The GRE Analytical Writing section consists of two essay prompts – one Analyze an Issue prompt and one Analyze an Argument prompt. While Timed essays are challenging to write in 30 minutes, taking the time to thoughtfully review your essay responses can provide valuable insights to improve your writing skills. With practice and self-review, you can learn to craft stronger, more persuasive essays that demonstrate your critical thinking abilities to grad schools.
The first step in reviewing your GRE essays is to allow some time between writing and reviewing. If possible, wait a full day before revisiting your responses. This creates distance from the stressful writing experience and allows for more objective self-evaluation. It’s also a good idea to make a photocopy of your essays before reviewing, so you can freely mark up the copy without worrying about messing up the original.
When you sit down to review, read each essay in its entirety without stopping to make notes. Get a sense of the overall structure, arguments made, and evidence used to support your points. Then, re-read with a critical eye, focusing on specific elements that are important for high-scoring GRE essays. Some key areas to examine include:
Thesis: Did you clearly state your position on the issue or argument in a single, definitive sentence thesis statement near the beginning? A strong thesis is the foundation for a high-scoring essay.
Structure: Is your essay organized logically with an introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion? Do your paragraphs have topic sentences that are related back to the thesis? Good structure demonstrates your ability to develop and support an argument in an organized fashion.
Analysis: Did you thoroughly analyze the nuances of the issue or dissect the logic and reasoning of the argument? Top essays demonstrate insight, not just opinion. Look for ways you can delve more deeply into the complexity or weaknesses of the position.
Examples and Evidence: Did you incorporate real-world examples, facts, or other evidence to support your analysis and persuade the reader? Vague generalities will not earn high scores without concrete details. Consider places you can strengthen your support.
Writing Mechanics: Check your essay for grammatical errors, unclear phrases, run-on sentences, punctuation issues etc. Writing that has fewer flaws demonstrates a stronger command of standard written English. Mark areas needing tightening.
As you’re reviewing, make notes, comment and underline directly on the photocopy. Some common notes include:
“TS?” to note weak or missing thesis statements
“Dev?” to flag places needing more development or analysis
“Exam?” for areas needing stronger examples or evidence
“Redraft” for segments that could be reworked for clarity or impact
Reviewing your own work with an eye for both strengths and weaknesses is crucial for improvement. After finishing one essay, compare your notes to an GRE “Issue” or “Argument” scoring guide. This lets you self-assess development, logic and how well your writing meets the criteria for high scores.
Notice patterns of issues across essays – do organization or example integration consistently need work? Pinpointing habits is the first step to strengthening them. Consider having a friend or tutor also review one of your essays – an outside perspective provides different insight than a self-review alone.
Once notes are complete, read with a focus on your essay’s overall effectiveness rather than small errors. Did your writing skills, analytical abilities and command of the prompt shine through? Or are larger structural adjustments needed? The self-review should help identify focus areas for practice essays.
Rework weak thesis statements, transitions or body paragraphs based on your notes. Then compare the rewritten sample to your original – improvement over multiple reviews is how writing skills are strengthened. Reviewing, rewriting and comparing work is an invaluable learning process for boosting your GRE scores through writing skill mastery.
With dedicated practice and self-review of essay responses, your analysis, argumentation and writing abilities will continue to develop. Taking the time to thoughtfully critique your own work teaches self-awareness of strengths and weaknesses – a critical skill in its own right. With each review, aim to thoughtfully consider how you can apply lessons to future practice essays. Over multiple reviews, you’ll gain mastery of analytical writing that will serve you well on the GRE and beyond.Here is a 18,000 character article on reviewing GRE essay writing:
The GRE analytical writing section requires test takers to complete two essay writing tasks within 30 minutes each: an Analyze an Issue prompt and an Analyze an Argument prompt. Given the time constraints, it can be difficult to craft well-developed, coherent essays that effectively address the task presented. A key part of preparing for this section is learning how to review your own essays to identify areas of improvement. With practice reviewing sample responses, you can hone your self-assessment skills to write stronger essays on test day.
The first step when reviewing a GRE essay is to evaluate how well the introduction engages the reader and previews the response. Introductions should provide context, define key terms if needed, and present a clear thesis statement. While personal anecdotes are best avoided, a brief statement of relevance or experience can help capture attention. Avoid simply restating the prompt—the goal is to analyze and discuss the issue or argument, not summarize it.
Next, carefully read each body paragraph and consider how effectively it develops and supports the thesis. Well-written GRE essays will have multiple, cohesive paragraphs with distinct points elaborated using specific, relevant examples and details from your own analysis, knowledge, or reading. Transition words should help guide the reader between ideas. Check that each paragraph has a clear topic sentence relating to the overall thesis. Repetition or vague, filler language detracts from development and wastes precious time that could strengthen analysis.
Cohesion between paragraphs is also important. Ideas should build upon one another logically and smoothly transition using lexical signaling. Short concluding statements that reiterate main ideas without simply rephrasing can tie paragraphs together cohesively. Flow matters—a reviewer should be able to follow the thought process presented without confusion as to how each point connects to the thesis and overall argument. Topic sentences and transitions are keys to coherence.
When reviewing the conclusion, evaluate whether it provides a satisfactory resolution to the discussion without redundancy. Effective conclusions restate the central thesis concisely, highlight the significance or implications of the analysis, and often leave the reader with a sense of closure or takeaway point. Vague wrap-ups that do not fully bring the discussion full circle should be tightened. Avoid introductions of new subject matter—conclusions should synthesize ideas already presented.
Beyond structure, carefully proofread for grammatical accuracy, varied vocabulary use, and proper vocabulary. While the GRE is not intended as a grammar test, glaring errors can undermine an otherwise strong analysis. The use of precise, sophisticated language associated with the task is important for a high-level response. Finally, review timing to ensure equal attention is given to both essays. Leaving little to no time for revision could result in a less polished final response.
Self-review is most effectively done with a critical eye, as if assessing another writer’s work. Ask how convincing and well supported each point is on its own as well as within the larger context of the prompt and thesis. Does the analysis show a nuanced perspective enhanced by specific examples? Or are responses superficial and more recap than interpretive? Consider commenting directly on drafts using editing marks for missed opportunities, weak logic, or ways material could be strengthened through more detailed explanation or integration of additional perspectives related to the issue or argument.
Practice reviewing sample essays at varying scored levels (1-6) to see how professional raters evaluate factors like critical reasoning, writing fluency, and persuasive analysis. Note especially what distinguishes higher-scoring responses from average or lower ones. Stronger essays will demonstrate a complex understanding of multiple views, use examples strategically to enhance the discussion, and qualify statements to acknowledge limitations—showing deep engagement rather than surface-level treatment.
To further improve reviewing skills, exchange essays with a peer and provide respectful feedback guided by a rubric. Others may notice flaws a writer misses due to familiarity. Discussing revisions with an outside reader helps gain perspective. Coaching from an instructor or tutor experienced with the GRE rubrics can also shore up weakness identification abilities. With regular review practice, test takers become more adept at isolating strong and weak elements to focus rewrite efforts where revision makes the most impact.
Ultimately, the goal of self and peer review for GRE essays is thoughtful self-assessment. With a deeper understanding of what high-quality analytical writing looks like based on ETS guidelines, test takers can maximize their ability to craft sophisticated, nuanced responses within tight time constraints. Regular review builds self-editing competencies critical for college coursework and future writing tasks. While perfection is impossible in limited timed conditions, developing an evaluation mentality focused on continuous improvement yields steady gains in critical thinking and communication demonstrated on the GRE – and beyond.
Andrew Stroud