlyin the first place... just in the same way...finallybasically... similarly... as wellTRANSITIONS--“OPENERS”For opening a paragraph initially or for general use:admittedlyassuredlycertainlygrantedno doubtnobody deniesobviously (be very careful with this one)of courseto be suretrueundoubtedlyunquestionablygenerally speakingin generalat this levelin this situationTRANSITIONS--“CONTINUERS”For continuing a common line of reasoning:consequentlyclearly, thenfurthermoreadditionallyandin additionmoreoverbecausebesides thatin the same wayfollowing this furtheralsopursuing this furtherin the light of the... it is easy to see that