GRE Issue Essay determines the ability of an individual in a critical thinking space. It’s an important tool to test the candidate’s articulation, analytical thinking, how well they are able to support their arguments. These abilities of the candidates are checked in the form of writing in GRE Issue Essay. Some people claim that the goal of politics should be the pursuit of an ideal. Others argue that the goal should be finding common ground and reaching reasonable consensus GRE Issue Essay is the topic for GRE Analyse an Issue. The Model answer has been given below.

Candidates can choose to formulate their essay in the given structure consisting of five paragraphs: This is the standard structure of GRE Issue Essay. Candidates also have the liberty of choosing from 4-6 paragraphs depending on their writing style.

Introduction: In this part the candidates are expected to state the topic and the position they have undertaken regarding that topic. Candidates must clearly mention whether they are for it or against it. In addition to this, the candidates can provide a brief overview of the reasons/examples that the latter part of the GRE AWA Essay will be focused around.
Body Paragraph 1: This paragraph should be relevant to the topic and candidates must stick to it. So, here the candidates can give the strongest argument that they have in support of their viewpoint earlier stated in the introduction. To enhance the argument further some examples can be given.
Body Paragraph 2: This paragraph will contain the second or the rest of the supporting arguments augmented with examples and justifications regarding the candidate’s viewpoint. Candidates can give real life examples so that the reader can relate to the situation.
Final Paragraph: This will mention the counterargument which is the topic of GRE Analyse an Issue Essay. This counterargument needs to be juxtaposed against the candidates’ viewpoint. To show that what the candidate stands for is correct when compared to the alternative.
Conclusion: The conclusion ideally contains a summary of the Essay, but its purpose should be to further drive home the point of the candidate is correct. Candidates can include important points and restate their point of view in brief.

Based on the structure of GRE Issue Essay, following strategies can be considered while forming a response to the given topic:

• Candidate must pick a side and arguments in favour of that side should be showcased in the whole essay. It is unlike GRE Analyse an Argument where a critique of a given statement is required which allows for balanced comments on both sides.
• The examples used in the Essay must be relevant to the topic. Candidates must think and try to provide real-world examples which are practicable. This will increase the relevancy of the examples as well.
• It's important to use strong and declarative language while avoiding self-reference. So, refute the counterargument strongly, preferably, in the conclusion.
• Both Introduction and the Conclusion should be very precise and written succinctly. Introduction talks about the position undertaken and Conclusion talks about the position sought to be refuted in unambiguous terms.

Read More GRE Issue Samples

Topic: Some people claim that the goal of politics should be the pursuit of an ideal. Others argue that the goal should be finding common ground and reaching reasonable consensus GRE Issue Essay

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

Model Answer

In the opinion for some people the goal of politics is pursuit of an ideal. Others think of politics as a tool to find more common ground and reach a reasonable consensus. In my opinion politics should be used to reach peaceful solutions through consensus because it provides the kind of security that man forms an association for. Roscoe Pound, a scholar of sociological thought, gave the concept of “social engineering”. This means satisfaction of maximum wants with minimum friction. This is the goal all politics should strive for to make the world a peaceful place.

The system of politics in any country is devised so that arbitrariness that exists in the state of nature could be controlled. It also serves as a wall for the weak so that they could be protected from the tyranny of the strong. A political system that tries to find common ground and then reach a reasonable consensus will be able to implement its ruling more smoothly. The agreement comes from a reasonable number due to attempts made to seek their opinion while the consensus was being formed. For Example, Mediation is more successful than litigation. This is because in mediation they focus on common ground and reasonable consensus so that nobody feels like a loser.

A political system that tries to find common ground and reach a reasonable consensus is much more successful and is able to achieve more positive results. For example, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa sought to spread awareness about the apartheid horrors. This was unlike Nuremberg trials of Nazi Germany. The Commission didn’t seek to impose punishment rather it tried to find common ground so that racial harmony in South Africa can be maintained. Another example is Hindu Code Bill, Nehru decided to codify Hindu law because he could reach a reasonable consensus among Hindus. The consensus being while no attempts were made to codify Muslim law. As no such consensus could be reached there this guaranteed Communal Harmony in the country.

Other side of the argument is that the goal of politics should be the pursuit of an ideal. In my opinion it is not worthwhile because most ideals are Utopias and everyone knows how difficult it is to achieve a Utopia. Scandinavian countries come close but recent violent protests in Sweden showed the cracks in its ideals. Pursuit of an ideal also makes a political system extremely rigid just like Mao’s China which abandoned industries in pursuit of an ideal of communism and suffered. For this, China had to compromise with some principles of its ideals in exchange for positive growth. Another Example could be the USA which tried to pursue the ideal of Capitalism. Now the country has a sizable student population struggling with debt due to costly private education. That’s why politics must change according to the dynamism of society otherwise it is at a risk of becoming obsolete.

In conclusion, I am of the view that politics should try to find common ground and reach reasonable consensus. The reason being that it’s the most peaceful method of conflict resolution known to humankind and politics ultimately is a tool to resolve conflicts. So, a politician whose goal is pursuit of a specific ideal is very narrow in its approach. It fosters conflicts with other ideals leading to more unrest and stress in society than there already is.