GMAT Essays (AWA)

" Re elect Adams and you will be voting for proven leadership in improving state's economy.Over the past year, 70 percent of the workers have increase in wages,5000 new jobs have been created and six new corporations have relocated their headquarters here.Most of the respondents in a recent survey have said that they believe economy is likely to continue to improve if Adams is relected.Adam's opponent Zebulon will lead our state in the wrong direction , because Zebulon disagrees with many of Adams policies."

My essay is as under:

The author concludes that by reelecting Adams, the economy of state will see a growth as it has seen in past. The argument is based on the assumption that most of the respondents in a recent survey have said that the economy will grow if Adams is releceted and few other assumptions. At first glance, the argument appears to be coherent; however, on a careful examination many flaws are evident in the reasoning to such an extent that the conclusion becomes illogical. Out of the most pivotal shortcomings of the argument are its tenuous assumptions and the lack of information to substantiate its unwarranted claims.

One of the nebulous assumptions is that since the wages of workers have increased, and new jobs are created , it is sufficient to assume that the economy is on a growth trajectory. There is no evidence as to how many job-cuts happened, what were the comparative figures for the new jobs and similar indicators in the past and also in comparison with other similar states. Even if no contradicting evidence is there, the author assumes something that is necessary for achieving growth to something that is sufficient.

Another flaw in the reasoning is the premise that most of the respondents in the recent poll have voted for Adams , hence Adams should be re elected. This raises several questions like was the sample surveyed representative of the entire populace and how the poll was conducted ? If the method of conducting survey and the sample size itself is flawed then the argument becomes weak.

Moreover, there is no evidence given that the change in economic indicators given is because of Adams policies and not because of other contributing factors. Additionally, if Zebulon disagrees with Adams policies, it does not mean that Zebulon’s opinion is against economic growth. Hence the conclusion has no legs to sit on.

Summing up, it can said that the argument is fraught with vague, oversimplified and unwarranted claims , the most blatant of which have been discussed above. To buttress the argument, the author must provide evidence that it was because of Adams policies the economic growth took place. To futher corroborate, the author must give a comparative analysis of other similar states and the economic growth in Adams state to be far more than others when all the other circumstances were same. In order to assess the merits of a certain situation or decision , it is essential to know all the contributing factors. Had the author managed to address the aforementioned concerns , both its persuasive ability and the apparent legitimacy of the argument would have been reinforced. The argument, as it stands, is not persuasive because of the caveats in its assumptions and premises.