What list of questions do you ask when going through RC?

blah170blah

Hey guys! So, I find myself going through a list of questions whenever I approach an RC passage that has proven to be helpful and was wondering if you could add to the list. These are the questions I currently ask myself:

1) What is the Main Point?
2) How do the paragraphs relate to the MP?
3) How do the examples relate to the MP?
4) What is the author's attitude?
5) Is the passage descriptive or prescriptive?

bstew2002

What is the structure of the passage?

How do the viewpoints relate to each other?

These "kinda" overlap with your first 5.

I tend to do better on RC when I don't deliberately think of the questions and just... "intuitively" answer them as I read.

nicole.hopkins

@blah170blah Have you done Manhattan RC? I think this line of questioning is complementary to their "Scale" approach, which I am finding a tad unwieldy at the moment. Too easy to get distracted by the tools until you've got the skills (thus my fascination with sites like http://www.blumberg.com/ . OOOOH exhibit tabs ... trial notebook organization ... oooh yes let's go lawyer ... Oh wait must LSAT/Law School first ... hmmm ... ).

emli1000

The Elements of Reasoning Structure
1. Main Point (Why the passage is written?)
2. Author’s View (Why did the author write this?)
3. Reasons For and Against
4. Information and Application (Usually at end/after the authors opinion)
5. Background
You must be able to consistently organize and retain passages in terms of these roles. Understand how they play their role in the passage.
Argumentative – (1) presents some sort of debatable issue (2) presents two sides of this debate (3) gives an indication of the author’s opinion
Descriptive – opinion may not be clear, look for key word (disappointedly)

Comparative Passages
Find the underlying reasoning behind the conflict.
1. What is the central issue?
2. How do the passage relate to each other?
3. How do they relate to one another?

Quick Silver

Main Point for every paragraph
Author's POV
Other POVs
I also pay attention to language that indicates Logical Indicators (ie unless, if...then...). Seeing more and more of that in RC.

nicole.hopkins

@"Quick Silver" said:
I also pay attention to language that indicates Logical Indicators (ie unless, if...then...). Seeing more and more of that in RC.

@amanda_kw and I were talking about this the other day—treating words like "is/are", "and" etc as logical indicators, both in the passage and in the questions!

blah170blah

@nicole.hopkins I did try to use Manhattan's RC guide but I too have a really hard time with the scale. I do like they're reasoning and theoretical approach to RC so I'm trying to do borrow from that without having to spend too much time on the scale.

@"Quick Silver" What logical indicators do you look for? I worry that if I do that, I'll spend so much time looking for the indicators that I won't read the passage.

mpits001

I've recently been reading through the LSAT Trainer's RC breakdowns. It's like someone illuminated a dark cavern for me. I wish I had bought this sooner!

nicole.hopkins

I summon @amanda_kw ! Pray, come and share the indicators wisdom ...

amanda_kw

@nicole.hopkins LOL. Yes we were talking about indicators. But more so how you want to use the same scrutiny you have with LG indicators as you do for LR.

As for RC - I don't know how much is applicable. In general, it's useful to search for indicators for AO - which you do already. Otherwise, as @blah170blah might remember, looking for indicators as a significant shift in opinion and marking that. Also using it to look for cause - effect relationships / background etc.

I think your questions are good though.

Quick Silver

@blah170blah - good questions, lemme explain:

It's not so much that I look for them, it's that I'm on the lookout for them... I know that sounds the same, but there is a distinction, and it's part of why it's not too time consuming. When I see a logial indicatior, I just circle it. That's all. That allows me to recognize it because there's a good chance it will be involved in a question.

You asked for Examples - the kinda stuff you'd diagram in LR (but no need to diagram, just circle)
ie unless, without, if...then,

I want to emphasize, this is not a primary thing I annotate, more secondary. Whenever I see it.

nicole.hopkins

@"amanda_kw" said:
As for RC - I don't know how much is applicable.

I marked and quickly diagrammed indicators at points where they stood out to me today (in passages) and I'll say it was a big help!