Introduction
Hello. You can call me Saree.
Like you, I am studying and preparing to write the MCAT with little time to spare. I have devoted the past several months to the singular pursuit of attaining a high score on the MCAT, and I hope that you, my dear reader, share a similar fervent desire.
I will not do you the dishonor of preaching to you about the difficulty of the MCAT. I believe that you are all too aware of the arduous task awaits you. However, one cannot expect to enter the battlefield with a defeated mindset and expect victory. One's psychological disposition is of utmost importance, and I recommend approaching the MCAT with an unflappable confidence.
I believe that the Verbal section of the MCAT has been received as the most difficult section test, and therefore as a corollary, we test-takers devote an inordinate amount of time seeking to master the Verbal section. The question before us, then, is precisely how to achieve our goal.
I would like to propose one such method – the
Draupadi Method. My verbal strategy is based on how I think, and it is informed by my previous experiences. Therefore, my "process" - my strategy - is unique to me. It may or may not work for you! I sincerely believe that life, and the progression of knowledge is cumulative – we are constantly adding to our knowledge base. So, please, if any part of my primer is of value to you, use it! If you can adapt it to your existing methodology all the better!
There are many ways to reach the mountain-top, and this primer simply offers one perspective.
All the best,
DoctorInASaree
Section 1: Procedure
0) Flow of Information [constant - given]
-Your methodology. Your framework.
- As you move from passage to passage this is the singular constant. My methodology, as stated above, is based upon my own unique experiences and perspectives. I will edify several indispensable methods as you progress through this primer.
1) Read the Questions[<20 seconds]
- Read them in numeric order
- Do
NOT read the answer choices
- Before immersing yourself into the passage, imagine for a moment that you are cooking a feast for a large banquet hall. People have ordered meals X, Y, and Z, and your task as the chef is to figure out a) the requisite ingredients & b) the procedure in which to mix them all together (quantities, etc.) in order to produce a meal.
My technique employs a similar methodology. By reading the questions first I am doing two things:
1. I am
extracting the theme (crux) of the passage. I can map out the structure of the passage and what the author has argued simply by reading the questions.
2. Most importantly, like the chef, I am figuring out which
details (ingredients) I must attain or understand in order to answer the questions (produce a meal).
- Lastly, this will stop you from thinking about previous passages. You will be turning your brain's focus to the current passage as you begin to
focus on the passage's content before the passage itself is read.
2) Read the passage [<3 minutes]
- Fairly obvious...read the passage!
Each and every word! DO NOT speed-read - no matter how skilled you believe yourself to be. There is no reason to rush through the verbal section. Be calm and pay attention to each and every word the author has written on the page, for they have done so for a reason.
Do not miss out on vital details!
-
Read with purpose: you know what the passage is demanding of you (the questions), so read with the intent of answering those questions.
- Your duty is not to engage in an academic quest of figuring out some deep mystery about the subject matter.
Your duty is to answer the questions - that's it. Everything else is irrelevant.
3) Deduce the crux of the passage[<10 seconds]
- I cannot stress how important this step is.
- Ask yourself the following question: how can I best summarize the contents of the entire passage into one statement.
What is this passage truly about? What is the author conveying to the reader about topic Z?
Intro/concluding paragraphs -> contain the crux of the passage - what the author believes. In the “sandwich paragraphs” one will find supporting and/or contrasting arguments which reveals how and why the author agrees or disagrees. How does the author reach his/her conclusions? Premises! How does the author validate their premises?
- How does one go about testing the value of premises? By employing logic, and testing the validity of statements by identifying the presence of logical fallacies, or lack thereof.
- Take a deep breath of air because it is time to begin answering passage questions.
4) Answer the questions[<3.5 minutes]
- At this point, you know the methodology, the crux of the passage, arguments that support or weaken the author's position, the premises that underlie the author's conclusion, etc.
Have no fear, and answer the questions!
Aside: I apply my Verbal strategy to the other two sections of the MCAT. Instead of reading the passage (and their wasteful two paragraphs which contain an introduction to the mechanisms of a toilet - looking at your TBR Ch7), look for key equations, tables of values, and graphs.
Looking at my Verbal strategy is like gazing upon the night sky for the very first time. What are those lustrous objects in the sky? What am I, a little child, to make of this grand cosmic universe? In the next section, I will edify the tools I use to analyze and synthesize passages, as well as how and when to precisely apply those tools.
Section 2: Dual Modes of Thinking [see pdf version]
Section 3: Verbal Methodology -
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT SECTIONS [see pdf version]
Section 4: Logic [see pdf version]
Section 5: The Anatomy of an Argument [see pdf version]
Section 6: Fallacies [see pdf version]
Section 7: Spotting Arguments [see pdf version]
Section 8: Application (Saree solves passages) IMPORTANT [see pdf version]
Section 9: Verbal Tips
Oh my, where to start?!
Sherlock Holmes’ Process of Elimination
· Question: why is a basic process of elimination strategy not sufficient?
· One of Sherlock Holmes most notable quotes is the following:“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”
· In my opinion, people tend to get carried away with feel-good premises, and end up choosing the incorrect answer choice. The Sherlock Holmes’ PoE strategy is demanding in so far as it requires the test-taker to prove that the premise that is being advocated is
IMPOSSIBLE. What do I mean by impossible? That means one of two things (a) that nowhere in the passage can one find a single data point or any type of evidence to prove the premise true (b) the author would not agree with the premise.
· This is an exhaustive technique of approaching premises, but it is one, that in time, (through developing intuition) is one of the most rewarding MCAT Verbal strategies that I know of.
· For example, refer back to the passage concerning Social Darwinism (Example #3); I was not comfortable with the conclusion regarding homosexuals. However, I eliminated the other three answer choices as IMPOSSIBLE, and therefore, even though I was not comfortable with the answer and I didn’t think it was a probable answer (from my perspective) it was the right one to choose.
· The Sherlock Holmes’ PoE strategy divorces your experiences and therefore your biases from the MCAT Verbal passage. Yes, it is an exacting strategy, but well worth it.
Time Management
· Practice, practice, practice. This is the only way that I know of that one may begin to develop an intuition for MCAT Verbal passages. I recommend getting your hands on any resource available to you!
· Confidence (more on this later). Earlier on in my MCAT studies I had developed a troublesome habit of second-guessing my answer choices, and therefore, invariably, I would spend more time than desired on a single question. You must learn to trust yourself, and your intuition. Once you mistrust yourself then you end up with the following problem…
· Over-Analysis! Remember this line:
over analysis leads to paralysis! Focus on what is relevant and do not analyze more than you have to. You see a man across the street from you, and you begin to analyze his character: his age, gait, weight, oh is he my Prince Charming? This is a classic high-school example of over-analyzing a situation. What is the relevance? None. If you deliberate for too long on answer choices not only are you improperly managing your time, but you are also confusing yourself.
Do not hesitate to act! Do your duty and solve the question. Find pertinent information that will allow you to do your duty.
Post-Passage Analysis
There is nothing complicated about “post-game analysis”, and there need not be anything scary about it either. As stated earlier, there are two types of arguments: inductive and deductive arguments. Let’s review!
A deductive argument has three stages: 1. premise(s) 2. inference 3. Conclusion. If it is invalid or has one or more false premises, it will be unsound. An inductive argument: the premises actually provide the required degree of support for the conclusion, and then the argument is a good argument.
Summary: A valid argument transmits truth from the premises to the conclusion. All of the premises must be true for the truth to be transmitted.
· Therefore, an incorrect answer choice is selected because the test-taker has selected an incorrect premise and/or conclusion. This is why the Sherlock Holmes method is important!
· For a deductive argument: you must test premise(s) and inference(s)! If you review my example passages, you will see that I often make statements such as:
o Wild assumption!
o Not supported by evidence in the passage.
o Inference that is not supported by premises
· Always be sure to review your answers in the context of your methodology – inductive and deductive reasoning.
· An author once posed the following question at a book club meeting she attended:
John Watson is Sherlock Holmes’ assistant and good friend. He wrote all of the detective cases the Mr Holmes worked on. Question: Why doesn’t Mr Watson display a mastery of deductive reasoning? Answer: He makes unfounded assumptions, because it is easy. Don’t think like Mr Watson, think like Mr Holmes!
· There are other ways of incorrectly answering a question such as:
o Misreading a question
o Lack of knowledge
· However, all of those cases invariably lead where one has selected an incorrect premise and/or conclusion.
Summary: To analyze why you selected an incorrect answer choice, you must first analyze where your inductive or deductive reasoning lead you astray. Which premises did you take for granted?
In Closing
Scoring well on the Verbal Section of the MCAT is no easy feat, and there is no singular way to score well. I’ve encountered, in the past several months, several people who sought out miracle stories, of individuals who scored 14 or 15 on the VR section due to some inherent advantage. I’m here to tell you there are no miracle people. To paragraph Mr Feynman - there’s no talent or special miracle ability. There is no special MCAT Verbal gene, hormone, or potion that one can make use of it to achieve a better score. It comes through practice, studying, reading, learning, being curious, and devoting a great deal of time.
There is no royal road to knowledge – Euclid
Therefore, the potential to score well resides in every single test-taker. Whether you realize that potential or not is up to you.
In Wizard of Oz, the Scarecrow wanted a brain, the Tin Man a heart, the Lion courage and Dorothy to return to Kansas.
The Wizard solved the first three (with a diploma, a testimonial and a medal) but it took the Good Witch of the North to explain to Dorothy that all she had to do was
click her heels while repeating “there’s no place like home.”
So why the need for the flying monkeys, talking trees, dissolving witches and munchkins before Dorothy’s enlightenment?
The Witch explained that, while
Dorothy always had the power to go home,
she had to learn it on her own.
Dorothy vowed that “if I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own backyard.”
The solution resides within you. I hope that my method is of value to you.
All the best,
Saree