The short answer
Structure, development and the move that lifts an essay from competent to excellent.
Written and checked by GAMSAT tutors — not AI-generated.
Try the reasoning style
We treat forgetting as a failure — a lapse to be patched with reminders and records. Yet a mind that kept everything could not think; it would drown in the undifferentiated noise of every moment it had ever lived. To forget is not so much to lose information as to decide, mostly without our noticing, what was never worth keeping.
The author's argument relies most directly on which unstated assumption?
Pick an option to see how the tutor reasons to the answer — not just whether you were right.
Not quite — the answer is B.
Work backwards from the conclusion: a mind that ‘kept everything’ supposedly ‘could not think.’ That only follows if thinking means leaving most of experience out — so B is the premise the argument quietly rests on. A raises reliability, which the passage never weighs; C contradicts ‘mostly without our noticing’; D smuggles in a claim about intellect the passage never makes. The question rewards finding the hidden premise, not recalling a fact.
Section II gives you two tasks in 60 minutes: Task A (socio-cultural / argumentative) and Task B (personal / reflective). Markers score thought, structure and expression — in that order of importance.
The shape of a strong essay
A real thesis, early
Not a restatement of the theme — a position or reframing. The first paragraph should make a reader think, "interesting, go on."
2–3 developed ideas
Each its own paragraph, each advancing the argument rather than repeating it.
Specific evidence
One well-analysed example beats three name-dropped ones. Show what it demonstrates.
A conclusion that synthesises
Leave the reader somewhere new — don't just summarise where they have been.
The move that lifts your score
Competent essays agree with the prompt. Excellent essays interrogate it. Find the tension: where does the comforting statement break down? What does it quietly assume?
Weak opening vs strong opening
Prompt: "Progress is always a mixed blessing." Two ways to open — which earns marks?
Timing one task (~30 min)
5 min — plan
Pick your angle; jot 2–3 ideas and an example for each. Don't write until you have a thesis.
22 min — write
Topic sentence → development → evidence → link back to the thesis.
3 min — proofread
Clarity and obvious errors only.
Check yourself
Which opening sentence is most likely to earn a high Section II score?
Key takeaways
- Thought matters most, then structure, then expression.
- Open with a thesis that reframes — never restate the prompt.
- Interrogate the statement; find the tension it hides.
- One analysed example beats three name-drops. Plan before you write.
Practise this with real GAMSAT-style questions
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