The argument to be analyzed is as follows:
The following is taken from a memo from the advertising director of the Super Screen Movie Production Company.
“According to a recent report from our marketing department, during the past year, fewer people attended Super Screen-produced movies than in any other year. And yet the percentage of positive reviews by movie reviewers about specific Super Screen movies actually increased during the past year. Clearly, the contents of these reviews are not reaching enough of our prospective viewers. Thus, the problem lies not with the quality of our movies but with the public's lack of awareness that movies of good quality are available. Super Screen should therefore allocate a greater share of its budget next year to reaching the public through advertising.”
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.
The director of the production company concludes in his memo that the reason for lower attendance this past year is lack of advertising to the public, not the movie quality itself. However, there are multiple aspects on this issue that has been ignored in the memo and director's conclusion, in my opinion, is weak and not convincing.
first of all, note that the percentage of positive reviews, not the number of positive review, has increased. A higher percentage does not necessarily gurantee the move quality has not gone down. With a lower attendance, people who still go to see those movies and are willing to take the time to write a review are likely to be loyal fans already, and it is no surprise that a group of movie fans will leave rather positive feedbacks on movies. we also don't know what is the demographic for those who still write reviews. what is the age range? what are their watching habits? it is also possible that certain generation is used to the movies from this production company so the majority of the reviews comes from this age group. there are so many factors that are directly related, and we simply do not have the data to make any conclusion here.
Another remianing question is what type of movies are shown this year that is different than other years, and what type of new service is the production company providing this year. As we know, some movies require specific equipments, such as 3D glasses and iMax screen, in order to fully show the sound and effects of the movies. is the company showing any of those movies this year but not providing those equipement? is that why the number of attendance went down? Did the company make any upgrades in the theater, such as reclining chairs or better ticket service? that is likely to lead to a higher percentage of positive reviews. All these important information is not provided in the memo.
As the technology advances, ways of wathching movies is changing, too. With the rapid development and abundant streaming service available, people might be more used to watch movies in the comfort of their own homes. this new trend could lead to low attendance as well. there are already movies available for purchase on services like Netflix or even Instagram, what is the strategy for a traditional movie production company to compete and move forward? Should Super screen move production starts to make movies that are compatible to streaming service in order to win the viewers back? How to increase the number, not just the percentage, of the positive reviews? Clearly the company director is not looking at the bigger picture or thinking through other possible solutions.
In conclusion, the director is missing many parts of this issue, some are small, but some are big and will change the fate of the compay. For the director, thinking through the problem and looking at every aspect is the first step towards an effective solution, and more advertising to the public is certainly not the one.
Comments
Essay evaluation report
samples:
https://www.testbig.com/gmatgre-argument-task-essays/following-taken-me…
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Attribute Value Ideal
Final score: ??? out of 6
Category: Poor Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 0 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 0 2
No. of Sentences: 17 15
No. of Words: 515 350
No. of Characters: 2415 1500
No. of Different Words: 233 200
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.764 4.7
Average Word Length: 4.689 4.6
Word Length SD: 2.436 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 167 100
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 127 80
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 79 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 48 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 30.294 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 20.605 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.529 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.31 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.54 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.092 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 5 5
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 4, column 1, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: First
...nion, is weak and not convincing. first of all, note that the percentage of pos...
^^^^^
Line 4, column 447, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: We
...ve rather positive feedbacks on movies. we also dont know what is the demographic ...
^^
Line 4, column 455, Rule ID: EN_CONTRACTION_SPELLING
Message: Possible spelling mistake found
Suggestion: don't
...r positive feedbacks on movies. we also dont know what is the demographic for those ...
^^^^
Line 4, column 524, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: What
...phic for those who still write reviews. what is the age range? what are their watchi...
^^^^
Line 4, column 547, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: What
...l write reviews. what is the age range? what are their watching habits? it is also p...
^^^^
Line 4, column 579, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: It
... range? what are their watching habits? it is also possible that certain generatio...
^^
Line 4, column 697, Rule ID: POSSESIVE_APOSTROPHE[1]
Message: Possible typo: apostrophe is missing. Did you mean 'reviews'' or 'review's'?
Suggestion: reviews'; review's
...oduction company so the majority of the reviews comes from this age group. there are so...
^^^^^^^
Line 4, column 732, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: There
... the reviews comes from this age group. there are so many factors that are directly r...
^^^^^
Line 7, column 89, Rule ID: RATHER_THEN[2]
Message: Did you mean 'different 'from''? 'Different than' is often considered colloquial style.
Suggestion: from
...s are shown this year that is different than other years, and what type of new servi...
^^^^
Line 7, column 332, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: Is
...ow the sound and effects of the movies. is the company showing any of those movies...
^^
Line 7, column 421, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: Is
...ear but not providing those equipement? is that why the number of attendance went ...
^^
Line 7, column 570, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: That
...lining chairs or better ticket service? that is likely to lead to a higher percentag...
^^^^
Line 10, column 218, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: This
...vies in the comfort of their own homes. this new trend could lead to low attendance ...
^^^^
Line 10, column 271, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: There
...d could lead to low attendance as well. there are already movies available for purcha...
^^^^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, but, first, however, if, look, so, still, well, in conclusion, such as, first of all, in my opinion
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 34.0 19.6327345309 173% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 5.0 12.9520958084 39% => OK
Conjunction : 18.0 11.1786427146 161% => OK
Relative clauses : 12.0 13.6137724551 88% => OK
Pronoun: 34.0 28.8173652695 118% => OK
Preposition: 60.0 55.5748502994 108% => OK
Nominalization: 15.0 16.3942115768 91% => OK
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 2490.0 2260.96107784 110% => OK
No of words: 514.0 441.139720559 117% => OK
Chars per words: 4.84435797665 5.12650576532 94% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.76146701107 4.56307096286 104% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.52187210371 2.78398813304 91% => OK
Unique words: 248.0 204.123752495 121% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.482490272374 0.468620217663 103% => OK
syllable_count: 789.3 705.55239521 112% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.5 1.59920159681 94% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 4.0 4.96107784431 81% => OK
Article: 3.0 8.76447105788 34% => OK
Subordination: 2.0 2.70958083832 74% => OK
Conjunction: 5.0 1.67365269461 299% => Less conjunction wanted as sentence beginning.
Preposition: 6.0 4.22255489022 142% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 26.0 19.7664670659 132% => OK
Sentence length: 19.0 22.8473053892 83% => The Avg. Sentence Length is relatively short.
Sentence length SD: 54.8179342657 57.8364921388 95% => OK
Chars per sentence: 95.7692307692 119.503703932 80% => OK
Words per sentence: 19.7692307692 23.324526521 85% => OK
Discourse Markers: 4.03846153846 5.70786347227 71% => OK
Paragraphs: 5.0 5.15768463074 97% => OK
Language errors: 14.0 5.25449101796 266% => Less language errors wanted.
Sentences with positive sentiment : 13.0 8.20758483034 158% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 3.0 6.88822355289 44% => More negative sentences wanted.
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 10.0 4.67664670659 214% => Less facts, knowledge or examples wanted.
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.15503531168 0.218282227539 71% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0364276438841 0.0743258471296 49% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0446198301842 0.0701772020484 64% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.0890203468476 0.128457276422 69% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0316997231885 0.0628817314937 50% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 11.3 14.3799401198 79% => Automated_readability_index is low.
flesch_reading_ease: 60.65 48.3550499002 125% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 7.1628742515 43% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 9.5 12.197005988 78% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 10.79 12.5979740519 86% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 7.59 8.32208582834 91% => OK
difficult_words: 98.0 98.500998004 99% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 10.5 12.3882235529 85% => OK
gunning_fog: 9.6 11.1389221557 86% => OK
text_standard: 11.0 11.9071856287 92% => OK
What are above readability scores?
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Rates: 58.33 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 3.5 Out of 6
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.