active reading and anticipation Forum

[Zeta]

i guess this comes w/ practice, but i'm having a hell of a time trying to digest the RC passages AND try to anticipate what is coming next (as instructed by the RC bible). it's like trying to think two thoughts at once!

[RCinDNA]

You mean the PowerScore method, right?

I just read the Manhattan LSAT RC book earlier this month/late last month. It was very helpful.

What I took away from it was that you should remain open-minded and flexible as to the form the argument will take but start thinking ahead to how the info will be presented. If an argument/position is given, you can anticipate finding support for it or a counter-argument. If the author follows a certain format for her/his argument, then it might repeat itself (for example: if the paragraph starts out with a lot of background info with the last sentence of the first passage talking about 2 viewpoints, the next paragraph contains a summary of the first position, presents evidence in support of it and concludes with evidence against it, then it is likely that the next paragraph will flow in a similar way for the counter-position). If evidence is given for both sides of an argument, the author will most likely give an opinion for one side, so just be on the lookout. so on.

That method helps because you are tracking the structure of the passage, the roles in the argument of each statement/paragraph and noting subtle cues in the passage regardless of subject matter.

[bp shinners]

i guess this comes w/ practice, but i'm having a hell of a time trying to digest the RC passages AND try to anticipate what is coming next (as instructed by the RC bible). it's like trying to think two thoughts at once!

That's the biggest thing right there. I can sit here all day explaining the patterns in RC to you, but that'll just lay the foundation. The understanding comes by doing a bunch until your brain starts picking up on the patterns.

[lsatkid007]

So Mr BP, you are saying the key to RC is anticipation?

[bp shinners]

So Mr BP, you are saying the key to RC is anticipation?

Anticipation and understanding the different question types.

If you get good at anticipating, you can know exactly what's going to show up in the questions before you ever get to them. It's a lot easier to answer them when that's the case.

If you get good at knowing the question types, you can (at least) throw out most answer choices just because they would very rarely be right in an RC passage.

When you combine the two, you can fly through an RC section, because you'll know exactly what they're about to ask and, when you're not 100% sure of an answer, you'll have some tricks to throw out the wrong ones.

[lsatkid007]

So Mr BP, you are saying the key to RC is anticipation?

Anticipation and understanding the different question types.

If you get good at anticipating, you can know exactly what's going to show up in the questions before you ever get to them. It's a lot easier to answer them when that's the case.

If you get good at knowing the question types, you can (at least) throw out most answer choices just because they would very rarely be right in an RC passage.

When you combine the two, you can fly through an RC section, because you'll know exactly what they're about to ask and, when you're not 100% sure of an answer, you'll have some tricks to throw out the wrong ones.

Dude I am having one hell of time with the "according to the passage.." and "the passage suggests.." questions. Any words of wisdom.

[bp shinners]

Dude I am having one hell of time with the "according to the passage.." and "the passage suggests.." questions. Any words of wisdom.

"According to the passage" answers will be explicitly mentioned in the passage. So this all comes down to tagging the passage well. If you don't have the specific piece of information tagged, you want to have the paragraph tagged so you know which one the answer is in.

"The passage suggests" might be explicitly stated, but it's also likely to have an inferential jump. For these, it's important to note keywords that allow you to draw inferences; the most common are absolute/strong language, and comparative statements.

[omegaomega]

Dude I am having one hell of time with the "according to the passage.." and "the passage suggests.." questions. Any words of wisdom.

"According to the passage" answers will be explicitly mentioned in the passage. So this all comes down to tagging the passage well. If you don't have the specific piece of information tagged, you want to have the paragraph tagged so you know which one the answer is in.

"The passage suggests" might be explicitly stated, but it's also likely to have an inferential jump. For these, it's important to note keywords that allow you to draw inferences; the most common are absolute/strong language, and comparative statements.

Could you elaborate on "tagging the passage well"? So it still comes down to anticipating the questions while reading?

I remember one question in the Japanese sculptor passage (positive light) asks the passage suggests which of the following. The answer was the sculptor had done some sculptures in human form, and the clue from the passage was that the sculptor was fascinated by anatomy. (sth like that, forgive my vague memory).

There was no possibility that I would have anticipate a question on such a small, ordinary detail. For me to answer this question, I basically had to re-read the whole passage. My strategy now is to simply skip the question if none of the answers rings any bells to me.

Do you have any suggestions on these non-extraordinary detail questions? Many thanks!

[bp shinners]

Could you elaborate on "tagging the passage well"? So it still comes down to anticipating the questions while reading?

I remember one question in the Japanese sculptor passage (positive light) asks the passage suggests which of the following. The answer was the sculptor had done some sculptures in human form, and the clue from the passage was that the sculptor was fascinated by anatomy. (sth like that, forgive my vague memory).

There was no possibility that I would have anticipate a question on such a small, ordinary detail. For me to answer this question, I basically had to re-read the whole passage. My strategy now is to simply skip the question if none of the answers rings any bells to me.

Do you have any suggestions on these non-extraordinary detail questions? Many thanks!

Yep, it all comes down to tagging the passage well, which is anticipating questions. Every piece of information you get from the passage should go through a little filter in your brain that asks, "Is this likely to show up in questions?"

For the Noguchi passage, it was particularly important to note the role of each paragraph. For the question you mention, you shouldn't have needed to re-read the entire thing. Instead, you should have checked back to see that the second paragraph talked about his earlier art, and then you could have quickly seen that he started with anatomically-realistic figures. Additionally, I might have tagged each step in his artistic 'journey' while reading this paragraph - that type of progression often shows up in questions in arts/literature passages.

[omegaomega]

Could you elaborate on "tagging the passage well"? So it still comes down to anticipating the questions while reading?

I remember one question in the Japanese sculptor passage (positive light) asks the passage suggests which of the following. The answer was the sculptor had done some sculptures in human form, and the clue from the passage was that the sculptor was fascinated by anatomy. (sth like that, forgive my vague memory).

There was no possibility that I would have anticipate a question on such a small, ordinary detail. For me to answer this question, I basically had to re-read the whole passage. My strategy now is to simply skip the question if none of the answers rings any bells to me.

Do you have any suggestions on these non-extraordinary detail questions? Many thanks!

Yep, it all comes down to tagging the passage well, which is anticipating questions. Every piece of information you get from the passage should go through a little filter in your brain that asks, "Is this likely to show up in questions?"

For the Noguchi passage, it was particularly important to note the role of each paragraph. For the question you mention, you shouldn't have needed to re-read the entire thing. Instead, you should have checked back to see that the second paragraph talked about his earlier art, and then you could have quickly seen that he started with anatomically-realistic figures. Additionally, I might have tagged each step in his artistic 'journey' while reading this paragraph - that type of progression often shows up in questions in arts/literature passages.

Thanks Mr Shinners. I think I could do a better job at understanding the roles of each paragraph.
Still for the "What the passage suggests" questions, there are five answers of them, so effectively one has to read most of the passage if one is to check all answers out (where the details spread all over the passage). But there seems to be no other solution than tagging and checking.

[bp shinners]

Thanks Mr Shinners. I think I could do a better job at understanding the roles of each paragraph.
Still for the "What the passage suggests" questions, there are five answers of them, so effectively one has to read most of the passage if one is to check all answers out (where the details spread all over the passage). But there seems to be no other solution than tagging and checking.

Yep, those can take some time. However, there are usually 2-3 answer that just can't be right based on the general thrust of the passage. If you can narrow it down to 2 ACs to check, you drastically reduce the time spent on those questions. Additionally, between those 2, there should be one that you think is right. Check that one first.