GRE writing
GRE – Analytical Writing
Dejan Mitrović, Đorđe Vuletić
Computer Science department, Faculty of Mathematics
University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia dejan1024@gmail.com, djordje988@gmail.com
Analysis of an Argument
“Woven baskets characterized by a particular distinctive pattern have previously been found only in the immediate vicinity of the prehistoric village of Palea and therefore were believed to have been made only by the Palean people. Recently, however, archaeologists discovered such a "Palea n" basket in
Lithos, an ancient village across the Brim River from Palea. The Brim River is very deep and broad, and so the ancient Paleans could have crossed it only by boat, and no Palean boats have been found. Thus it follows that the so -called
Palean baskets were not uniquely Palean.”
This argument claims that the baskets were not unique to the specific prehistoric village, based on the fact that similar baskets were found in area believed to be inaccessible to the villagers.
We believe that this conclusion is unfounded for a couple of reasons, three of which we will state here. First of all, the inaccessibility of the terrain, mainly the river between the villages, is based on the current state of the landscape. Since we are talking about the prehistoric period, it is possible that the landscape looked differently at the time. The chances of the same river being in the same place are very slim. Before drawing conclusions the configuration of the landscape and its presumed prehistoric layout must be examined.
The author claims that the villagers were not able to cross the river because the river can only be crossed by boat, and no evidence of boats was found in the village. Having no evidence does not necessarily mean there were no boats. The villagers might have had boats built from materials which wouldn’t survive until today. Alternatively, there could be other reasons why boats weren’t found near the village. Considering the amount
Dejan Mitrović, Đorđe Vuletić
Computer Science department, Faculty of Mathematics
University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia dejan1024@gmail.com, djordje988@gmail.com
Analysis of an Argument
“Woven baskets characterized by a particular distinctive pattern have previously been found only in the immediate vicinity of the prehistoric village of Palea and therefore were believed to have been made only by the Palean people. Recently, however, archaeologists discovered such a "Palea n" basket in
Lithos, an ancient village across the Brim River from Palea. The Brim River is very deep and broad, and so the ancient Paleans could have crossed it only by boat, and no Palean boats have been found. Thus it follows that the so -called
Palean baskets were not uniquely Palean.”
This argument claims that the baskets were not unique to the specific prehistoric village, based on the fact that similar baskets were found in area believed to be inaccessible to the villagers.
We believe that this conclusion is unfounded for a couple of reasons, three of which we will state here. First of all, the inaccessibility of the terrain, mainly the river between the villages, is based on the current state of the landscape. Since we are talking about the prehistoric period, it is possible that the landscape looked differently at the time. The chances of the same river being in the same place are very slim. Before drawing conclusions the configuration of the landscape and its presumed prehistoric layout must be examined.
The author claims that the villagers were not able to cross the river because the river can only be crossed by boat, and no evidence of boats was found in the village. Having no evidence does not necessarily mean there were no boats. The villagers might have had boats built from materials which wouldn’t survive until today. Alternatively, there could be other reasons why boats weren’t found near the village. Considering the amount