Crash Course in Effective Writing

Once you have mastered the material in the previous chapters and have an overall idea of what you want to say in your essay, you can focus on the best way to express it. This part of the E-Rater Guide will develop the skills you need to create well-developed and well-written essays.

We have divided the lessons for writing into two parts:

• Writing Style: learn to be clear, concise and compelling.

1: Eliminating Fill Sentences

2: Be Concise

3: Qualification

4: Start Strong

5: Active and Passive Voice

6: Self-Reference

7: Redundancy

8: Vague Writing

9: Cliché

10: Jargon

• Grammar Rules: learn to use grammar appropriately.

Grammar & Syntax

This section covers common grammar and syntax rules that come up on the test.

If your English skills are strong, skim through most of the material.

We suggest you review the 7 common error types in the Sentence Correction section.

This section is broadly divided in 7 categories:

Colloquialisms

Sentences

Commas

Semicolons

Colons

Hyphens

Apostrophe

International Students

How international students should tackle the AWA and the E-rater.

The conventions for the AWA can be summarized in a single statement: written English requires that each paragraph be developed directly away from a topic (or thesis) sentence or directly towards a topic (or thesis) sentence. The former is known as deductive development; the latter is known as inductive development. Since this is the case for all English written prose it should be obvious that writers in English have less freedom to wander from the main point of their discourse than writers in other languages. English expository prose style must be direct and to the point even though it is necessary to support each main idea with examples, explanations, and illustrations. The thesis (or topic sentence) must contain the germ of the idea that permeates the entire paragraph. Each example or illustration must be connected to that idea with transitional markers such as for example, thus, or moreover.

The E-rater speaks "American."

Your essays should be written in "American", not "English". Phrases that are more commonly spoken in English (indeed, hence, etc..) are less common in an American writing style. Phrases that are commonly spoken in English are unlikely to be picked up by the E-rater, which picks up phrases used among high scorers (who are overwhelmingly American).

Students from the U.K., Hong Kong, India and other Commonwealth nations should adjust their syntax, style and language to better suit the flavor of English used in America. That is the language of the E-rater. Avoid any local jargon or particularly any unusual transitional phrases (e.g. "heretofore"). Got that mate? In addition, the human graders are overwhelmingly American and will have an easier time with arguments written in American.

Beware of words that have a non-American spelling:
"evidense" = evidence
"organisation"= organization

The best solution to writing in the appropriate style is to read the sample essays You should also familiarize yourself with American scholarly journals to see how American writers structure arguments.

Using Strategy

Does the E-rater impact human graders?

The E-rater potentially puts pressure on human graders. Human graders will create problems if they constantly disagree with the E-rater and force a third, additional grader to look over the essay (this raises costs). In this way, the E-rater acts as a managerial tool to double-check graders and keep them in line. The bottom line: don't rely on your essay being appealing to the human grader. There is no guarantee that the grader will give you a high grade to counter a low E-rater grade. Try to follow the E-rater rules.

What are the implications for the GMAT student?

On the Issue Essay:

You should not try any bold or original approaches in your essay. The essay should be written in a simple and organized fashion. If you write a boldly original piece, do not rely on the human grader to acknowledge the quality of your writing. This may not be the place to expound upon how your master's thesis ties in with your GMAT essay.

On the Argument Essay:

The E-rater makes more sense on the Argument Essay because it is able to tell if you have identified the argument's logical flaw. The E-rater stores hundreds of essays for each essay question and you should use keywords that correspond the stored "6" essays. When you have identified the logical flaws the essay questions, (use our usual suspects section to identify logical flaws), make sure to describe the logical flaws. This way the E-rater is able to detect that you have identified the correct logical flaws.

Pleasing the E-rater:

1. Make your essay highly rigid in structure. Make it look, in its organization, like other 5 and 6 essays.
2. Clearly demarcate sections using phrases such as "for example", "therefore", etc..
3. Use qualifiers judiciously. The E-rater will associate careful use of qualifiers with high scorers.
4. Read our the real essays to get a flavor for how "6" score writing is done.
5. Use the exact terminology we do in the usual suspects section to identify logical reasoning flaws in the Argument Section.
   

Errors that will ruin your score with the E-rater (DO NOT):

1. Write an essay in a unique and creative fashion. The E-rater will be evaluating you relative to other writers, so a unique argument structure will not appear standard and will always backfire.

2. Misspell key phrases, such as "for example" and "therefore". The E-rater will not pick this up and assume that you did not use transition phrases.

3. Throw in jokes and other unnecessary commentary. The E-rater will not detect the meaning under your writing, only its structure, so making clever comments will not raise your score.

4. Use unusual references that no other business school student would use. The E-rater uses other scorers as a template based on how well you resemble other scorers. On the Analysis of Issue question, if you do use unusual examples, try to use concept keywords and a tight structure.

5. Avoid or overuse qualifiers such as "likely", "should", etc.. (link to qualifiers). Some of the best essay writers use qualifiers, which means the high score essays in the E-rater's database will be filled with essays saturated with qualifiers. However, do not overuse qualifiers or it will dilute your essay.

6. Use a unique and clever rhetorical device that spices up your essay. The E-rater cannot detect cleverness and may find an essay like this confusing, redundant or disorganized.

7. Follow Steve Jobs' clever advertising campaign for Apple "Think Different". For the AWA it is "Think the Same". You want to write as "6" scorers write. The Analysis of Issue section, in particular, is an exercise in conformity. Write opinions in the mainstream of intellectual thought. You may have compelling evidence about the role of UFO's in our daily lives, but your GMAT essay is not the place to introduce this startling news to the world.

About the E-rater

What the E-rater Grades

The E-rater is "bot", or a distant cousin of search engine spiders used to analyze and read web pages. The E-rater will read your essays and look for phrases that indicate competent reasoning.

The E-rater uses a stored battery of hundreds graded essays for each of the 280 essay questions (this is part of the reason that GMAT essays haven't changed in years, to do so would require re-programming the E-rater). The E-rater has sample 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 score essays for each topic. The E-rater will evaluate your essay in terms of the stored essays in the E-rater's database. If the essay you wrote resembles the stored "6" essays in the E-rater's database, you will get that score. If your essay better resembles the "5's" in the E-rater's memory, you will get a "5" from the E-rater.

That is why it is so important to read the sample essays we have here. You will see how well written arguments are structured and you will learn the proper style necessary to impress both the E-rater and the human grader.

What the E-rater doesn't grade

The E-rater cannot detect certain things, such as humor, spelling errors or grammar. It analyzes structure through using transitional phrases, paragraph changes, etc. It evaluates content through comparing your score to that of other students. If you have a brilliant argument that uses an unusual argument style, the E-rater will not detect it.

The E-rater does, however, detect spelling and grammar indirectly. If your transition phrases and logical identifiers (e.g.- "therefore", "for example") are not properly spelled, the E-rater will not detect them. Since the E-rater uses the presence of such transitional phrases as an indicator of effective writing, you are indirectly penalized if they are not spelled correctly.

Ten Most Common Errors

certain errors occur again and again and again. This is a list of the top ten errors we see on essays. Read through each one carefully. Avoiding these errors will make your essay stronger.

10. The "kitchen sink" argument
This argument throws in everything and discusses every topic of an issue in one paragraph. Paragraphs are discrete units meant for discussing a limited range of ideas. Narrow the scope of your paragraphs and arguments into manageable, topic-specific units. On a larger level, limit the scope of your essays. On issue questions, especially, it is not an opportunity to expound on your entire worldview.


9. The "Microsoft Example"
Try to use interesting examples other than the usual Microsoft example. Too many writers cite Microsoft as a way to prove a point. It makes for a trite essay, and is tedious for graders to read. Another overused example is the "U.S. has low unemployment" example for macroeconomic policy. Be more creative. Essay graders have boring jobs and appreciate new twists. Still another example that is less-than-popular with graders is the hypothetical example. Using a hypothetical examples make a writer seem unintelligent or uneducated, because he or she should be able to come up with a real world example instead of making one up.


8. Use casual language "really" "like" "u" "r"
Don't write as if you are sending an email or use casual phrases.


7. Did not leave time to proofread at the end.
Always leave a few minutes to re-read your essay for typos and errors at the end. Cleaning up any careless spelling or grammar errors puts the finishing touches on your essay, and can make a real difference in your writing.


6. Attacking the Analysis of Issue as an Analysis of Argument.
As you'll read in the Guide, they require entirely different approaches. Do not attempt to answer one in the method meant for the other.


5. The Rambler
Write in a concise manner that summarizes your points and provides good examples. A paragraph with 12 sentences is too long.


4. Introduce new arguments in the conclusion
The introduction and conclusion are for summarizing your argument, not for bringing in examples. The body paragraphs should be full of compelling examples. Students commonly introduce new arguments in the conclusion when the conclusion should be used for restating your arguments. State any new arguments in an extra body paragraph before the conclusion.

We have a three way tie for #1 Most Common Error

1. The Weak Conclusion
The conclusion should wrap up your argument. Writing the AWA essay is like running a mile race. You can't sprint a mile, you have to pace yourself or you'll pass out at the end. AWA writers often "pass out" at the end and paste on a conclusion that is one sentence long. The conclusion must summarize your points effectively and restate your argument well. Your essay will not receive a high score if you do not tie everything together effectively at the end.


1. Leaves You in Suspense.
The intro should state your position and lay out a structure for your argument. You must not only say what your opinion is but also why you have it. Many writers do not layout their arguments in their intros, leaving the reader in unnecessary suspense. Use the intro to distill your arguments into three concise sentences. One trick to solve this is to write the introduction after you have written everything else. That way you'll know exactly what points are made in your essay and be able to outline them briefly and clearly in your intro.


1. Oops! Forgot the Example
Your body paragraphs must be anchored in compelling examples. Provide clever examples for your points to illustrate them. Do not use hypothetical examples. Be concrete. Everything you say must be backed up by real world evidence.