GRE Analyze an Argument Was Retired in 2023 — What to Practice Instead
If you're studying for the Analyze an Argument essay: it no longer exists. ETS retired it in September 2023, and GRE Analytical Writing is now a single 30-minute Analyze an Issue task. The reasoning skill it tested did not disappear, though — it still shows up in GRE Verbal argument questions, and it is scored directly on the LSAT. Below are twelve argument prompts: name the reasoning flaw or the unstated assumption each one depends on.
0 / 12 answered
Q1
The following appeared in a memo from the marketing director of Brightline Cafes: 'Six months ago we began playing soft jazz in all our locations. Since then, average visit length has risen by eight minutes and per-visit spending is up 12 percent. To raise profits at the twenty cafes we open next year, we should pipe the same jazz playlist into them from day one.' Which of the following is the argument's most serious reasoning flaw?
Q2
The following appeared in a recommendation from the operations head of Delta Logistics: 'Last quarter, trucks fitted with our new fuel additive averaged 9 percent better mileage than trucks without it. Rolling the additive out to the entire fleet will therefore cut our total fuel spending by roughly 9 percent.' The argument depends on which of the following unstated assumptions?
Q3
The following appeared in a letter to the editor of City Wheel, a cycling magazine: 'We polled readers on our website, and 78 percent said they would ride a bike to work if the city added protected bike lanes. The city should build the lanes, since a clear majority of residents will switch from cars to cycling.' Which flaw most undermines the argument?
Q4
The following appeared in a memo from the manager of the Riverside branch of a bookstore chain: 'The Oakdale branch doubled its sales after it replaced half of its shelves with a coffee bar. Riverside should install the same coffee bar so that our own sales double too.' The argument is most vulnerable to which criticism?
Q5
The following appeared in a business plan for Summit Outfitters: 'Over the past three winters, our sales of snow gear rose an average of 20 percent each year. We are therefore ordering 20 percent more snow gear than last year, confident it will all sell.' The plan's conclusion depends on assuming which of the following?
Q6
The following appeared in a memo from a university admissions office: 'Every student who won our top scholarship last year had completed at least one internship. To raise our students' chances of winning the scholarship, we should require every applicant to complete an internship.' Which reasoning error does the memo commit?
Q7
The following appeared in a report from a hospital administrator: 'After we extended visiting hours last year, the average length of patient stays dropped by a full day. Longer visiting hours clearly speed recovery, so we should extend them further to discharge patients even faster.' The argument's reasoning is most questionable because it does which of the following?
Q8
The following appeared in a memo from a regional sales manager: 'This year our downtown store's complaint rate fell from 5 percent of sales to 3 percent, while the suburban store's rose from 1 percent to 2 percent. The downtown team is clearly handling customers better, so we should transfer its manager to fix the suburban store.' The argument assumes which of the following?
Q9
The following appeared in an editorial: 'A recent study found that people who feel secure at work are more productive. Since our new software makes the company's data more secure, adopting it across every department will make our employees more productive.' The argument's reasoning is flawed mainly because it does which of the following?
Q10
The following appeared in a proposal from a restaurant owner: 'We tested a new spicy menu at our airport location for one month, and sales there jumped 30 percent. We will roll the spicy menu out to all forty of our locations and expect the same 30 percent jump chain-wide.' The proposal relies on which unstated assumption?
Q11
The following appeared in a memo from the publisher of Trail Monthly: 'Last year we cut our cover price by 20 percent and total revenue rose. To raise revenue even further, we will cut the cover price by another 20 percent next year.' Which flaw is present in the plan's reasoning?
Q12
The following appeared in a memo from a gym owner: 'Members who attend our new 6 a.m. class renew their memberships at twice the rate of other members. To improve overall renewals, we should add more early-morning classes and push all members toward them.' The recommendation depends on which unstated assumption?
Answer all 12 questions to see your result 👆
GRE Argument flaw cheat sheet
- Post hoc (correlation is not causation)
- The memo changed something, a number moved, and it credits the change; ask what else happened at the same time.
- Unrepresentative sample
- A survey or test group is treated as everyone; check whether the people polled match the people in the conclusion.
- False analogy
- 'It worked there, so do it here'; probe whether the two places, times, or groups are actually alike in the ways that mattered.
- Necessary vs. sufficient
- 'The winners all did X' becomes 'do X to win'; sharing a trait is not the same as that trait being enough.
- Percentage vs. absolute number
- A rate rose or fell; ask about the base, because a percentage can move while the raw count does not, and vice versa.
- Overlooked alternatives
- The argument names one cause for a result; a strong essay lists two or three other explanations it ignored.
- Equivocation
- One key word carries two meanings across the argument (e.g., 'secure'); pin down whether the term means the same thing in the evidence and the conclusion.
- The negation test (for assumptions)
- To check whether a statement is a required assumption, negate it; if the argument falls apart, it was assumed.
Where the GRE really tests argument analysis
The GRE has no 'critical reasoning section', that is the GMAT. Argument analysis used to have a home of its own on the GRE: the Analytical Writing essay 'Analyze an Argument.' The September 2023 redesign shortened the test to about 1 hour 58 minutes and cut Analytical Writing to a single task — 'Analyze an Issue' — retiring the Argument essay. The skill itself didn't retire: Verbal Reasoning reading-comprehension questions still ask you to strengthen, weaken, or find the assumption of a short argument, and the same reasoning is the beating heart of GMAT Critical Reasoning and LSAT Logical Reasoning.
The prompt hands you a brief memo or recommendation that reaches a confident conclusion from thin evidence. Your job is not to say whether you agree; it is to evaluate the reasoning: what must be assumed for the conclusion to hold, where the logic jumps, and what evidence would be needed to judge it properly. Graders score the essay from 0 to 6 in half-point steps, and the responses that earn a 5 or 6 do one thing consistently: they name specific assumptions and flaws instead of arguing their own opinion.
The same handful of gaps show up again and again: mistaking correlation for causation, generalizing from an unrepresentative survey or sample, drawing a false analogy between two situations, confusing a necessary condition with a sufficient one, leaning on a percentage while ignoring the underlying numbers, and overlooking alternative explanations for a result. Learn to recognize these on sight and half the essay writes itself.
The hardest and highest-value move is naming what the argument never says but silently needs. A reliable method is the negation test: state a candidate assumption, then imagine it were false, and if the argument collapses when you deny it, it was a required assumption. GRE prompts almost always hide at least one 'nothing else explains this' assumption and one 'this group is like that group' assumption, so hunt for those first.
None of this is unique to the GRE. 'Correlation is not causation,' 'unrepresentative sample,' 'false analogy,' and 'necessary vs. sufficient' are the standard logical fallacies and cognitive biases, the exact traps our Brain Traps course is built around. Once you can name a fallacy in a tweet or a sales pitch, you can name it in a GRE memo, and vice versa.
Do not memorize essay templates; train the eye. Read short arguments, the ones on this page, op-eds, ads, your own group chat, and for each, force yourself to state the conclusion, the evidence, one assumption it needs, and one piece of evidence that would settle it. Do that daily and the essay stops being a timed panic and becomes a checklist you already run automatically.
GRE argument analysis: FAQ
Wait — didn't the shorter GRE remove the Analyze an Argument essay?
Yes. When ETS shortened the GRE in September 2023, the Analytical Writing measure dropped from two essays to one: only 'Analyze an Issue' remains. So why practice argument analysis? Because the skill didn't retire — strengthen, weaken, and assumption questions still appear in GRE Verbal reading comprehension, the same reasoning is the core of GMAT Critical Reasoning and LSAT Logical Reasoning, and older prep materials still reference the task. This quiz drills the transferable skill, not the retired essay format.
Does the GRE have a critical reasoning section?
No. A standalone 'Critical Reasoning' section is a GMAT feature, not a GRE one. On today's GRE, argument analysis shows up as strengthen, weaken, and assumption questions scattered through Verbal Reasoning reading comprehension. If a prep resource promises you a GRE 'CR section,' it is describing the wrong test.
What was the 'Analyze an Argument' task?
Until September 2023 it was one of two essays on the GRE's Analytical Writing measure. You were given a short argument, usually a memo or recommendation that jumps from limited evidence to a firm conclusion, and asked to evaluate its logic: the assumptions it relies on, its flaws, and what evidence would be needed to assess it — graded on the quality of your analysis, not on whether you agree. The shorter GRE cut the essay, but the underlying skill is exactly what this quiz practices.
Are these real GRE questions?
No. Every scenario here is original, GRE-style practice written to mirror the reasoning the real prompts test. We do not reproduce ETS's official questions. The point is to drill the underlying skill, spotting flaws and unstated assumptions, so that any real prompt feels familiar.
How is GRE Analytical Writing scored now?
The remaining essay (Analyze an Issue) is scored from 0 to 6 in half-point increments — 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, and so on. Two independent ratings, one of them typically an automated scorer, are averaged. Clear analytical structure — naming assumptions, weighing evidence — is still what pushes a response into the 5 to 6 range.
Is argument-analysis practice still worth it for the GRE?
Yes — just aim it correctly. Identify conclusions and evidence, name unstated assumptions (use the negation test), and explain how each flaw could sink an argument: that's precisely what GRE Verbal's strengthen/weaken/assumption questions test, and it sharpens the critical stance the Issue essay rewards. If you're also considering the GMAT or LSAT, this skill transfers one-to-one.