How to drill reading comp? Forum

[smiles123]

Just took PT 65, scored a 168. Taking test in week and a half.

Section breakdown in -4 LR, -0 LG, RC -10, and LR -2.

This is pretty typical for me and has been since last december.... I scored a -10 on my first LSAT take and have not been able to get it to change. Have read PS bible, have read trainer, even got a tutor(wasted so much money).

Have been working exclusively on RC for about two months now. Still nothing. I struggle to finish, and when I do get through the passages, I rarely remeber detail that I read or understand those details. What do I do? How do I drill other than just completeing sections and reviewing them?

I've also pretty read pretty much all of the passages atleast once(some multiple times) by now except the last ones (PT 66-70).

Have 6+ hours in each of the next 10 days. What should I do, because clearly nothing I've tried for the past 9 months has worked in the slightest.

[dontdoitkid]

There are several detailed guides on these forums that will help you out a lot - do a quick search and you can find a few that will get you started. I would also recommend the Manhattan RC book if you want a hard copy of something to work out of. As for more specific help, however...

How are you reviewing them? Are you confident with your annotations? Can you find information quickly within the passage?

You may have read all the passages before, but in reviewing, have you connected each correct answer choice of each question to the information from the passage that you've used to justify it?

[smiles123]

When I review them, I usually do the sections that I have just done, but this time untimed. Typically I get -1 to -3 when I use this strategy, however, my annotations/notes are much more detailed and I confirm prettty much anything I can in the text. This always takes over an hour, probably like 1.5 hours per section. If I get the answer wrong again, I usually look on the Manhattan blog to try and understand the answer.

In real time this really all goes out the window. I really just and trying to finish the passages and questions in the allotted time. My notes aren't as good as I would like them to be and I confirm answers with the text much less frequently. But I struggled to dinish the passages and questions even with the minimal looking back into the text and note-taking.

[dontdoitkid]

First of all - I don't know what you learning style is, but heavy annotating isn't necessary at all, though some annotating is recommend for most people. There are two parts to each piece of information in the passage. The first part is it's contextual application to the question (the information it contains, for example: "Since 1988 there has been only one major fossil discovery in North America" might relate to a question about that). You can use this to find out why you got questions wrong, but this doesn't have a lot of application to your general strategy.

I am going to task you to view the information in the passage in an additional delight, which is the function it plays. There are numerous "functions", and most sentences will fit under one or the other. Here are a few examples:

- Filler Information
- Main Point
- Authors Perspective
- Perspective Author Disagrees with
- Outside Critic/Expert/Figure commentary
- Structure Indicator (However, But, Therefor)
- Supporting Premises to an Argument (For example, the author will introduce an argument, and follow with a paragraph that contains around 1-3 specific details that support what he or she was saying)
- Acknowledgement of a weakness in the Authors perspective/Argument

There are lots more, but the point I am trying to make is that these have a general application in each RC passage. You can't take a specific fact (take the fossil example that I made up) and apply that information about fossils to another passage on the development of civil rights. You can, however, try to view the information you encounter as you review in this duality; as applicable to the context of the passage, and in the overall function it plays. The more you do this, the more you'll understand what types of sentences serve what functions, and with each new RC passage you'll do, you'll be able to recognize the functions a little bit easier.

The timing will come, but this approach (or similar) is key. It's very difficult to go through and just mark what you think is important. You have to understand WHY it's important as well.

[smiles123]

Thank you! I really appreciate the help. I'm going to try this annotation system tommorrow!

[dontdoitkid]

No problem! Just remember that, like in school, annotation can help as often as it can hurt you. I definitely learned this the hard way. Every mark you make should be for a reason, not just because "that seems good" or because by making a mark you feel more confident or anything. A lot of LSAT takers end up scribbling over half the page and it's pretty much useless. Feel free to PM me or respond here again if you want feedback/help with annotating at all, I'm definitely not an expert but hey, helping other people helps me!

[MEAhrnsbrak]

First of all - I don't know what you learning style is, but heavy annotating isn't necessary at all, though some annotating is recommend for most people. There are two parts to each piece of information in the passage. The first part is it's contextual application to the question (the information it contains, for example: "Since 1988 there has been only one major fossil discovery in North America" might relate to a question about that). You can use this to find out why you got questions wrong, but this doesn't have a lot of application to your general strategy.

I am going to task you to view the information in the passage in an additional delight, which is the function it plays. There are numerous "functions", and most sentences will fit under one or the other. Here are a few examples:

- Filler Information
- Main Point
- Authors Perspective
- Perspective Author Disagrees with
- Outside Critic/Expert/Figure commentary
- Structure Indicator (However, But, Therefor)
- Supporting Premises to an Argument (For example, the author will introduce an argument, and follow with a paragraph that contains around 1-3 specific details that support what he or she was saying)
- Acknowledgement of a weakness in the Authors perspective/Argument

There are lots more, but the point I am trying to make is that these have a general application in each RC passage. You can't take a specific fact (take the fossil example that I made up) and apply that information about fossils to another passage on the development of civil rights. You can, however, try to view the information you encounter as you review in this duality; as applicable to the context of the passage, and in the overall function it plays. The more you do this, the more you'll understand what types of sentences serve what functions, and with each new RC passage you'll do, you'll be able to recognize the functions a little bit easier.

The timing will come, but this approach (or similar) is key. It's very difficult to go through and just mark what you think is important. You have to understand WHY it's important as well.

Great advice! I do a decent job remembering to think about what the function is of each piece of the passage, but I hadn't thought about only annotating if it plays a specific function rather than if I think something is important. I'll definitely try this on my next RC passage.

[dontdoitkid]

It definitely works for me. Only thing I would change when you try it out - you said you were going to "annotate if it plays a specific function rather than you think it's important" - typically these things will be important... but I guess what I meant is don't just go through with a gut feeling of trying to see what strikes you as important. Instead, when you find something significant, determine it's role/purpose/function, and make an observation or annotation if you so desire. Good luck!

[MEAhrnsbrak]

It definitely works for me. Only thing I would change when you try it out - you said you were going to "annotate if it plays a specific function rather than you think it's important" - typically these things will be important... but I guess what I meant is don't just go through with a gut feeling of trying to see what strikes you as important. Instead, when you find something significant, determine it's role/purpose/function, and make an observation or annotation if you so desire. Good luck!

I definitely get what you are saying. I the past I've underlined what I thought would be important versus underlining because it's playing an important function. I feel like this forces you to think through the functionand structure of each element of a reading passage as you are reading instead of just reflecting after you read. Thanks again!