GRE Analyze an Argument examines your ability to understand and analyze the arguments, evaluating them in the form of an essay. You need to write GRE analyze an argument essay of 500-600 words within 30 minutes.

You will need to critically scrutinize the evidence and reasons presented in support of the claims and respond to the task by writing an essay. You need to specifically read GRE AWA practice papers that pertain to the Argument task in order to perform well.

Topic

The following appeared in a memorandum from the owner of Movies Galore, a chain of movie-rental stores.

"In order to reverse the recent decline in our profits, we must reduce operating expenses at Movies Galore's ten movie-rental stores. Since we are famous for our special bargains, raising our rental prices is not a viable way to improve profits. Last month our store in downtown Marston significantly decreased its operating expenses by closing at 6:00 p.m. rather than 9:00 p.m. and by reducing its stock by eliminating all movies released more than five years ago. Therefore, in order to increase profits without jeopardizing our reputation for offering great movies at low prices, we recommend implementing similar changes in our other nine Movies Galore stores."

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which it is based on are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.

Answer

The argument mentioned by the owner of Movies Galore, while agreeable to an extent, makes several assumptions which are questionable. The author is concerned with the declining profits and aims to make upto the losses by stating some policies. But in my opinion, the memorandum is rife with holes and assumptions that need to be addressed before we can construe the argument unequivocally. So, I think the author's argument is flawed due to the

following reasons.

First, the author should enquire if each store is experiencing a decline in profitability. Then in order to terminate the decline in profits, the author suggests reducing operating expenses at Movie Galore's ten movie rental stores. But, the author never mentions any details about how to reduce these expenses. In case the author eliminates the fundamental expenses, it would, on the contrary, lead to a further decline in sales. So, the author needs to come up with a strategy on which expenses to curb and how to go about it in increasing the profits.

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Second, shortening the hours of operation and eliminating some inventory will certainly reduce expenses, but the tactic doesn't always contribute to greater profits.

However, in my opinion, the movies to be rented must be divided into different categories namely trending and old. If the author raises the rental price on only the trending movies, it would not have any detrimental effects on his sales, rather it will be beneficial for the author as people buy anything that is trending without any hesitation.

Assuming that the owner has made the correct business decisions for the downtown location, it might be logical to apply the same changes to the other Movies Galore stores. Any stores located in or near a mall may be busiest during the evening hours. Malls are generally open until 9:00 at night, and a store that closes at 6:00 will not be able to take advantage of traffic generated by the other shops.

Hence, at last, combined thinking for all the ten stores does not assure to terminate the decline. Every store must have a unique strategy,based on its location, the types of movies people prefer watching while living in that area, and so on. So on the whole, I feel that the author's claims are flawed and based on invalid reasons.