Do you guys draw in the margins during LR?

texvd1988

Recently I have been having a lot of success during exercises for LR. This, to me, is a miracle since it was my weakness and what hampered me from breaking the stubborn plateau I was in. Anyway, I have found that actually drawing out LR passages when needed (SA, MBT, MBF, PSA, INF,etc) has really helped me break through some of the toughest questions. I still have issues with certain questions, obviously, but I can see a light at the end of the LR tunnel specifically because I am beginning to visualize what is occurring in the passage.

With that said, the margins we have for drawing on the exam are small, and I know I will be cutting it close if I try to visualize too much. My assumption is that, per each LR section, there are around 10-12 questions that are easily solved via visualization ( SA, MBT, MBF, etc, etc) and the drawing and analysis normally gives me an answer time of 1 minute to 2:15 depending on the difficulty of the question.

Do you guys waste time drawing and visualizing things on paper? Or have you gotten to a test taking point where visualization is mental? I would, obviously, prefer that method but am not sure I can get my brain to see things that way. I have always been a "write it down or draw it out" type of learner.

BinghamtonDave

I sure do. During sections, for the really tough questions it helps me to keep things straight to draw a small diagram. I do it all the time on BR. Obviously, as you pointed out there is a point of diminishing returns but what I have noticed is that if I write out a diagram, that will be the only time I have to read the stimulus, essentially I can "trust" my visual representation of what is going on in the stimulus. I do this for probably 2-3 problems on each LR section. These 2-3 questions are probably the ones I skipped and came back to.

texvd1988

@BinghamtonDave said:
I do this for probably 2-3 problems on each LR section. These 2-3 questions are probably the ones I skipped and came back to

This is probably where I need to be in order to ensure I am comfortable on test day. I am currently floating on a 6 to 7 questions per section, and that is probably wasting too much time on the visualization process. I am still in the habit of automatically putting pencil to paper the moment I smell a hint of conditional statement. When it's a 1 to 2 star question, it is a waste of time, and a habit that I need to kill before I trap myself on test day.

BinghamtonDave

@vduran1988 excellent honest assessment towards the goal of ironing everything out before test day. Stick with such an approach and I assure you it will pay dividends. I should note that diagramming conditionals is slightly different than the diagraming I had mentioned earlier. Diagraming conditions happens almost automatically, and doesn't have to be done for every stimulus with conditional language as you pointed out. When diagramming of conditionals does occur, it is a tool that allows us to answer the question in a clear and concise manner. Check out these two examples below to see what I mean: Diagraming conditionals: PT 36 Section 1 question 11. Before I decided to go to college I worked for a trucking company that moved items across the US. Items thats ranged from heavy machinery to grand pianos to long distance commercial relocations: office supplies etc. My job was to load the truck with the items. Mastery over conditional logic is to this question what mastery over the use of a solid dolly is to moving jobs. If you have a dolly, a moving job is made infinitely easier. Imagine not having that dolly is like trying to approach the above question without conditional logic: some can do the work no doubt, but the labor it takes is made easier by the application of conditional logic. Others have said it before me. So my opinion might differ slightly from some: I would say go ahead an apply conditional logic to the 1 star MBT questions, if you have acquired mastery, a problem like the one above should take no more than 30-35 seconds. At the end of the day, the comfort of knowing what must be true by reference to a diagram you can trust makes it well worth the effort.

There might be some people that can do 35-1-22 by not diagramming it. I happen to not be one of those people who can. But with the use of conditionals, I can answer the question in 28 seconds. 39 seconds with a rigorous checking of the other answer choices. For me, it doesn't get better than that. Ultimately, do what is best for you and what you feel comfortable with.

The other type of diagramming that I wanted to mention was a crude drawing or illustration of a figure in the stimulus in order to keep things straight when I am solving the problem. These diagrams can range from keeping track of proportions for questions that test our understanding of math to keeping the ideal growth environment of a goblin fern straight in my mind before I answer a necessary assumption.

Keep up the hard work.

Alex

When I BR I tend to, but on a timed PT, hardly ever.

However, this is just my personal preference! Always do what works best for you

Cant Get Right

@vduran1988 said:
Do you guys waste time drawing and visualizing things on paper?

I never waste time diagramming. But that does not at all mean that I never diagram. The distinction is that I've come to be able to identify when it's a waste of time and when it's not. If it's going to be a waste of time, I don't do it. Being able to evaluate an individual question on the fly is largely a matter of practice and experience. Your first instinct should not be to start drawing. But maybe your second or third should be. My order of operations is first to always attempt a question mentally, second to skip, and third to return at the end and diagram if that's the approach I determine is my best route to the correct answer.

@vduran1988 said:
Or have you gotten to a test taking point where visualization is mental?

I have gotten to a point where this is almost entirely mental. There's maybe one or two questions a test where I diagram conditionals or represent information visually through a chart or graph or something. But I didn't start there. I started out needing to diagram quite a bit. I didn't have the level of understanding or the experience necessary to be successful with working things through in my head. So go ahead and diagram where you need to; think of it as an exercise to train your intuition. After awhile, you'll find that you need to fall back onto diagramming less and less.

texvd1988

Can't get right- that's interesting. Since I am just beginning to crack LR, or perceiving it that way, it could
All be because I am on the opening stages of actually cracking it.

So I am finally understanding structure sentence to sentence but still need to outline it before going through with it. It's like I have only beat level 5 in a ten level video game.

That's a cool way to think about it, and probably best. I was beginning to get confident, but that thought will calm me down and get me back to work. I am just at the start.

Coincidentally, I wonder if my pt's will show the first sign of a jump when I do take them rather than the jump I want (from 153 to 160, rather than to 170). It seems like the jump to 170 requires that other level of thinking.

I am not there yet.

Cant Get Right

@vduran1988 said:
It seems like the jump to 170 requires that other level of thinking.

Definitely. Keep at it though. Like you said, you're only at the beginning of this.