RC: To PEAR or not to PEAR
Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2014 3:33 am
Hey everyone,
I've been working on RC for quite some time now and I've seen great improvements in both accuracy and time. At the moment I'm honing my skills by working through one of the Cambridge RC volumes and before I began taking practice passages, I used the Powerscore RC Bible and the Manhattan RC manual to learn the basics an some methods with which to tackle RC. One of the important ideas/methods that has been recommended by all the materials I've used has been the importance of pausing at certain intervals in a passage, evaluating what I just read, anticipating what I will encounter subsequently, and then reassessing my expectations. Manhattan's acronym for this method is PEAR (pause/evaluate/anticipate/reassess) and although Powerscore doesn't specifically mention this by it's acronym, they do suggest that you pause and think about what you read and will read. Now that I think of it, the LSAT Trainer also mentions this method, though it doesn't use the acronym either for obvious reasons. Anyhow, I've been applying this idea to my method and I've seen drastic improvements in my comprehension, my ability to see the passage structure, the ease with which I can keep up with shifts in subjects, and my ability to identify the different roles that paragraphs/sentences play. However, I've also noticed that applying this idea is time consuming, especially if you notate. Now, just to be clear, when I do PEAR, I don't take a ridiculous amount of time (2 or 3 mins), I simply do a quick run through the ideas I've notated and where I think the passage is headed, and it takes me no more than 30 seconds. On average I can read a passage in about 2mins without notating or PEARing. If I notate or take notes but do not PEAR, getting through a passage comes to about 2:30-3mins. But if I notate and PEAR a passage, my time to get through a passage comes to a horrible 3:45-4:30mins since I PEAR after every paragraph, and that's only the reading. Personally, I feel its very valuable to PEAR a passage because I understand more and can get through the questions a little easier than if I just read and took notes. So therein lies my question, is it worthwhile to PEAR a passage or should I discard this method? Can any of you recommend something that can speed up this method or should I just focus on reading and notation? Perhaps there's something else I haven't considered that can help me understand the passage structure thoroughly yet not at the expense of my time? I welcome any and all ideas, plus any questions. Thanks
I've been working on RC for quite some time now and I've seen great improvements in both accuracy and time. At the moment I'm honing my skills by working through one of the Cambridge RC volumes and before I began taking practice passages, I used the Powerscore RC Bible and the Manhattan RC manual to learn the basics an some methods with which to tackle RC. One of the important ideas/methods that has been recommended by all the materials I've used has been the importance of pausing at certain intervals in a passage, evaluating what I just read, anticipating what I will encounter subsequently, and then reassessing my expectations. Manhattan's acronym for this method is PEAR (pause/evaluate/anticipate/reassess) and although Powerscore doesn't specifically mention this by it's acronym, they do suggest that you pause and think about what you read and will read. Now that I think of it, the LSAT Trainer also mentions this method, though it doesn't use the acronym either for obvious reasons. Anyhow, I've been applying this idea to my method and I've seen drastic improvements in my comprehension, my ability to see the passage structure, the ease with which I can keep up with shifts in subjects, and my ability to identify the different roles that paragraphs/sentences play. However, I've also noticed that applying this idea is time consuming, especially if you notate. Now, just to be clear, when I do PEAR, I don't take a ridiculous amount of time (2 or 3 mins), I simply do a quick run through the ideas I've notated and where I think the passage is headed, and it takes me no more than 30 seconds. On average I can read a passage in about 2mins without notating or PEARing. If I notate or take notes but do not PEAR, getting through a passage comes to about 2:30-3mins. But if I notate and PEAR a passage, my time to get through a passage comes to a horrible 3:45-4:30mins since I PEAR after every paragraph, and that's only the reading. Personally, I feel its very valuable to PEAR a passage because I understand more and can get through the questions a little easier than if I just read and took notes. So therein lies my question, is it worthwhile to PEAR a passage or should I discard this method? Can any of you recommend something that can speed up this method or should I just focus on reading and notation? Perhaps there's something else I haven't considered that can help me understand the passage structure thoroughly yet not at the expense of my time? I welcome any and all ideas, plus any questions. Thanks