Analyze an IssueEthics & the individual

Some people believe we learn the most from our failures; others believe we learn the most from our successes.

Write a response in which you discuss which view more closely aligns with your own position and explain your reasoning. In developing and supporting your position, address both of the views presented.

Write your response

Give yourself 30 minutes, then get an instant estimate against the official rubric.

Issue prompt

Your essay0 words

An expert estimate against the official rubric, not an official ETS score. ETS scores with a human reader plus the e-rater engine.

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How to approach it

A reliable structure for any Issue prompt.

1Take a clear position in the first paragraph. The reader should know exactly where you stand on the issue before the body begins.
2Develop two or three reasons, each with a specific example. Depth beats a long list of thin points.
3Answer the strongest counter-argument. Engaging the other side is what separates a 5 from a 4.
4Leave two minutes to proofread. A few clean sentences at the end lift the language score.

For the full 0–6 band descriptors and what each score means, see the AWA grader guide.

This prompt

How to approach this prompt.

This variant asks you to weigh both views, so resist a flat both-matter answer. Argue for what determines which teaches more: failure typically reveals what does not work and forces reflection, while success shows what does work but can breed the complacency that prevents further learning.

Both sides

Points for and against.

A strong essay does not just pick a side. Weigh the best case each way, then explain which considerations shape your own view.

In support

Failure delivers unmistakable feedback and forces analysis of what went wrong, whereas success can be enjoyed without ever examining why it happened.
The discomfort of failing motivates change, while the comfort of success can breed the complacency that stalls further learning.

Against, or complicating

Success shows precisely what to repeat and builds the confidence to attempt harder things, which pure failure does not supply.
Not all failure teaches: without reflection it just discourages, and some lessons, such as which strengths to double down on, are visible only in success.

Evidence

Examples you could use.

Specific, relevant examples are what readers reward most. Here are concrete cases you could adapt for this exact statement. Use them as reasoning, not as facts to recite.

1A startup founder who extracts more from a failed venture than from an easy early win.
2An athlete who studies game film of a loss more closely than a win.
3A scientist whose failed experiment rules out a hypothesis and redirects the research.

Watch out

A common trap on this prompt.

Declaring both are important and leaving it there. Because this is a two-views prompt, the essay must take a considered position on which teaches more and under what conditions, not simply split the difference.

Questions

GRE essay questions, answered.

There is no required word count. High-scoring Analyze an Issue essays are typically well-developed across four to six paragraphs, roughly 400 to 600 words, but a reader rewards depth of reasoning and specific support, not raw length. A tight, fully developed 450-word essay outscores a padded 700-word one.

The GRE Analytical Writing task is scored holistically from 0 to 6 in half-point steps against the official ETS descriptors. The reported score averages one trained human reader and the e-rater engine; if they disagree by more than a point, a second human reader adjudicates. It is reported separately from the 260 to 340 Verbal and Quant total.

No. This is an original prompt written in the official Analyze an Issue style so you can practise freely. The real ETS pool is published on the ETS website. Practising on same-style prompts builds the exact skills the scored task rewards, since every Issue prompt uses the same task instructions and the same rubric.

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