If you've mastered Reading Comp (-3 or better), what's your best advice for the rest of us?

Comments

• 7 Likes

  dustin13 Member

  May 2022 edited May 2022 330 karma

  The first thing is to take the practice seriously. I think many students who struggle with RC aren’t tackling it the way they do LG/ LR.

  The second thing is to have really good strategies. I found that the strategies and approaches that've been around for a while didn't really help me. It wasn't until making some of my own discoveries about how RC works that I started to see serious improvement. For starters, RC is far more formulaic than most students think it is. Which means that there are patterns you can learn to recognize and approaches that are best attuned to RC’s formulaic nature.
• 3 Likes

  alyssamadelyn Member

  May 2022 89 karma

  There are a couple things that really helped me:

  • Use your scratch paper to take notes on each paragraph. Avoid summarizing information. Rather, note the purpose of the paragraph (is is setting up an argument? supporting something that was previously mentioned? does it need support from a later paragraph?).

  • Highlight words that tell you what the author's point of view is especially in regards to approval/disapproval of a concept

  • Every correct answer choice will have identifiable support in the passage. If you're unsure, take the time to go back in and find that support.
• 6 Likes

  canihazJD Alum Member Sage ⭐

  May 2022 8491 karma

  Engage with the material. Paraphrase to yourself as you go. Read with the intention of being able to teach each paragraph to someone else as soon as you finish reading it. Define the exact criteria for your correct answer before you read the answer choices.
• 1 Like

  sven.crittenden-1-1-1 Live Member

  May 2022 34 karma

  Thanks @canihazJD, @alyssamadelyn, and @dustin13!!
• ashley.hart29641-1 Free Trial Member

  May 2022 5 karma

  Thinking about getting 7sage. Did any of y’all find 7sage reading comp helpful?
• Matt Sorr Alum Member ⭐

  May 2022 edited May 2022 2245 karma

  @ashley.hart29641 I did find it useful, though RC seems to be the section where most people figure out their own, relatively unique approach. With this being said, I think the big-picture lessons that 7Sage teaches you about RC, like reading for structure, identifying the argument in the passage, and paying attention to where the author stands on whatever they're discussing, seem to be lessons that most high-scorers on RC teach.
• r.anger1 Core Member

  May 2022 86 karma

  i second everything @canihazJD said. paraphrasing as you go and then actively pushing back things you just read that may sound similar/like it expands on/ties into something you may have previously read in another paragraph makes a world of a difference in terms of understanding the passage. i don't even write paragraph summaries down, pushing everything back/together in my head as i read is sufficient to help me answer the questions (usually) without looking back to the passage!