AWA: Argument Essay, Please rate

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AWA: Argument Essay, Please rate

by muneetbhatia1 » Sat May 23, 2009 6:11 am
Kindly rate this argument essay and give your valuable comments. I have my GMAT scheduled for next week.

"Company X's latest model of digital camera to be released next month, the TR12, is being promoted as the most portable, user-friendly digital camera available, and also an excellent bargain. It can be expected to live up to these claims, because Company X's previous model, the TR11, was universally lauded as setting the standard in these areas last year."

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. Point out flaws in the argument's logic and analyze the argument's underlying assumptions. In addition, evaluate how supporting evidence is used and what evidence might counter the argument's conclusion. You may also discuss what additional evidence could be used to strengthen the argument or what changes would make the argument more logically sound.

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The author concludes that the company X’s latest model of the digital camera, the TR12, would set the standard in the market in the areas of portability and user friendly features, and also would be an excellent bargain. The author’s line of reasoning is that the company X’s previous model, the TR11, was lauded as setting the standard in these areas in the past. The argument is not convincing for various reasons; it is assuming that the new model would be able to repeat the success story of the previous model without mentioning any correlation between the two and also it fails to give any evidence to prove the same.

First of all, the new model of the digital camera, TR12, is being promoted as the most portable, user-friendly digital camera. But it is just being promoted as the same and there is no evidence available that the new model would be able to meet the expectations. Launching promotional activities for the newer models on the basis of the success story of the older models is a well known marketing gimmick, but it does not in any way prove the reliability of the claim.

Secondly, the argument is based on the questionable assumption that the new model would be able to repeat the success of the previous model of the digital camera of the Company X. No statistics or data is made available to back the argument in this regard. For example, the author could present the comparison of the various features of the two models, e.g. size, wait, sleekness, zooming features, external lenses, clarity of picture, looks and colour options and also the pricing of the two models. Just because the previous model was able to set the standard in the market, it is not necessary that new model would able be able to do so. In fact, if the new model is launched after a lot of R and D, and a number of changes have been introduced in the new model to improve the performance of the camera, the chances are very high that some inherent problems would be reported in the beginning, which would have to be fixed. Hence the claim about the new model is not convincing.
However, some people would argue that success of the old model and the reputation of the Company X would be sufficient to assume that the new model would repeat the history. But, such people fail to consider the possibility that the new model might fail considerably on the parameters being judged on and hence the argument would not be valid.

In sum, it can be concluded that the argument fails to back itself on the basis of lack of evidence. The argument miserably fails to prove any correlation between the success of the old model and the expectation with the new model.
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Early response would be highly appreciated.

Regards
Muneet
Source: — GMAT Essays (AWA) |

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