Critical Reasoning Clarification

[surya_basu]

Hi Stacy,
I have some general clarifications to make regarding CR stimuls reading and answering questions.
CR stimulus Reading:
Like Reading Comphrehension do we need to use the notebook to jot down shorthand quick notes on every sentence ? (I mean make a detail map of the CR stimulus just like short passages of RC. Spend approx 1 min for this step.)
Or:
Just read the stimulus and identify the conclusion and premises of the stimulus. Write the conclusion in shorthand. Spend 1 min for this step.

After the above steps then read and attack the question.

Please clarify! Thanks.
Surya

[RonPurewal]

hi -- i'm not stacey, but i'll take a shot at answering your question.

in general, you should not try to diagram every CR passage that you come across. unless you are absolutely lightning fast at both reading and writing, the hard fact is that you simply won't have time to do so.
especially with your first plan, there is just no way that you will consistently be able to do that (read the stimulus, and somehow manage to notate every sentence) in under one minute.

as for the second plan -- most passages actually have readily identifiable conclusions. for such passages, you don't really have much of a reason to rewrite the conclusion, unless it is for reasons not directly related to comprehension (e.g., your attention tends to fade at the end of the exam, and you're writing the conclusions just to keep your head in the game).

so here's a plan to help boost your overall efficiency.

in general:
you should diagram in the following two situations.

(1) you encounter a PROBLEM TYPE that has traditionally given you trouble.
for instance, if you consistently blow it on "analyze argument structure" problems, then you should probably start diagramming as soon as you see that you're facing one of these problems.
etc.

(2) you GET CONFUSED as you are starting to read the passage.
this, above all, is the hard and fast rule of passage diagramming.
remember that diagramming exists to help you IMPROVE YOUR COMPREHENSION. therefore, it is a weapon best deployed when that comprehension is not going so well.

--

also, when you diagram, you should customize your diagram somewhat, to emphasize the points of critical reasoning at which you are weak. our diagramming techniques are not meant to be dogma; rather, they are more accurately regarded as a starting point, on which you can build to create a custom system of diagramming that suits you best.

for instance, let's say that you normally pick up almost effortlessly on the logic of the passage, but traditionally struggle with noticing details. in that case, you would be better justified in creating detail rich-diagrams (for those problems on which you chose to diagram -- remember that, the more details in each diagram, the fewer diagrams you can afford to make within your time constraint).
on the other hand, if you don't really have a problem with noticing details but logic is the tough point for you, then you should concentrate more on the logical aspects of the passage rather than on the details.

[surya_basu]

First of all thanks for your reply. I need some clarification for Reading Comprehension and General Verbal now.

Reading Comprehension
If its a Long Passage (40 lines in OG) we will do Reading and skeletal sketch. If its a short passage (< 35 lines in OG) - do Detail map.
If there are 4 question for each passage we should spend 3.5 mins in Reading and doing notes.
Do you think its possible ? Currently I take 7 mins to read and write notes. Should I focus more on learning now instead of time ?

Verbal General Question:
I am using Manhattan Syllabus and Manhattan Books for my preparation. It looks like at the end of 5th session I am supposed to give Manhattan Test 2.

(1) Should I take the tests as per Syllabus or should I wait until the completion of all the Manhattan Books (incl General and Advanced sections).
(2) During each session we should solve the OG problems at the end of each chapter timed or untimed ? ( I am weak in Verbal scored 17 in OG Diagnostic)
Currently I am doing the Inaction problems untimed and OG problems timed.

[StaceyKoprince]

If there are 4 question for each passage we should spend 3.5 mins in Reading and doing notes.

You can't actually use the above as a rule, because you have no idea how many questions you'll get until you get to the last question (or, more precisely, until you get a new question that has nothing to do with the passage).

The general rule is:
(1) If the passage fits fully on the screen (official test) or is less than 35 lines in OG, then you take about 2-3 minutes to read and take notes
(2) If you have to scroll to see different parts of the passage (official test) or the passage is more than 35 lines (OG), then you take about 2.5 to 4 minutes to read and take notes

Either way, you need to take a LOT less than 7 minutes. Pretty much the only reason you would need 7 minutes is if you are trying to read and understand everything - and that's NOT what you should be doing. You NEVER want to try to understand everything; there's just not enough time.

Your goal is to understand the overall structure of the passage:
1. Main Idea
2. Main point or purpose of each paragraph
3.Any major contrasts or "changes of direction" in the passage
4. The location of certain kinds of detail (but you do NOT actually want to fully understand what that detail says)

So, in a 6-sentence paragraph, I might only need the first sentence or two in order to understand that the entire paragraph is about how fertilizers adversely affect butterflies. The remaining four sentences might give the specific chemical and biological mechanisms by which the fertilizers are adversely affecting the butterflies. I don't care how that actually works (not right now, anyway). I only care that the rest of the paragraph is about HOW the fertilizers adversely affect the butterflies. My notes might look like this:

P2: fert = bad for bflies
HOW

And then I move on to P3.

So, basically, you are actually skipping lots of stuff on your first read through. You have to do this because you don't have enough time to understand everything. We can get away with this because we are not going to be asked about all of the details. The test writers will typically write 5 to 9 questions for a single passage, but they'll only give you 3 or 4 of those questions.

So you're literally just never going to see the questions that were written for some of those details. Why bother learning some specific detail unless you know you're going to get a question about it? You do want to bother to learn the "big" overall main ideas because you know you'll have at least some questions about those. But for any specific detail, you may or may not get asked... so don't worry about learning it on your first read-through. Only learn it if you have to - if you get a question about it.

So, go start practicing that (it's going to take a while to feel comfortable skipping some of the material)!

In terms of the syllabus, I think you're a self-study student, right? (That is, you don't have a class that meets every week?) If so, then you should take the 2nd practice test after you have finished all of the work through session 5. If you want, you can wait till you've finished everything through session 6. But you should NOT wait till you're done with everything - you need to see what kind of progress you're making. There will be some areas where you're making good progress and your test will be confirmation that you're on the right track. There will be other areas where you're not making good progress, and now you'll know that you need to do more work in those areas. (Don't worry about your overall score on that test - that isn't the point. The point is to figure out where you're doing well and where you're not doing so well.)

You can use this article to help you analyze your test after you take it:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/09/23/evaluating-your-practice-tests

And that analysis will help you decide where you still need to do more work. You can also post your analysis here and we'll help you figure out what to do!

[StaceyKoprince]

Whoops, and I posted my last reply before answering your very last question.

Problems that are fully printed in the red strategy guides (the in action problems) can be done untimed. OG problems should be done timed, always. So you've got it exactly right.

[surya_basu]

Hi Stacy,
RC:
Thanks for the great explanation regarding RC startegy of taking notes.
Follow up question:
1) Should I take similar notes even for the First paragraph of a Long or short passage? Or the First Para notes should be more details. ?

My notes might look like this:
P2: fert = bad for bflies
HOW
And then I move on to P3.

2) Whether I should target to spend 1 min /RC question after completing the reading and note taking ?

The general rule is:
(1) If the passage fits fully on the screen (official test) or is less than 35 lines in OG, then you take about 2-3 minutes to read and take notes
(2) If you have to scroll to see different parts of the passage (official test) or the passage is more than 35 lines (OG), then you take about 2.5 to 4 minutes to read and take notes

SC:

1) After reading the first 9 chapters ( GMC-Idioms), it seems I have forgotten the mechanics of Chapter 1-8 (Parallelism, Subject Verb etc).
Should I start browsing the Chapters 1-8 (revising the notes that I had taken in my first read) and solving the OG problems again at the end of each Manhattan SC chapters ?
Or
Should I start scanning the Manhattan SC Flash cards and start solving and reviewing 5-10 random SC problems everyday from Official Guide. ( I have started following your analysis procedure mentioned in the beathegmat website.)
Let me know what you think.

(2) What do you think about 1000SC problems mentioned in many Gmat forums ? I want to focus on quality than quantity. Do you think if I focus on Manhattan SC Book and Official Guides (12 edition and Verbal Guide) that will be enough ?

Thanks a lot.
Surya

[StaceyKoprince]

I personally don't automatically spend extra time or take extra notes on the first paragraph of a long passage. I know the book recommends this and I do understand why that strategy can be good... but I don't use it personally.

I just take a look at each paragraph and note anything that's "high level" or "main idea" (which tends to come in the first sentence or two but not always), and then I skim the details, nothing generally what kind of details are there, but not really fully trying to understand them.

General or main idea questions should take about a minute. Specific detail questions should take about 1.5 to 2m, depending on complexity.

On SC, I would start by doing random blocks of questions while keeping your SC book and some blank flashcards handy. Every time you discover some rule that you forgot, look it up again in the book, re-learn it, and make a flashcard or two to help you study it.

I personally don't like the 1000SC problems and tell my students not to use them.