Prephrase help

[kgrover59]

Does anyone have any good suggestions about pre-phrasing? I know they said there is a module or lesson on it on the website, but I can't seem to find it. Thanks

kg

[Adam Tyson]

Good question! As to the online module, I'm not aware of one specifically on prephrasing. As to improving on prephrasing generally, I have some ideas.

First, getting a good prephrase comes easier the more familiar you are with the structure of the questions. Do lots and lots and lots of questions, in the homework and in the online supplements. As you get used to the patterns, you'll start to get a feel for what they authors are looking for, and also for how the attractive wrong answers will look.

Next, drill on prephrasing. Do that by doing a bunch of LR questions (a block of 50 from one of the marathons, perhaps) with the answers covered, and don't allow yourself to look at the answers until you have a good prephrase or two. Don't worry about time during the drill - the idea is to build your prephrasing skills, not to move quickly. Speed will come later.

Remember to read each questions as if you were preparing for a debate on the subject. Ask yourself, is this a good argument? If so, what follows naturally from it? If not, what's wrong with it? How could I help it or hurt it? That's prephrasing. Build your skills at understanding the stimuli, and prephrasing the answers will come much more naturally.

Hope that helps! Good luck,

Adam

[Jon Denning]

Adam that's really great advice, and I wholeheartedly agree! There are actually a number of discussions on prephrasing on the Online Student Center (via virtual modules), the first of which is covered in the Conceptual Recap of Logical Reasoning from Lesson 1 (Lesson 1 Homework section). And it comes up again in subsequent discussions throughout the course, so as you review those modules you'll encounter the idea many times.

The reason we talk so extensively about it is simple: it's tremendously important. In fact, I think it's arguably the most important step (certainly one of the most important) in attacking LR that people consistently overlook or ignore. I value it so highly that I took some time and wrote up a two-part article on it over at our Blog, which I've linked to below:

http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/bid/153 ... ing-Part-I

http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/bid/153 ... ng-Part-II


Take a look at those and let us know what you think!

Jon