GRE Sample Argument Essay
Below is a sample GRE argument essay I wrote for reference to those preparing for GRE Analytical Writing Assessments and want an illustration of how an argumentative essay is written.
“Paleo diets, in which one eats how early hominids (human ancestors) did, are becoming increasingly popular. Proponents claim our bodies evolved to eat these types of food, especially bone broth, a soup made by cooking animal bones for several hours. They believe it has many health-promoting nutrients, such as cartilage, which can heal our joints, and chondroitin, which promotes nerve regeneration. Skeptics point out that ingested cartilage can’t replenish cartilage in your knees or elbows and ingested chondroitin doesn’t make our brains any healthier. Yet, there is strong anecdotal evidence that people who consume bone broth have fewer metabolic and inflammatory diseases than those who don’t. Therefore, ancient humans knew something about our physiology that we don’t and that by emulating the way they ate, we can cure many chronic illnesses.”
Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.
My Answer
In the prompt above it is stated that Paleo diets which consist of food eaten by ancient humans has the capability to cure many chronic illnesses. The author of this prompt comes to this conclusion by mentioning the health benefits of bone broth and stating that people who consume the bone broth are less susceptible to metabolic and inflammatory diseases and so we should imitate the eating habits of ancient humans. However, the author’s assertion here is based on a few unwarranted assumptions.
First of all, can we really compare the metabolism and digestive system of modern humans with that of ancient humans? The ancient humans existed thousands of years ago when there was little knowledge about farming and so the ancient humans had to rely upon hunting for satiating their hunger and so there digestive system must have been used to such type of food. Some of the food eaten by ancient humans may not be compatible with the digestive system of modern humans and in some cases, it might be even pernicious to health. If this is true then the argument presented by the author does not hold water.
Secondly, mentioning the health benefits of the bone broth alone doesn’t prove that all Paleo diet food items possess health-promoting nutrients. In other words, even though bone broth may be having joint healing and nerve regenerating nutrients but it doesn’t mean that other Paleo diet food items have such healing properties. Also, what might be beneficial for some people is not necessarily beneficial for everyone, not everyone’s body system is capable of handling such food. As also mentioned in the above paragraph some of these food items may even be virulent to some people. So, such an assumption by the author in the prompt is not worth ignoring to believe his claim about Paleo diets.
Another author’s assertion which is solely based on unwarranted statistical evidence is that people consuming bone broth are less susceptible to metabolic and inflammatory diseases. Now it may be true, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the reason behind the immunity of these people to metabolic and inflammatory diseases is most certainly bone broth. The statistics may be misleading, it is very much possible that the majority of people surveyed were healthy beforehand and if it is so then the claim about Paleo diets does not hold true.
In conclusion, the argument as it stands now is considerably flawed due to its reliance on several unwarranted assumptions. If the author is able to address the assumptions highlighted in the above paragraphs, perhaps by providing the health benefits of Paleo diet food items other than bone broth not to mention giving details about the statistics on which his claim about the immunity to metabolic and inflammatory diseases is based and also shedding some light on the compatibility of these food items with the digestive system of modern humans of all kinds only then the viability of the proposed claim by the author can be considered for evaluation.
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