GRE Verbal 1

  Today is the day of the final exam. You must take the exam with the camera turned on and pointed at your face at all times to ensure the validity of the testing environment. You must keep your microphone muted so all students have a quiet testing experience. You may turn your camera off during breaks and when you have completed the exam.   You will receive an email with a link to the exam. You have the entire class period to complete all questions. If everyone finishes before class time is over, we will review the exam during the remainder of class. If everyone needs the full time, you may email your instructor with questions about your exam.   Please email your instructor if you have difficulty connecting to Zoom, receiving the exam link, or accessing the exam. Please send your instructor direct messages on Zoom if you have questions during the exam.   Grades for the final exam will only be calculated once ALL students have submitted their exams. Final...

  About Text Completion: ·        No partial credit – all parts of the answer must be correct ·        Read the whole passage ·        Identify significant words that indicate changes in direction (i.e., however, but) ·        Identify clues to who or what the blank discusses ·        Generate your own word to fill in the blank ·        If there are 2 or 3 blanks, figure out whichever blank is easiest for you – it isn’t always the first blank! Then go back and try the other blank. ·        Double-check your answers by re-reading the passage with the blank(s) filled in with your choice(s) ·        Check to see whether the sentence has a positive or negative meaning; the answer choice should also correspond to that meaning, whether ...

  Argument Essay ·        First identify the premises and conclusion of the argument in the prompt ·        Then locate the hidden assumptions and think of their weaknesses and how you could strengthen the argument to deal with those weaknesses   Common types of arguments used: ·        Sampling arguments o    Rely on the assumption that the sample group in the premises accurately represents the larger population in the conclusion o    Usually look like: company A did x, so company B should, too; or town A did x, so State A should, also. o    The problem: most samples have some sort of bias; that means they unintentionally leave out important groups (structural critique) o    Another problem: samples conducted by survey may have not asked important questions (content critique) o    Solution: always to increase the sampl...

 Before class, please email me an essay EITHER  1) re-writing the response to the prompt for Monday OR 2) writing a new essay in response to the sample prompt on p. 429 on the Princeton textbook. 

Geography of the Analytical Writing Assessment ·        2 essays, 30 minutes each ·        Critique an Issue (Issue Essay: create an argument of your own) ·        Critique an Argument (Argument Essay: analyze someone else’s argument for flaws) ·        Most important to schools with writing-intensive programs; call and ask the schools and programs to which you are applying whether they prefer the writing score on the GRE or a writing sample for your writing assessment. ·        Scored between 1 and 6 points in half-point increments; the essays are averaged together to provide your overall writing score based on whether you: o    Follow instructions carefully o    Consider the complexities (both sides of an argument, how to improve a flawed argument) o    Effectively organize and develop your w...

 I want you all to write and email me an essay responding to prompt 2 on page 434 of the Princeton textbook before class starts on Monday.