Re-Reading Stimuli Forum
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stabiloboss
- Posts: 73
- Joined: Sun Jun 19, 2011 5:38 pm
Re-Reading Stimuli
I often end up re-reading parts, if not all, of 1/2 of the stimuli for each section. What's the best way to avoid this? Sometimes, in my first read, I just don't grasp it enough to think about what's going on...
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bp shinners
- Posts: 3086
- Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2011 7:05 pm
Re: Re-Reading Stimuli
It sounds like you're having an issue concentrating on the stimulus, not necessarily on comprehension. Personally, I find that reading the prompt/question stem first helps, as you know what to look for. It will also let you think of the strategy for that question type, giving you some structure to how you go about reading it.
For instance, if it's a Must Be True question, you should be thinking that there's a good shot that you should be diagramming the stimulus, but if you don't you want to look out for words that denote logical force. You're also not looking for a conclusion, but rather just dealing with a series of premises. Knowing all of this before you start will help you follow along and focus on that strategy, instead of just treating it as a random series of sentences that may or may not form an argument, and you may or may not be looking for a flaw in.
For instance, if it's a Must Be True question, you should be thinking that there's a good shot that you should be diagramming the stimulus, but if you don't you want to look out for words that denote logical force. You're also not looking for a conclusion, but rather just dealing with a series of premises. Knowing all of this before you start will help you follow along and focus on that strategy, instead of just treating it as a random series of sentences that may or may not form an argument, and you may or may not be looking for a flaw in.
