GRE Analytical Writing in 40 Flashcards: Study the Issue Essay, Not the Retired Argument Task
Half of this 40-card GRE Analytical Writing deck teaches a task ETS removed in 2023. Here is what still holds, what to fix, and how to repurpose the rest.
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The GRE Analytical Writing deck on Flip It (deck code AO8417, 40 cards) is a tidy, well-written question-and-answer set about the essay section. It also has one structural problem that no amount of review will fix on its own: about fourteen of its cards teach a task ETS deleted from the test.
Study this deck: GRE Analytical Writing: Key Concepts
1 / 10What are the two tasks in the GRE Analytical Writing section?
Tap the card for the answer · swipe right if you knew it, left if not
The cards that describe an essay you will not write
Since the shortened GRE launched on 22 September 2023, Analytical Writing contains one task — Analyze an Issue, 30 minutes. The Argument Task is gone.
| Deck card | Deck answer | Status today |
|---|---|---|
| What are the two tasks in the GRE Analytical Writing section? | The Issue Task and the Argument Task | One task only: Analyze an Issue |
| How much time is allotted for each task? | 30 minutes for each task | Still 30 minutes — but you write once |
| Are GRE Argument topics available beforehand? | Yes, ETS publishes the entire pool | The Issue pool is still published; the Argument pool went with the task |
| How are GRE essays scored? | At least two trained readers, a third if they differ by more than 1 point | One trained rater plus the e-rater engine, with a second human only if they disagree |
| Cards 16-26 and 34 | How to open, structure and close an Argument essay | No longer a GRE essay |
Do not delete the fallacy cards, though. Retag them Verbal Reasoning: GRE Verbal argument questions ask for precisely what the Argument Task asked for — the unstated assumption, the fact that would weaken the conclusion, the jump from correlation to cause. Hasty generalisation, false causality, faulty analogy, unwarranted assumptions, insufficient evidence: that is a free critical-reasoning set, filed under the wrong section.
What the surviving cards actually give you
Everything about the Issue essay still holds, and the deck is specific where it matters: thesis statement, an introduction that states a position and sketches a roadmap, one main point per body paragraph, acknowledging and refuting counterarguments, a conclusion that restates without introducing new ideas, transition words (furthermore, however, consequently, therefore), holistic scoring, the weight of grammar and mechanics, and the fact that paraphrasing the prompt is fine but copying it wastes minutes.
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| What is the score range for the GRE Analytical Writing section? | 0 to 6, in half-point increments |
| What does ETS mean by holistic scoring? | Evaluating the essay as a whole rather than counting features; overall quality, not a checklist |
| Does the GRE writing interface have a spell-checker? | No — the basic word processor has only cut, paste and undo |
| Is it better to plan before writing or start immediately? | Spend 2-3 minutes planning and outlining first |
| What is more important, length or quality? | Quality — but well-developed 4-5 paragraph essays of 400-600 words tend to score higher |
| What is the danger of absolute statements in Issue essays? | Always, never, all and none are easy to refute; nuanced positions are stronger |
| How important is vocabulary in GRE Analytical Writing? | Important, but well behind clarity and logic; misused complex words cost you |
| Should you use personal examples in your Issue essay? | Yes — personal, historical, literary or current-event examples all work if they support the claim |
Two things to do with this deck
Write the prompts the deck is missing. Forty cards, zero actual essay topics and zero sample theses. Open the published ETS Issue pool, take ten prompts, and make cards with the prompt on the front and a one-sentence thesis plus two supporting examples on the back. Sixty seconds per card, and it is the only part of Analytical Writing you can genuinely drill with spaced repetition.
Build an example bank, not an essay bank. The scoring cards reward reasoning and support, not memorised prose. Make eight cards, one per reusable example — a historical case, a scientific result, a well-known company, a book — each with the back listing two opposite claims it can support. Under exam pressure you retrieve an example, not a paragraph.
Deck AO8417, GRE Analytical Writing: Key Concepts, is in the Flip It library at flip-it.app. Pair it with GRE Quantitative Reasoning, which has its own set of pre-2023 format cards to correct, and with the 541 GRE high-frequency words that feed both the Verbal section and your essay vocabulary.
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