Analytical Writing Assesment

Question 1

List the typical flaws in AWA prompts and give examples to each.

Answer 1

Vague words (e.g. Many, more, less, few)

Inappropriate comparison (e.g. City A is similar to City B, so things apply to both)

Errors in causality (e.g. Correlation does not imply causality)

Basic economics (e.g. Dropping prices makes a product unfeasible to produce?)

Sampling problems (e.g. 10% of customers say this so it applies to all customers)

Overconfident conclusions (e.g. Undoubtedly, certainly,

Question 2

Intro paragraph to AWA

Answer 2

[In a letter to / In a memo / In an article etc] XYZ argued that [something should be done]. This argument is substantially flawed. The argument presents [inconclusive information, offering dubious support, and from this draws unreasonably far-reaching conclusions].

Question 3

Conclusion paragraph for AWA

Answer 3

This argument is neither sound nor persuasive. XYZ has failed to convey any compelling reasons for XYZ to do XYZ.

Question 4

Ways to describe the author

Answer 4

The author
The prompt
The argument
The writer
The [position]
The menorandum / letter. / advertisement