Stamina with RC

[fmihalic1477]

Hello All,

I'm about to finish Chapter 4 of the RC Bible and my RC performance has improved tremendously with nothing more than aggressive application of VIEWSTAMP. That said, my style with this is so aggressive that I find myself very, very tired after about 2.5 passages. By the fourth passage, I'm exhausted. Is this normal and does it go away as you practice more, like running?

I've noticed that with just about every practice passage that I've done, the MP is simply a summary of all of the conclusions, combined with some sort of reference to the tone. Is this is a good tactic for finding the MP? (If it's not explicitly mentioned).

[Emily Haney-Caron]

Hi fmihalic1477,

I'm so glad to hear VIEWSTAMP has made such a difference for you! It's normal to feel fatigued when learning any new skill; it takes a lot of concentration and effort at first, but should definitely get better with time. That said, if you don't feel like it starts to get better, check back in and we can try to figure out how to help.

The approach you outlined to finding the MP will often be correct, but I would caution against relying too heavily on that, because it won't always be true. Sometimes, the main point will be mentioned briefly at the end, and the rest of the passage is sort of setting it up but not directly related, or it will be alluded to only once and the other lines are playing more of a supporting role. You definitely want to be thinking about the passage as a whole, including tone, and asking yourself why the author took the time to write it.

[fmihalic1477]

Thank you very much for the response Emily!

I have noticed that some passages don't have very much argument at all (from the author). For instance, I read a passage yesterday and there were about 5 different viewpoints, all of which were very contrasting. It opened with a brief explanation of Market Structures, then view points of 5 different experts and closed with the author stating basically that over complication of market structure does not necessarily help increase competition. This would obviously be the main point, but in this paragraph the author did not necessarily provide and premise or conclusion. It seemed that the viewpoints themselves were used as the premises of the author, as if he was proving is point through the others.

Is this common?

[Emily Haney-Caron]

Hi fmihalic1477,

Great question. For me to get a better sense of what you mean so we can provide a better answer, could you point me to the specific passage you're referencing? If you can tell us what test it is from or where in the PowerScore materials you saw it, I (or another instructor) will be able to tailor the response to what you were seeing in that passage!