HOW TO INTERPRET AND USE GRE ANALYTICAL WRITING

(GRE-AW) SCORES

January 2009

2

This guide is intended to help graduate faculty and administrators use GRE Analytical Writing (GRE-AW) scores in ways that are valid and effective to meet the needs of their programs. Although validity studies of the GRE Analytical Writing measure have been conducted at the national level, graduate departments or institutions should conduct their own validation of GRE-AW scores for use in the admissions process. This booklet will help you get started.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE FAQs for Interpreting and Using GRE-AW Scores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Provides information about national validity studies, as well as advice on how to validate your use of GRE-AW scores Procedures for Validating the Initial Use of GRE-AW Scores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Outlines the steps for an essay-rating activity designed to help departments and programs decide how to use GRE-AW scores appropriately

Materials for Validating the Initial Use of GRE-AW Scores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Includes an Essay-Rating Form, two Summary Rating Forms, and eight GRE essay sets—all the materials needed for the essay-rating activity

Copyright © 2009 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING., GRADUATE RECORD EXAMINATIONS,

and GRE are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) worldwide.

3

FAQs for Interpreting and Using GRE Analytical Writing (GRE-AW) Scores

How can GRE-AW scores help my department? A GRE-AW score provides, in extremely concise form, an indication of an applicant’s analytical writing skills. The two GRE-AW writing tasks (Present Your Perspective on an Issue and Analyze an Argument) assess how well entry-level graduate students can analyze the texts they read; organize and articulate complex ideas; provide and evaluate supporting evidence; and sustain coherent, well-reasoned discussions in writing. Faculty in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities have identified these analytical writing skills as important for success in many graduate programs.1 If these skills are important for success in your program, you may want to add GRE-AW scores to the profile of information you evaluate in the graduate admissions process.

Why does the GRE Program report only a single Analytical Writing score instead of separate scores for the two writing tasks? Although the GRE Analytical Writing measure contains two discrete essay-writing tasks, a single combined score is reported because it is more reliable than either task score alone. For information about score reliability and the analytical writing construct being assessed, see the Psychometric Evaluation of the New GRE Writing Assessment.2 For score-level descriptions of each score point, see the GRE website at www.ets.org/gre/edupubs.

How should we use GRE-AW scores in the admissions process? Each department or institution must decide how to weigh GRE-AW scores with other information about each applicant. (See page 9 for suggested ways of considering GRE-AW scores as part of an applicant’s profile.) The GRE Program recommends that you validate (confirm the appropriateness of) your initial use of the scores and then analyze ongoing data to determine the relationship between your students’ GRE-AW scores and the same students’ performance in your program. Section Two will guide you through the initial validation process.

How should we interpret GRE-AW scores for international applicants? The same criteria and standards are used to evaluate the writing of all GRE examinees. You may find that some international students improve on some of the writing skills (especially in the use of idioms and sentence structure) after they enter your program. However, you cannot assume such change for all of the skills assessed, especially those involving analysis. GRE topics and evaluation standards were developed to be as fair as possible for a diverse population, including international students. GRE scorers do not penalize writers for minor linguistic errors that do not interfere with coherence or meaning.3 Can we expect that students with high GRE-AW scores will do better in their courses than students with low GRE-AW scores? Not necessarily. Each graduate program makes unique demands on students, and no single piece of information is likely to predict success for students in all fields of study. This is why you need to consider

1 Several interdisciplinary committees of graduate and undergraduate faculty contributed to the development of the GRE

Analytical Writing measure. In addition to their own recommendations, they examined GRE survey and research results to confirm the importance of the analytical writing skills assessed by GRE-AW.

2 This GRE research report is available at www.ets.org/gre/research. 3 Issue and Argument scoring guides and information on fairness issues are available at www.ets.org/gre/edupubs.

4

an array of information about students in the admissions process. Research data have shown that there is a positive relationship between the GRE-AW and course-related writing samples. What validation studies have been conducted for this GRE Analytical Writing measure? The GRE Program has conducted several national validity studies examining the form, timing, and content of the assessment; the relationship between specific features of GRE essays and graduate educators’ judgments about the quality of writing in the essays; students’ perceptions of the essay topics; and the relationship between GRE essays and other measures of writing achievement, such as personal statements, papers written for class assignments, and grades in writing-intensive courses.4 Why does a department or institution need to validate its own use of the assessment? Although the national studies help establish the validity of the GRE Analytical Writing measure, they do not necessarily address the appropriateness of using the measure in a particular way at a particular institution—nor were they intended to do so. It is important to collect data at the departmental or program level because it is here that GRE-AW scores actually “count” in decisions being made about each applicant and because it is at the local level that faculty identify the skills that are important for success in their particular program. How should we validate our own use of the GRE-AW scores? The GRE Program recommends that departments and programs undertake a two-step approach to collecting validity information: initial validation and ongoing validation. Initial validation involves faculty ratings of essays, for example, and can be carried out before students submit any GRE-AW results. (See Section Two for a description of this activity.) Ongoing validation involves comparing students’ GRE-AW scores to their performance in the graduate program. Together, these two kinds of validation information provide a strong basis for ensuring that your use of GRE-AW scores is appropriate for your department or program. Ongoing validation. After your students have taken the GRE-AW and have progressed through at least part of their graduate training, you can analyze the relationship of their GRE-AW scores to other indicators of student success, such as grades, faculty rankings of students, and scores on papers, projects, and comprehensive examinations. When adopting the GRE-AW, you will find it is desirable to collect this kind of information during the first year of use. However, until your own data are available, you may wish to consider ETS research data collected at the national level, which is summarized below.5 Figure 1 (on the next page) shows the relationship between GRE-AW scores, undergraduate GPA (UGPA) in writing courses, overall UGPA, and UGPA in the major field. Note that the GRE-AW score has its strongest relationship with UGPA in writing courses. There are also positive relationships between the GRE-AW score and overall UGPA and UGPA in the major field.

4 See www.ets.org/gre/research for an annotated list of GRE analytical writing research studies. 5 Powers, D.E., Fowles, M.E., and Welsh, C.K. (1999). Further validation of a writing assessment for graduate admissions (GRE

Report 96-13). Princeton, NJ: ETS.

5

Figure 2 (below) shows the relationship between GRE-AW scores and course-related writing samples supplied by the test takers. One sample was identified by the student as a “typical” paper; the other was identified as “not as well written.” These data show a positive relationship between the quality of the writing samples and the GRE-AW score. `

What help is available for departments and institutions to conduct ongoing validity studies? The GRE Program will be happy to collaborate with departments and institutions wishing to conduct their own ongoing validity studies and to provide guidance about how best to approach the task. E-mail gretests@ets.org for more information.

6

Procedures for Validating the Initial Use of GRE-AW Scores

The GRE Program has developed this essay-rating activity to help departments and institutions consider how to use GRE-AW scores appropriately during the first year of score use, before there are any data about students’ performance in graduate courses. It will help faculty determine which GRE-AW scores indicate that an applicant is likely to meet the standard or quality of analytical writing expected from entering students. Because this activity does not require additional data, you can conduct it before you begin receiving GRE-AW scores. The essay-rating activity can be conducted in either of two ways:

1. Faculty attend a single 2-3 hour meeting, beginning with a brief (30-minute) group orientation followed by a rating session and discussion of results.

2. Faculty meet for a brief (30-minute) group orientation, take the essay packets home to complete the rating activity, and then reconvene to discuss the results.

Preparations for the Essay-Rating Activity Designate someone to facilitate the entire process. Before the essay-rating activity begins, the facilitator will need to do the following:

• Identify a representative group of faculty to participate in the activity. If scores will be used at the institutional rather than the departmental level, involve faculty from a variety of disciplines. You may want to include administrators as well.

• Make sure that all participants are well informed about the GRE Analytical Writing measure. Before the session, they should have read An Introduction to the Analytical Writing Section of the GRE General Test at www.ets.org/gre/edupubs.

• Identify the question(s) that your department or institution would like to have answered about using GRE-AW scores. (See sample questions on page 7.)

The facilitator should take the following materials to the group session(s);

• GRE-AW Essay-Rating Form (one copy for each participant)

• GRE-AW Sample Essays, Sets A through H (one copy for each participant)

• An Introduction to the Analytical Writing Section of the GRE General Test (In your discussions, you may need to refer to this document for information about the two GRE writing tasks—Issue and Argument—or the scoring process, scoring guides, benchmark essays, etc.)

• A calculator (Faculty ratings will need to be tallied, averaged, and presented to the group for discussion.)

7

GRE Analytical Writing Essay-Rating Form The Essay-Rating Form on page 25 is a convenient way to collect faculty judgments about the analytical writing skills displayed in GRE essays in relation to the skills expected of students entering a particular program of graduate study. This form asks faculty to evaluate sets of essays according to a preselected criterion. The faculty should decide which one or more of the sample questions below would best suit their needs (or faculty may compose a question of their own).

Sample Questions

Range of Answers

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement? This set of essays displays the level of analytical writing that I expect of entry-level graduate students who are likely to succeed in our program. OR The writer of these two essays can probably meet the discipline- specific writing requirements of our graduate program. OR I am reasonably satisfied with the overall analytical writing ability displayed in these two essays.

4 = Strongly agree 3 = Slightly agree 2 = Slightly disagree 1 = Strongly disagree

Procedures for the Essay-Rating Activity The activity consists of four steps. Step 1. Explain the essay-rating activity to the group, emphasizing these key points:

• Purpose of the activity The purpose of the essay-rating activity is to collect the judgments of a representative group of graduate faculty about the analytical skills displayed in GRE essays at various score levels and to interpret those judgments in relation to departmental/institutional standards and expectations. The results can help your department or institution interpret GRE-AW scores appropriately.

• Contextual information about the essays

Writers had only 45 minutes to present their perspective on a complex issue and 30 minutes to read and analyze an argument. Because of the timing constraints, GRE essay readers view the responses as a first draft and do not expect the essays to be entirely free of errors; note that the essays are reproduced exactly as they were written. The essays were written by a diverse population applying to many different graduate schools in many different fields of study. Essay Sets A through H represent the range of analytical writing skills that are displayed under GRE-AW testing conditions. Your department or institution may not see the same wide range of analytical writing skills (and GRE-AW scores) displayed by your applicants.

8

• Single rating for each set of essays

Faculty record one rating for each set of essays. If they have different opinions about the two essays in a set, they could simply record the average—that is, their overall rating of the writing displayed across the two essays.

• Independent judgments

After faculty rate and discuss one or two essay sets in the orientation session, they will rate the rest of the essay sets according to their own impressions of the analytical writing skills they see displayed. For that reason, they will not see the GRE-AW scores for Sets A through H until everyone has finished rating the essays and everyone is ready to discuss the results.

• Realistic judgments

It is important that faculty base their ratings on the level of analytical writing skill that they believe is actually necessary for success in the program, not on what is desired.

Step 2. Rate Sets A and B. Tally and discuss the results.

While still in group session, faculty should independently read Set A and indicate their answers for Set A on the rating form. Each person should have an Essay-Rating Form (page 25). When everyone has finished reading the two essays and has entered a rating on an Essay-Rating Form, the group should discuss the extent to which Essay Set A displays the level of analytical writing skills expected for success in the program. If individual ratings differ greatly (i.e., they range from strongly agree to strongly disagree), ask the participants to explain their judgments about the essays. After this discussion, faculty can decide to modify their ratings if they wish. Repeat the exercise with Set B.

Step 3. Rate the remaining essay sets.

Although the participants could take the materials home and finish the rest of the ratings independently, it may be more expedient to keep the group together so that any remaining issues or concerns can be addressed and the discussions can reveal the degree of consensus within the group.

Step 4. Summarize the data and conduct a group discussion of the results.

When you have collected all the Essay-Rating Forms, tally the judgments and average the ratings for each essay set. Enter the results into the Summary Rating Form: Initial Data (see page 26) so the group can see their ratings in relation to GRE-AW score levels. If consensus is fairly strong, your score distribution might look something like this:

Hypothetical Distribution of Ratings Below is an example of a Summary Rating Form showing the ratings from 20 faculty members. Note that this form includes the GRE-AW score next to each essay set (e.g., Essay Set C received a GRE-AW score of 2). In this example, faculty rated the eight essays sets in relation to the following statement: This set of essays displays the level of analytical writing I expect of entry-level students who are likely to succeed in our program.

9

Essay Set

And (GRE-AW Score)

Strongly Agree

4

Slightly Agree

3

Slightly Disagree

2

Strongly Disagree

1

Mean Faculty Agreement

Rating Set A (3) 6 5 8 1 2.80 Set B (5) 17 2 1 0 3.80 Set C (2) 0 0 5 15 1.25 Set D (5) 10 8 2 0 3.40 Set E (4) 15 4 1 0 3.70 Set F (6) 19 1 0 0 3.95 Set G (1) 0 0 0 20 1.00 Set H (3) 4 11 4 1 2.90

You will probably find it easier to discuss the results if you reorder the data so that the relationship between GRE-AW score levels and faculty ratings becomes more apparent (see Summary of Ratings Form: Reordered Data, page 27). For the hypothetical distribution of ratings above, the reordered data would look like this:

Essay Set

And (GRE-AW Score)

Strongly Agree

4

Slightly Agree

3

Slightly Disagree

2

Strongly Disagree

1

Mean Faculty Agreement

Rating Set F (6) 19 1 0 0 3.95 Set B (5) 17 2 1 0 3.80 Set D (5) 10 8 2 0 3.40 Set E (4) 15 4 1 0 3.70 Set A (3) 6 5 8 1 2.80 Set H (3) 4 11 4 1 2.90 Set C (2) 0 0 5 15 1.25 Set G (1) 0 0 0 20 1.00

Interpretation of the Results As the group reviews the results, you might want to ask such questions as:

• To what extent does the group show consensus in their ratings? You should look at the number of ratings in both the “Slightly Agree” and the “Strongly Agree” columns as an indicator of agreement.

• How should we interpret the GRE-AW score levels in relation to the analytical writing demands of the program? In considering how to use GRE-AW scores as part of an applicant’s profile, faculty might decide, for example, that an applicant with a GRE-AW score of:

1 or 2: could have great difficulty meeting the writing requirements of the program, especially if no other reliable indicator of writing ability is available

10

3: could have some difficulty meeting the writing requirements, but faculty would be prepared to give the student extra help in the normal course of instruction 4: is likely to have little or no difficulty meeting the writing requirements 5 or 6: is highly likely to meet the writing requirements. Performance at this high level could strongly outweigh other information about the student’s academic preparedness.

• How should we factor these scores into the process of deciding whether or not to admit

certain students? In considering how to use GRE-AW scores, faculty should be aware that the GRE Program recommends that admissions decisions be based on multiple pieces of information.6 It is especially important during the first few years of using GRE-AW scores that you not exclude students whose GRE-AW scores are less than optimal. Until you have had a few years’ experience examining the relationship between GRE-AW scores and graduate students’ performance in your program, it is better to be more, rather than less, inclusive so you will not close the door to students who may prove capable of meeting the writing demands of your program.

The results of this exercise should provide you with a sense of the levels of score points on the scale that you might consider acceptable in the early phase of adopting the GRE Analytical Writing measure. Eventually, faculty will want to base their judgments on their own experience with students and with other measures of student performance to determine how best to use GRE-AW scores. When discussions have concluded, the activity is completed. You can, of course, repeat the exercise, using alternative questions as the basis for ratings.

6 See Guidelines to the Use of GRE Scores at www.ets.org/gre/edupubs.

11

Materials for Validating the Initial Use of GRE-AW Scores

This section contains the materials you need to conduct the GRE essay-rating activity. • Four GRE Essay Topics

The essays that the group will rate are responses to two GRE Issue topics and two GRE Argument topics. The topics and brief directions appear below. For a complete set of Issue and Argument directions, see An Introduction to the Analytical Writing Section of the GRE General Test. Directions for Issue Topics: Present your perspective on the issue below, using relevant reasons and/or examples to support your views.

Media Topic

“The media (books, film, music lyrics, for example) tend to create rather than reflect the values of a society.”

Technology Topic

”Both the development of technological tools and the uses to which humanity has put them have created modern civilizations in which loneliness is ever increasing.”

Directions for Argument Topics: Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. Forestville Topic

Six months ago the region of Forestville increased the speed limit for vehicles traveling on the region’s highways by ten miles per hour. Since that change took effect, the number of automobile accidents in that region has increased by 15 percent. But the speed limit in Elmsford, a region neighboring Forestville, remained unchanged, and automobile accidents declined slightly during the same six-month period. Therefore, if the citizens of Forestville want to reduce the number of automobile accidents on the region’s highways, they should campaign to reduce Forestville’s speed limit to what it was before the increase.

Silver Screen Topic

The following is taken from a memo from the advertising director of the Silver Screen Movie Production Company. “According to a recent report from our marketing department, fewer people attended movies produced by Silver Screen during the past year than in any other year. And yet the percentage of generally favorable comments by movie reviewers about specific Silver Screen movies actually increased during this period. Clearly, the contents of these reviews are not reaching enough of our prospective viewers; so the problem lies not with the quality of our movies but with the public’s lack of awareness that movies of good quality are available. Silver Screen should therefore spend more of its budget next year on reaching the public through advertising and less on producing new movies.”

12

• Eight GRE Essay Sets

The eight pairs of essays (Sets A through H) were written by GRE examinees who participated in a research study under the standard timed condition; the essays are presented with the authors’ exact wording, spelling, and punctuation. Faculty should read and judge the GRE essay sets in relation to the analytical writing demands or expectations for their own program. Each set consists of an Issue essay and an Argument essay with identical GRE-AW scores. The collection of essay sets illustrates the full range of GRE-AW scores, from 6 to 1. The GRE-AW materials at www.ets.org/gre/edupubs contain a full set of test directions, scoring guides, and additional information about the two Analytical Writing tasks.

• Essay-Rating Form

You will need to make one copy of this form (page 25) for every participant in the essay-rating activity.

• Two Summary Data Forms

After you have tallied and averaged the ratings for each essay set into the Initial Data form (page 26), reorder and enter the data into the Reordered Data form (page 27). Show the results to faculty for a group discussion and interpretation of the data.

13

GRE ESSAY SET A Issue Essay: Technology Topic The technological tools we as a society have developed are not in themselves positive or negative, they are just that, tools. The uses, however, are definitely a different story. Computers, I believe at one time, were developed to save us time. Do our work more quickly for us so that we could have more leisure time to spend doing those things we enjoy. We have found now, especially those of us that are parents, that all of the leisure time we have gained is either spent watching our children learn things on the computer or creating our own unique something on the family computer. For one thing, it has become a very fun item, the computers have become more than just work related technological tools. The amount of human interaction is limited, because people in general are spending much of their leisure time doing solo on the computer. In the past, it was common for the new young exectutive to get a membership to the exercise club as a perk, where he could socialize with the upper crust. Now the new young exec. gets a car phone or a portable fax, so that he can work from whereever he is, usually doing that solo trip to somewhere. Given these as examples, I would tend to agree with the statement that lonliness has increased as a direct result. Argument Essay: Forestville Topic This argument does not have any concrete information. It seems by Forestville, increasing their speed limit more accidents occured. We all know that accidents occur reguardless of what the speed limit of the highway we travel. Fortunately, Elmsford's accidents decreased during the six-months in discussion. This could be because of good weather, careful drivers, or any number of situations. On the other hand, Forrestville had an increase in accidents. The only determining factor given was the speed limit increasing. This in fact probably did play a big role in why there was a 15% percent increase in the accidents, but may not be the only factor. In order to make an accurate judgement on why there was an increase in automobile accidents the situation needs to be researched. Solid facts need to be stated. Six months is not a long enough time to investigate changes in the number of accidents. Clearly, to reduce the speed limit back to normal in Forrestville would not eliminate the problem.

14

GRE ESSAY SET B Issue Essay: Media Topic There are some who would say that the media reflects the values of society. I believe however, that the media in fact tend to create values in a society. The values created may be far different from the values that our society would choose to embrace. I offer two examples that serve well to illistrate that the media can in fact shape the very moral fibers in our society. The first medium that comes to mind is music. Through music we can proclaim our love, communicate feelings, and express new attiudes. Music is widely available to almost everyone in our society. To see how music has changed the values of our society, one needs only to look to the urban sprawl. Rap and gangsta styles of music reach millions of city teens and young adults. It's message is quite simple- violence, drugs, and sex. Young people are constantly bombarded with the message that if you want something all you have to do is to take it. The values of human life, respect for elders and children have been lost. We have gangs and random killings in the streets of most cities in our country. Are these my values? They are most certainly not. This music does not reflect the values of this society. This music is the very core of this degradation of our values. How many tricked out gang cars to you see that don't have the annoying bass rumble of Rap music vibrating out of them? This music is part of the persona of a whole generation of people. It is just as much a part of their ego as the guns, drugs, and abuse of women. Another medium that is shaping the values of our society is advertising. Advertising is everywhere, on T.V., billboards, radio, even at the ballpark. Through advertising some vendors can create "values". To illuminate my point I will use tobacco companies as an example. Joe Camel has convinced millions of young people that it is cool to smoke. The Marlboro man has done the same. The audience is always the sameThese ads are targeting young people. They have created the "value" among children that it is ok for kids to smoke. Again the values of society have been changed by a powerful media. I'm sure there are not too many parents out there who would want their children to start smoking. Another advertising media that will surely change the values of ous society is the Internet. The internet is really just the world's largest commercial launched under the veil of access of useful information. It will be interesting to see just how this new network that has brought the world together will affect our values. These are just examples but I think they are effective at making my point. I think they serve to illistrate that the media can in fact change our values. As for me, I'll be out back smoking a Don Lino, on a beautiful trout stream while sipping a cold beer, waiting for the trout to rise and hoping a couple of those girls from the Coors commercial show up.

15

Essay Set B, continued Argument Essay: Silver Screen Topic The advertising director of Silver Screen should lose his job. It is clear that his analysis of the decrease in attendance in the past year was incomplete. A better qualified individual might have explored the issue further by doing several different things. First of all, surveys of the general population could provide a clue to the decreased viewership. They may find that people aren't as willing to pay the high prices anymore. A survey may also reveal that people are aware of Silver Screen, but opt not to see the films. An inspection of the nature of the films made by Silver Screen could also hint to the root of the problem. If Silver Screen produces a lot of the same typeof movie, then the problem may be that they don't produce enough to appeal to the diverse interests of the population. For instance, if their movies typically contain excessive violence and foul language, parents won't take their children to these films. That is a significant portion of the potential viewing population lost. The ad director mentions that reviewers liked specific films and gave more favorable reviews than in the past. But he neglects to mention the specific numbers- critics may have raved about 2 movies and turned their thumbs down the 10 others. If thats' the case, it's no wonder that viewership has declined. Spending more on advertising, and less on production, as the ad director suggests, could drive the company out of business. If the media builds alot of hype over a new release that was poorly produced, people are more likely to be disappointed, and skeptical about future productions. This is certainly not in the company's best interests. What is in the company's best interest is a broader scope of the problem, and different approaches to solving i [Test taker’s essay ended in mid-word]

16

GRE ESSAY SET C Issue Essay: Media Topic “The media tend to create rather than reflect the values of a society", is true because society allow the media to pusrue this in such a way. The American culture as a whole lives through the pulse of the media world and is enthralled by movies, lyrics and film. Because of the nature by which our society is dependant on the media, the media is able to create any senses of values adaptable by our society. This is not to say that the media is solely responsible for the values of American culture, however, our society makes this creation possible. Although there are many who will disagree with the media's portrayal of many issues, our society as a whole fuels the fire to which the media thrives on. For the most part, books, films and music are produced to sell and the media knows to which audience they are targetting. The way in which a culture enable the media to create it's values, ultimately reflects the values of a society. Argument Essay: Forestville Topic The argument gives statistics of increases in automobile accidents since the speed limit increased six months ago on the highways of Forestville. The argument also gives a statement of how the neighboring region of Forestville, did not increase or decrease the speed limit. It remained unchanged and automobile accidents declined slightly during the same six-month period. The argument may appeal to those who have been effected by the increase in accidents, but it does not give an emotional appeal overall. We are relying on the authors statistics but we don't know where they came from and if they are reliable. The argument needs more examples and illustrations to get his point across to more people. It is suggested that the citizens of Forestville campaign to reduce Forestville's speed limit to what it was before the increase, but it is usually hard to start a campaign. One person needs to take action. If the author is a citizen of Forestville, maybe he should take the initiative.

17

GRE ESSAY SET D Issue Essay: Technology Topic I disagree with the argument that “Both the development of technological tools and the uses to which humanity has put them have created modern civilizations in which loneliness is ever increasing.” Arguments can be made for this thesis, but they depend largely upon a poor definition of “loneliness”. If one defines loneliness as the absence of as much physical, face-to-face contact with other people, then this argument is probably true. The invention of modern telecommunications devices such as telephones, fax machines, and computers has definitely cut down on the amount of physical contact with other people. This is especially true in recent times due to the extremely rapid expansion of the Internet. E-mail and tele-conferencing are substitutes for physical contact, especially in the business world. However, I believe that loneliness can be better measured by intellectual contact with other individuals. Unarguably, modern technology makes this faster and easier, with better communication with a larger number of people. Some employers have argued that productivity is lessened since they have had computers linked to the Internet, as the employees spend much of their time “chatting” with friends, acquaintances, or business contacts across the country. This is probably not a good thing for the employers, but it demonstrates the increased degree of communication due to modern technology. Of course, some technologies have increased loneliness by any standards, such as the automobile or other transportation mechanisms. These encourage substantially longer commutes between home and work. Automobiles have made possible the pattern of suburbanization that has been in place in the United States since immediately after World War Two. Time spent commuting is generally unproductive and spent alone, unless the individual in question is car-pooling or using mass transit. The contribution to loneliness by people who commute may actually be changing now due to new technology that is being invented and used by the general public. Popular new devices, such as the cellular phone and the laptop computer, may actually convert commuting time to a period of increased communications between people, to “pass the time”. This will be especially true as use of mass transit grows, which will probably happen, due to problems with gas shortages, air pollution, and the creation of further mass transit by federal and local governments. The motivation for the declaration that loneliness is increasing may be due to the fact that many people, especially blue-collar workers, are unable to afford or use these new devices. However, since the advent of the personal computer, the price per computing power has continually lowered rapidly, and this trend shows no sign of changing. Several companies, such as Sun Microsystems and Oracle have announced that they are attempting to develop terminals with little computing power, but a full capability to access the Internet. These devices will be in approximately the $500 price range, which is much more reasonable than the price of the current top of the line PC. In addition, to cater to a larger mass of the public, software companies have been carefully making their products easier to use by non-“computer nerds”. This trend is not likely to cease. In conclusion, although early development of modern transportation may have increased loneliness, I believe that more recent technologies are actually doing the opposite.

18

Essay Set D, continued Argument Essay: Forestville Topic The argument above presents a sound case for arguing that if the region of Forestville wants to reduce the number of automobile accidents on the region's highways, they should consider reducing the speed limit to what it was before the increase in speed limit took place 6 months previously. However, there are some intermediate steps that one could take before jumping to the conclusion that reducing the speed limit is the only way in which traffic accidents can be reduced. First of all, I would examine the actual number of traffic accidents that occurred before and after the speed limit increase and compare this to the size of the region and its driving population. For example, if the Forestville region's driving population is 1 million people, and the traffic accidents for a 6-month period before the speed increase totaled 100, then the 15% increase would amount to an additional 16 traffic accidents, or 116 total. For a population of 1 million, there may be other solutions to this increase besides reducing the speed limit to what it was. (The comparison to the region of Elmsford would only be helpful if the regions driving demography is comparable in terms of size and scope.) A public education campaign emphasizing driver safety and safe driving techniques may suffice to reduce the number of traffic accidents. Especially considering that if the number of accidents relative to the population is somewhat small, it is a fairly safe driving population anyway. In addition, I would consider lengthening the time of the study. Six months may be a relatively short period of time for which to study the rate of traffic accidents. Upon a closer examination of when the accidents occurred, one might ascertain that most of the driving accidents occurred within a month of raising the speed limit, but that there have been relatively few additional accidents since that first phase-in period. Lengthening the study to a one-year period would help adjust for any untypical statistics and paint a more accurate picture of the long-term affects of the speed limit increase. I would also examine what else was occurring in the region during the period of the study. For example, was there a major highway construction project happening during this time which would have added to the unsafe nature of raod travel? Are there any alternative explanations for why the increase in traffic accidents could have occurred, or is the increase in speed limit the sole variable? Looking at the type of accidents that occurred, I would examine whether these are the types of car accidents one would expect from traveling at a faster speed to corroborate the cause and effect relationship.

19

GRE ESSAY SET E Issue Essay: Media Topic The media does tend to create rather than reflect the values of a society. One example of this observation is the fact that the media is owned, controlled and used my a segment of the population that is usually out of touch with the realities of groups within the society it covers. For example, the gangster rappers have gained a reputation for being women hating, anti-authority, and violent. Before, the MTV and V-H1 and CNN provided coverage to these groups, theyre were limited to street sales and specific areas that w ere not mainstream. Thanks to national coverage in print and broadcast, these groups becaome more popular because it was "different" and taboo. The lyrics, dances, and fashion statements portrayed became big money items and surburbanited people were intrigued withe this counter-culture. They began to act, talk and behave like the lyrics espressed. Continued media fenzy contributed to kids wanting to become more familiar with this culture, thereby creating an atmosphere or arena for this counter-culturre to legitimate. The media created these values but these vlaues of the gangster rapeer do not reflect the actual values of the society. Another example of the media creating the values of a society is the coverage of the modeling industry. Clearly, most women neither want to or can look like Kate Moss. The typical Calvin Klein male models do not appear the way most men are naturally. This look is both unhealthy and atypical of most humans. Nevertheless, thanks to the media's coverage, including magazine advocating, newspapers ads, and commercials to sell products, a large portion of this society has done everything from liposuction to becoming bullimic to attain a supermodel look. If the media does not cover the indutrsy in such a manner, a growing number of people would not care about the skeletal look of kate Moss or any other unrealistic physical attrubutes that are usually genetically or surgically produced. The media creates this image of how men and women should look thereby creating the values of this society. These values would be totally different without the media's negative influence. Lastly, when the media chooses to focus on pervers and negative, and unhealthy aspects of a society, then that part of society becomes the "values' of that society. Gangster rap or anorexic models could not possibly have made it without the media's concentrated coverage of either. Argument Essay: Silver Screen Topic Although the reasoning in this arguement is logical, the writer failed to consider other reasons for the disparity between the percentage of people attending the company's movie and the percentage of favorable reviews. Perhaps the fault lies with the reviewers and not the production company; the public may not trust the critics' reviews. Another posibility for the attendance drop is that the general public does not find the subject matter of the movies enticing. If that were the case, spending less on producing new movies in an effort to re-direct funds to advertising could backfire by further limiting the types of movies available to the potential audience. Maybe the general public is simply not impressed with the critically-acclaimed qualities of the movies (such as eloquent screenplays, artful cinematography, and realistic acting) and and would prefer seeing flashy special effects and big-name stars. The possible reasons for the attendance decline are numerous; even aspects not directly related to the movie industry (such as the improving quality of television programming and the increasing popularity of home computer use) may play large roles. The company's management would be wise to consider and study the entire realm of possibilities before making drastic changes in its budget based on one statistical discovery.

20

GRE ESSAY SET F Issue Essay: Technology Topic Technology, broadly defined as the use of tools, has a long history. Ever since Erg the caveman first conked an animal with a rock, people have been using technology. For thousands of years, the use of tools allowed people to move ever closer together. Because fields could be cultivated and the technology to store food existed, people would live in cities rather than in small nomadic tribes. Only very lately have Erg’s descendants come to question the benefits of technology. The Industrial Revolution introduced and spread technologies that mechanized many tasks. As a result of the drive toward more efficient production and distribution (so the ever larger cities would be supported), people began to act as cogs in the technological machine. Clothing was no longer produced by groups of women sewing and gossiping together, but by down-trodden automation’s operating machinery in grim factories. The benefits of the new technology of today, computers and the internet, are particularly ambiguous. They have made work ever more efficient and knit the world together in a web of information and phone lines. Some visionaries speak of a world in which Erg need not check in to his office; he can just dial in from home. He won’t need to go to a bar to pick up women because there are all those chat rooms. Hungry? Erg orders his groceries from an online delivery service. Bored? Download a new game. And yet… Many people, myself included, are a little queasy about that vision. Erg may be doing work, but is it real work? Are his online friends real friends? Does anything count in a spiritual way if it’s just digital? Since the Industrial Revolution, we have been haunted by the prospect that we are turning into our machines: efficient, productive, souless. The newest technologies, we fear, are making us flat as our screens, turning us into streams of bits of interchangable data. We may know a lot of people, but we have few real friends. We have a lot of things to do, but no reason to do them. In short, the new technology emphasizes a spiritual crisis that has been building for quite some time. As I try to unravel which I believe about the relative merits of technology, I think it is instructive to remember technology’s original result. A better plow meant easier farming, more food, longer lives, and more free time to pursue other things such as art. Our newest technology does not give us more free time; it consumes our free time. We are terminally distracted from confronting ourselves or each other. We stay safe, and lonely, in our homes and offices rather than taking the risk of meeting real people or trying new things. While I am certainly not a Luddite, I do believe we need to look for a bit more balance between technology and life. We have to tear ourselves away from the fatal distractions and go out into the world. Technology has given us long lives and endless supplies of information. Now we need to apply that information, use the time we’re not spending conking our dinner with a club, and find our reasons for living.

21

Essay Set F, continued Argument Essay: Forestville Topic The agrument is well-presented, but not thoroughly well-reasoned. By making a comparison of the region of Forestville, the town with the higher speed limit and therefore automobile accidents, with the region of Elmsford, an area of a lower speed limit and subsequently fewer accidents, the argument for reducing Forestville's speed limits in order to decrease accidents seems logical. However, the citizens of Forestville are failing to consider other possible alternatives to the increasing car accidents after the raise in speed limit. Such alternatives may include the fact that there are less reliable cars traveling the roads in Forestville, or that the age bracket of those in Elmsford may be more conducive to driving safely. It is possible that there are more younger, inexperienced, or more elderly, unsafe drivers in Forestville than there are in Elmsford. In addition, the citizens have failed to consider the geographical and physical terrain of the two different areas. Perhaps Forestville's highway is in an area of more dangerous curves, sharp turns, or has many intersections or merging points where accidents are more likely to occur. It appears reasonable, therefore, for the citizens to focus on these trouble spots than to reduce the speed in the entire area. Elmsford may be an area of easier driving conditions where accidents are less likely to occur regardless of the speed limit. A six-month period is not a particularly long time frame for the citizens to determine that speed limit has influenced the number of automobile accidents in the area. It is mentioned in the argument that Elmsford accidents decreased during the time period. This may have been a time, such as during harsh weather conditions, when less people were driving on the road and therefore the number of accidents decreased. However, Forestville citizens, perhaps coerced by employment or other requirements, were unable to avoid driving on the roads. Again, the demographics of the population are important. It is possible that Elmsford citizens do not have to travel far from work or work from their home, or do not work at all. Are there more people in Forestville than there were sic months ago? If so, there may be an increased number of accidents due to more automobiles on the road, and not due to the increased speed limits. Also in reference to the activities of the population, it is possible that Forestville inhabitants were traveling during less safe times of the day, such as early in the morning, or during twilight. Work or family habits may have encouraged citizens to drive during this time when Elmsford residents may not have been forced to do so. Overall, the reasoning behind decreasing Forestville's speed limit back to its original seems logical as presented above since the citizens are acting in their own best interests and want to protect their safety. However, before any final decisions are made about the reduction in speed limit, the citizens and officials of Forestville should evaluate all possible alternatives and causes for the increased number of accidents over the six-month period as compared to Elmsford.

22

GRE ESSAY SET G Issue Essay: Technology Topic This statement is stating. The more advance in tecnology that society becomes, the more we depend on technology to live our everyday lives. Society as a whole will out do daily tasks and depend more on machines and computers to accomplish those tasks for them. For example; I was told that the younger generations use caclators in classes on a everday level. We counld'nt do that. We had to resolve a problem on our own. Because caculators are being used, math problems are being adjusted around the caculators. If I didnt know how to use a caculator today then I most likely woulnd't know how to attempt to tackle the math of today. Computers of today are another example. Writing a essay took a lot of thought and hard work in past. Today, I can type some words in the computer and that computer will spell, make grammer correction, and dictate a right form to use in my essay. In the past we had to all these things on our own. I'm not putting down modern technology totally. I just want to state that if we take away people's ability to think then we will slowly loose our ability to function with out modern technology. Argument Essay: Silver Screen Topic The author make a conclusion that Silver Screen should spend more of its budget next year on reaching the public through advertising and less on producing new movies. Becase the author think the public is lack of awareness that movies quality are available. Althogh the percentage of generally favorable comments by movie reviews actually increased during this period, it is the opnion of the movie reviews which not stand for the reviews of the most people. So these fact is not sufficient provide the conclusion. Furthermore the author think we need let more prospective viewer have the same opnion of the movie viewer. It is not unreasonable that it will decrease his inference. So I don't think it is a good conclusion for Silver Screen to spend more money on advertise instead of improve the quality of movie.

23

GRE ESSAY SET H Issue Essay: Media Topic The values of society have have changed so much during most recent years. Many of these values have changed for the worst. The media has been the vehicle that has taken us through these changes. The media has created so many avenues for us to take to reach the values that they think we should have. They have created the avenues that children and young adults feel that they have to take. Many years ago reporters and writers were telling us of all the good things that were happening in the world. You could walk into a store and eventhough there was a war going on, we would read about the soldier that left his family to fight for his country. Nowadays you walk into a store, read a book , or watch a T.V. show, and see all of the things that are happening in a very negative world. The media is creating a society that sayt that it is O.K. for a man to wear earrings. That it is O.K. that marijuana is being legalized, that it is O.K. for juveniles to break the law. Why does not the media show us a professional male athlete that is also a family man? Why doesn’t the author of a book or a reporter of a newspaper tell us about all of the bad things that happen to drug users and pushers? Why do the T.V. shows tell juveniles that all they get for breaking the law is a slap on the hands? Society will be better off if the media would say, "Hey children, professional athletes can be good parents"! This would have a positive effect on the younger generation. The media could create this value for the sake of children and young adults. The media should do a better job in trying to create a good, healthy environment instead of showing us all of the bad stuff in our society. The media should show all young people the awful things that happen in juvenile hall, but that would be an infringement on the residents of the hall. Where are the rights of the people that they did not treat right? Yes, the media is creating a bad influence in todays young people. But I believe that everything in the media can be overcome and ignored. We need to raise our children right.

24

Essay Set H, continued Argument Essay: Silver Screen Topic This argument states the problem but the conclusion is not compatible to the rest of the statement. Silver Screen recognized that fewer people attended movies in the studied year. I would recommend that they find out if this was happening with the entire movie market. It might of have been a poor year for movies for all movie companies. Silver Screen recognized that of the movies that they did, they received favorable reviews. It should be concluded that they are doing well with the movies that they are making. Obviously, they are on track with the consumer in what they are producing. I understand the conclusion that more people need to be exposed to the movies available for viewing. The last statement focuses on the fact that advertising needs to be increased, but does it by cutting production costs. This is wrong, instead of continuing what is working the company plans on focusing on advertising while taking away from producing. The consumers like the movies they make. If Silver Screen focuses their funds with advertising, producing funds will suffer. It will not matter how much advertising is done, if it is a poorly produced movie, nobody will want to go? Eventually, Silver Screen will get the reputation of producing bad movies. There has to be some compromise which doesn't hurt producing costs.

25

GRE Writing Assessment Essay-Rating Form Name_____________________________ Department/Institution___________________ Date_____ This activity collects faculty judgments about the analytical writing skills displayed in GRE-AW essays in relation to the skills expected of students entering a particular program of graduate study. Before rating the essays, you should be familiar with the two GRE writing tasks, Issue and Argument, as well as the GRE scoring guides and benchmark essays for each task. (See An Introduction to the Analytical Writing Section of the GRE General Test.) As you read and rate each essay set, remember that the writers had only 45 minutes to complete the Issue task and 30 minutes to analyze an Argument. Directions: First, read Set A. Then answer the question on the rating form by circling a number (from 4 to 1) for Set A. Repeat for Set B. Discuss the results with the group. Then rate sets C through H. Hold off on a group discussion until all ratings are tallied. Question Range of Answers To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement? This set of essays displays the level of analytical writing that I expect of entry-level graduate students who are likely to succeed in our program.*

4 = Strongly agree 3 = Slightly agree 2 = Slightly disagree 1 = Strongly disagree

Individual Ratings of GRE Essay Sets

(Each essay set consists of one Issue and one Argument essay.)

Set A: 4 3 2 1

Set B: 4 3 2 1

Set C: 4 3 2 1

Set D: 4 3 2 1

Set E: 4 3 2 1

Set F: 4 3 2 1

Set G: 4 3 2 1

Set H: 4 3 2 1

* Or substitute a question of your choice.

26

GRE-AW INITIAL VALIDATION ACTIVITY

Summary of Ratings Form: Initial Data

These results are based on responses from ____ participants who answered the following question:

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement? This set of essays displays the level of analytical writing that I expect of entry-level graduate

students who are likely to succeed in our program.*

Essay Set and

(GRE-AW Score)

Strongly Agree

4

Slightly Agree

3

Slightly Disagree

2

Strongly Disagree

1

Mean Faculty Agreement

Rating

Set A (3)

Set B (5)

Set C (2)

Set D (5)

Set E (4)

Set F (6)

Set G (1)

Set H (3)

* Or a question of your choice

27

GRE-AW INITIAL VALIDATION ACTIVITY

Summary of Ratings Form: Reordered Data

These results are based on responses from ____ participants who answered the following question:

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement? This set of essays displays the level of analytical writing that I expect of entry-level graduate students who are likely to succeed in our program.*

Essay Set

and (GRE-AW Score)

Strongly Agree

4

Slightly Agree

3

Slightly Disagree

2

Strongly Disagree

1

Mean Faculty Agreement

Rating

Set F (6)

Set B (5)

Set D (5)

Set E (4)

Set A (3)

Set H (3)

Set C (2)

Set G (1)

* Or a question of your choice