GRE Sample Essay 7

The best test of an argument is the argument's ability to convince someone with an opposing viewpoint.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

Response for GRE Sample Essay 7

We come across numerous situations in our daily life and tacking these situations require us to make important decisions. Some of these decisions end up going right whereas some may go awry and we need to take the blame for them. Whatever the case be taking a decision requires concrete thinking. However, things can go wrong anyway and the best way to undertake what went wrong is to analyze the argument that is made against our thought that we had while making that particular decision.

People around us may praise some of our decisions while others might criticize them. What makes any decision appropriate is the thinking that was involved behind making it; especially the consideration about what would happen if the decision ends up being wrong. If we consider the situation opposing our thinking and answer the questions that arise from it, the chances of that decision being wrong will be much less. Not only this, it would be a lot easier to defend our decision at the end of the day as well.

Therefore, I strongly agree with the statement that the best way to test your argument and its validity is to successfully overcome the opposing viewpoint. Though this may seem quite straight-forward, we have to consider numerous aspects to validate our claim and we must go through all these aspects one by one.

Whenever an argument is postulated or a suggestion is made, it is based on a certain premise or assumption from the point of view of the speaker/author. This view can often be biased or very generic and may not work under all circumstances. So using reverse hypothesis is a great way to analyze the validity of your own argument under different circumstances. For instance, light was first believed to be a wave in the 19^th century but this theory was unable to explain certain phenomena exhibited by light. Due to this, people started questioning and by analysing the opposing view point, a new theory was developed depicting the particle nature of light. This gave birth to the present theory of light when two opposing views were substantiated by Einstein and Plank.

Our entire society is based on the foundation of opposing views, whether it is the election of the government, lawmaking or the judiciary. All arguments made about any subject-matter are evaluated according to the response of critiques and amendments are made accordingly, which gives birth to the best possible outcome in any scenario.

To conclude, it is quite evident that addressing the opposing views while trying to justify one’s own argument works as a great test for identifying the validity of any argument. Though it may not always be possible to convince critiques as their arguments may sometimes be based on incorrect logic or they may have a misunderstanding under the subject; countering the opposing view definitely serves as the tool for strengthening an argument and testing whether the logic used in the argument is valid.

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GRE Essay Score

This article scores a 4.5 because:

The article presents a thoughtful analysis of the given argument with cogent reasons. The analysis is supported with relevant examples wherever needed, thus conveying the central idea effectively. The article does a satisfactory job of explaining the crux of the analysis. The article points out the bias in terms of employment, showing an in-depth understanding of the argument and issue at hand. For more topics, visit: GRE Essay Topics with Answers

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