GAMSAT revision the essay section

[doc2bee]

i am well into my GAMSAT revision making good progress on sections 1 and 3. I finding section 2 a lot more challanging - im doing a psychology degree so im used to writing essays so thats not the problem the problem is what we have to write the essays about. I have purchased the Ozimed example papers and one of the examples of a quote is:

'A politician is an arse which everyone has sat upon except a man'

Does anybody instantly know exactly what to write in an essay for this quote? Because i have NO clue! Any ideas?!

[JenNa Clarke]

I'm having exactly the same trouble as you. I've done a medical biochemistry degree so I know some of the science stuff it's just the essays that are really worrying me :-S

[henryryry]

Hi guys,

I too am from a science background and am very nervous about this section. I tend to find I have a tough time discussing the topics in more detail, instead covering it only very superficially. But I though I'd post my interpretation and see what you guys think.

I started by questioning the motives of politicians in their decision making. On one hand, they are elected and are suppose to act in the best interest of the people. However, many of them belong to political parties that have specific agendas, and are often backed up by specific organisation. Whilst not generalising to all politicians, I believe that they are generally loyal to their party and the organisation that helped them get elected in the first place. The main reason for this argument is that although they have to look after the general interest of the people, they need the support of their party and those organisation to remain in their positions. Secondly, the organisation have their own agendas and morally it may be difficult to turn their back against those that helped them get into power. I concluded by suggesting that politicians need to have the courage and conviction to stand up for what they believe in, and if need be, against their politicial loyalties and external interests.

i am sure others will be able to interpret the quote better than I can, so feel free to rip this apart!

Henry

[clemette]

Originally Posted by doc2bee

i am well into my GAMSAT revision making good progress on sections 1 and 3. I finding section 2 a lot more challanging - im doing a psychology degree so im used to writing essays so thats not the problem the problem is what we have to write the essays about. I have purchased the Ozimed example papers and one of the examples of a quote is:

'A politician is an arse which everyone has sat upon except a man'

Does anybody instantly know exactly what to write in an essay for this quote? Because i have NO clue! Any ideas?!

What a horrible quote!! There were none as obscure as that on this year's paper.
On section 2 you get a set of quotes all on the same theme and you use one or more of them. I am sure there will be ones that are much more accessible than that!! I would advise that you use the quotes to form a title that leads itself to an argumentative essay. For example the quotes on this year's paper suggested either that racism was a seriou problem, or that it wasn't. I therefore structured my essay to argue both sides and reach a conclusion. Not sure if that is right but it seems the logical way to me. If you do this you can ignore te quotes that are more obscure...

[couldntgetaname]

First thing to remember is that there is a great big list of quotes.

Second thing to remember is that there are very few seconds in which to choose and plan an essay. If you look at a quote and nothing *immediately* jumps to mind ignore it entirely and look at the next one. Only go back up the list if you've excluded everything else - you don't have time to figure out what the quote says or whether or not it makes sense, you need to be writing productively for as much of that 60 minutes as possible.

[starlite2020]

How did people prepare for the essay section? And the possible topics that could come up?

[tt_nadz]

i used the essay plan lined out in griffiths gamsat review. the only preparation i did was a practice essay the night before the test. however i would not advise this!

you can't really prepare for the topics. you just need to know that task A is an argumentative essay (give both sides of the argument then choose one) while task B is more emotive. saying that i'd still consider two sides of the argument for B but make your examples related to personal experiences.

the theme of quotes this year were racism for A and optimism v pessimism for B

hope that helps

[faith09]

quick question, is Gamsat required by grqaduate entry only?

[Nerrep]

Topics could be anything: I found a few websites dedicated to quotes (or the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations), picked out vaguely likely looking ones (not the ones that look easy, but ones which it would actually be possible to write a coherent essay on), and just sit down and write.

The best thing you can do is practice, I think - you just need to be able to generate ~500 words of content on the subject!