My performance on RC has dropped after studying

[marcnash]

Hi,

I am studying from all PS bibles. I have noticed an improvement in both LG and LR, but I have noticed I am getting worse at RC.
Before studying, I used to at my own pace, did no annotation whatsoever, grasped a good idea of the theme of the text. I used to get the Global questions correct, but of course missed the very local question that do not reference lines.
Now, I have noticed that by the end of the text I do not have a complete idea of what has gone on. I am trying to find the VIEWSTAMP, so my focus in each paragraph is to annotate as described in the book, and to find the viewstamp stuff, which is distracting me from actually understanding the passage; it's more like read to annotate, rather than read to understand. Now I can't even answer most of the Global Question.
What's your advice on that. I am kinda loosing confidence in this section

One other problem I've always had is that I can't find very local questions that ask for a certain keyword without referencing the line. While I am annotating, I never know whether this is an important term or not. How can I get a good grasp of questions that require details

[Ladan Soleimani]

Hello Marcnash

Out of everything on the test, the annotations for reading comprehension vary the most from student to student and it really is about finding what works best for you. You do not need to have a lot of annotations and if you were doing better without them then I might go back to that, especially if you are taking the test tomorrow. Otherwise you might try playing around with notation to see what is helpful for you. Try making the notes and underlining as you read through and then try waiting until you finish a paragraph to add your notes and see which way works better. It sounds like waiting to annotate anything in a paragraph until after you read through it may help with your understanding, but then still give you notes to look back to as you answer questions.

In regards to VIEWSTAMP, knowing those things should give you the big picture ideas and theme of the passage. You may be thinking of them too narrowly or treating them like specific details or lines you can pull out. They aren't details you are trying to pinpoint; they are what makes up the complete picture you are talking about getting as you read through, especially the main point and author's viewpoint. You don't necessarily want to be hunting specifically for those things, but when you notice them as you are reading you should pay attention to them and potentially make some note that they are there.

Questions that reference specific concepts without a line or paragraph number can be really hard to find in the passage. In general, any term that is defined is a good one to be noted out to the side of the passage. Concepts that are brought up more than once, in different parts of the passage are also good to note. You may want to save these questions until the end of the passage. After you've worked through the global questions and local questions that give you a specific line reference, you may have an easier time locating the concept references since you will have looked back through portions the passage several times already.

I hope this helps!
Ladan

[Steve Stein]

Thanks Ladan—great answer! I'd like to add just a couple of thoughts: Marc, you mentioned that when you began, you were able to naturally grasp the general themes of the passages and get most of the Global questions correct. This is great, because it speaks to a strong foundation in reading skills, since this is not something you would likely accomplish without a pretty solid grasp on the passage.

This also suggests that you were probably already focused on many of passage elements discussed in the Reading Comprehension Bible—you wouldn't have been getting so many Global questions right, for example, without having noted the main point, the general tone used by the author, or the various viewpoints presented in each passage. For you, noting those elements must be somewhat intuitive, which is great! Those elements are discussed in the RC Bible to ensure that students are aware of the need to focus on them,but as Ladan alluded to, we do not suggest that you necessarily right out an entire VIEWSTAMP analysis for each passage; the proper type and degree of notation is a very individual decision. Some benefit from very heavy notation, while others find a more light-handed approach more effective. We present several different examples of notated passages in the book, in an effort to underscore the fact that different types and amounts of notation work for different people.

I also agree that adjusting your notations might be a good idea, and might recommend taking the time to look back over a few of the passages that you have already read and notated. With the questions and correct answers in front of you, take a look and see how effective your notes were. If it seems that they were too extensive, try a more minimalistic approach, and see what level works best to determine the ideal approach for you.

I hope this is helpful as well! Please let us know—thanks!

~Steve

[marcnash]

Thanks for the quick reply, that has really helped me. I have practiced some passages and got most of them all correct. The key was less annotation!