Analyze an IssueTechnology

The spread of digital communication has weakened, rather than strengthened, genuine human connection.

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

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.

The load-bearing word is "genuine," and the honest answer is that it depends on use, not on the technology as such. Distinguish digital tools that substitute for in-person contact from those that sustain relationships that distance would otherwise sever.

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

Frictionless, low-stakes contact can crowd out the harder, more vulnerable interactions that build deep bonds, letting a "like" stand in for a real conversation.
Curated online personas invite comparison and performance, which can leave people feeling more isolated even while more connected.

Against, or complicating

For people separated by distance, illness, or migration, digital tools preserve relationships that would otherwise fade entirely.
Online communities give isolated people, such as those with a rare condition or a niche interest, a genuine sense of belonging they could not find locally.

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.

1Long-distance families or deployed service members holding relationships together over video calls.
2Support communities for rare diseases where members find peers they could never meet in person.
3A dinner table where everyone is looking at a separate phone rather than at each other.

Watch out

A common trap on this prompt.

Blaming the technology itself rather than how it is used. Digital communication both weakens and strengthens connection depending on context, and an essay that ignores one direction is easy to refute.

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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