Verbal Art Passages, AAMC #5 Picasso in Particular

[PhaseShift11]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hey guys,

That picasso passage on AAMC #5 VR absolutely killed me. I got more wrong on that passage than I did on the entire VR section in AAMC #7.

I'm wondering if it's just an outlier; a really bad passage (bad meaning difficult) or whether a lot of art passages are that difficult compared to the other types of passages.

If you think it's worth one's time to look over some art articles before the MCAT, does anyone have any links to websites with similar articles for me to peruse a few weeks before my test? Things like the Economist and so forth don't seem to have the same type of stuff I don't think.

Thanks.

 

[Bumbl3b33]

Hey guys,

That picasso passage on AAMC #5 VR absolutely killed me. I got more wrong on that passage than I did on the entire VR section in AAMC #7.

I'm wondering if it's just an outlier; a really bad passage (bad meaning difficult) or whether a lot of art passages are that difficult compared to the other types of passages.

If you think it's worth one's time to look over some art articles before the MCAT, does anyone have any links to websites with similar articles for me to peruse a few weeks before my test? Things like the Economist and so forth don't seem to have the same type of stuff I don't think.

Thanks.

1 word: nature

 

[hookgrip]

Hey guys,

That picasso passage on AAMC #5 VR absolutely killed me. I got more wrong on that passage than I did on the entire VR section in AAMC #7.

I'm wondering if it's just an outlier; a really bad passage (bad meaning difficult) or whether a lot of art passages are that difficult compared to the other types of passages.

If you think it's worth one's time to look over some art articles before the MCAT, does anyone have any links to websites with similar articles for me to peruse a few weeks before my test? Things like the Economist and so forth don't seem to have the same type of stuff I don't think.

Thanks.

I actually didn't think the Picasso one was too bad, but there were definitely some passages where I missed quite a few.

I've found that the best way to tackle those is to use only what's given in the passage. Try not to extrapolate too much because it's very easy to go out of scope, so to say.

 

[PhaseShift11]

Well see for me, I know very little if anything about art so your advice doesn't seem to apply in this situation.

On other topics about global warming or some topic I'm familiar with, I usually do okay because I make a conscious effort to step out of my preconceived notions when I attack the passage.

I'm just not sure if this passage was unusually hard for me or whether I suck at art passages.

EDIT: Also nature? Like the website? That doesn't have any artsy stuff does it?

 

[hookgrip]

Well see for me, I know very little if anything about art so your advice doesn't seem to apply in this situation.

On other topics about global warming or some topic I'm familiar with, I usually do okay because I make a conscious effort to step out of my preconceived notions when I attack the passage.

I'm just not sure if this passage was unusually hard for me or whether I suck at art passages.

If it's just one passage that you're missing a lot of questions on, then it's probably an outlier. I've gotten the same verbal score on all of the 5 AAMCs that I've taken so far (12), but in one of them all of my wrong answers came from the same passage. Stuff like that happens sometimes.

If you're having trouble with every art/history/humanities type passage, then it would probably make sense to go back, carefully read the explanations, and then practice with more passages about those topics so that you can quickly read through them and understand the important parts. If you're taking a class, you may be able to get more detailed explanations for the AAMC exams in the course materials. I know Kaplan has their own, more detailed explanations for AAMC exams.

 

[mohad]

q

 

[Bumbl3b33]

Well see for me, I know very little if anything about art so your advice doesn't seem to apply in this situation.

On other topics about global warming or some topic I'm familiar with, I usually do okay because I make a conscious effort to step out of my preconceived notions when I attack the passage.

I'm just not sure if this passage was unusually hard for me or whether I suck at art passages.

EDIT: Also nature? Like the website? That doesn't have any artsy stuff does it?

Haha, no I just remember, I think it was from that passage, that it asked about what was meant by the word nature, and I couldn't find it...spent like 1 minute just trying to find the effing word.

 

[PhaseShift11]

Haha, no I just remember, I think it was from that passage, that it asked about what was meant by the word nature, and I couldn't find it...spent like 1 minute just trying to find the effing word.

LOL I'm pretty good with "finding the word" took me about 5 seconds, but the problem was I still got the damn question wrong anyway because I have no idea what was meant by it.

And thanks for the advice to the rest of you - I think I'm fine with "humanities" even though it's challenging, but I've had very little experience with art passages like this and I figure it's better to be safe than sorry.

So I'd probably be good with some website for philosophical like articles and art based articles, if there are good websites for that, since those are my two weakest areas.

I'm hoping it's an outlier, but I'd hate for my verbal score to go down 1-2 points on the real thing because of another dumb art passage like this.

 

[Aromatic Amine]

Hey guys,

That picasso passage on AAMC #5 VR absolutely killed me. I got more wrong on that passage than I did on the entire VR section in AAMC #7.

I'm wondering if it's just an outlier; a really bad passage (bad meaning difficult) or whether a lot of art passages are that difficult compared to the other types of passages.

If you think it's worth one's time to look over some art articles before the MCAT, does anyone have any links to websites with similar articles for me to peruse a few weeks before my test? Things like the Economist and so forth don't seem to have the same type of stuff I don't think.

Thanks.

I just took AAMC 5 today. Oh man that was a toughy. not only was it longer than the rest of them, it was definitely convoluted. i feel you on this. i don't know how but i still somehow managed to get a 9. i have yet to go over the exam but i knew it was a toughy when i was half way through it.

i've been trying to read the wall-street journal, but i don't know if thats gonna help w/ art passages lol.

 

[KaplanKrackers]

That passage just sucked. Period.

I think some of the answers were very debatable too. I haven't thought this on many of the AAMC questions, but I honestly don't agree with a few of the answers.

 

[BilalL]

ARGH i hate this passage. I got 34/40 (11) VR on AAMC 5, and i missed 4 out 6 questions on this passage. I could have gotten into the teens if this passage didnt exist.

 

[hookgrip]

ARGH i hate this passage. I got 34/40 (11) VR on AAMC 5, and i missed 4 out 6 questions on this passage. I could have gotten into the teens if this passage didnt exist.

Exactly how I felt about one of the passages on AAMC 4.

I got a 12 on verbal (missed 5 questions). 4 of the 5 came from the passage about evolution...

 

[paul411]

That picasso passage on AAMC #5 VR absolutely killed me. I got more wrong on that passage than I did on the entire VR section in AAMC #7.

I'm wondering if it's just an outlier; a really bad passage (bad meaning difficult) or whether a lot of art passages are that difficult compared to the other types of passages.

Not an outlier. I definitely faced a similar passage on the real deal.

 

[PhaseShift11]

Ah crap...

Now that I've done a few AAMC exams, I usually get 1 or 2 wrong in social science, 1 wrong in natural science, and anywhere from 4-6 wrong in humanities. I really need to work on that -_-

Any tips Paul? I generally know what I'm doing but humanities passages just seem more difficult to understand in general so it's hard to extrapolate and evaluate their arguments. Was there a website you looked at for humanities articles for practice?

 

[kkentm]

got raped on this passage too.

 

[PhaseShift11]

Dude, I got owned on a passage on AAMC 9 as well regarding art.

I desperately need to find some art articles and passages to try to improve my familiarity with these types of passages or humanities in general.

 

[Aromatic Amine]

Dude, I got owned on a passage on AAMC 9 as well regarding art.

I desperately need to find some art articles and passages to try to improve my familiarity with these types of passages or humanities in general.

🙁 looks like i gotta deal w that tomorrow as well lol

 

[paul411]

Dude, I got owned on a passage on AAMC 9 as well regarding art.

I desperately need to find some art articles and passages to try to improve my familiarity with these types of passages or humanities in general.

Here's a source for passages simliar to the Picasso passage: http://goo.gl/Xmrbm (p.142)

Here's a source for art passages: http://goo.gl/IGqUT (Go to p.306)

Maybe you can read random passages from the sources above to get used to reading this type of stuff? Might help with trying to figure out how to approach these passages and pacing.

 

[PhaseShift11]

Thanks ever so much Paul!

I was thinking...since it's hard to really know if you've nailed the main idea and nuances of the passage without questions, maybe a few of you individuals who are struggling with humanities passages like myself want to get together on Skype and discuss some?

i.e., find a few passages, read one, and then discuss the main idea and try to help each other out.

Sound like a good idea? >_>

I only have a week until my MCAT now but my sciences are decent so I think focusing on verbal is more important.

 

[paul411]

There was a Skype MCAT study group out there somewhere IIRC that had quite a few participants. Anyways, just post this idea in the X/X/2011 MCAT threads and you'll probably get a good response.

Edit - Found one: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=823840 - they have all these rules and organization and stuff.

 

[PlatinumPenny]

ok glad im not the only one who felt this way about that picasso passage. I also missed more on this one passage compared to the rest of the verbal section. I swear some of those questions could not be answered straight from the passage. even after reading this answer explainations I was like where are they getting this logic from?

 

[getright]

Exactly how I felt about one of the passages on AAMC 4.

I got a 12 on verbal (missed 5 questions). 4 of the 5 came from the passage about evolution...

The same thing happened to me, it was weird because I actually thought it was a pretty easy read.

 

[Kangaroo Paw]

ARGH i hate this passage. I got 34/40 (11) VR on AAMC 5, and i missed 4 out 6 questions on this passage. I could have gotten into the teens if this passage didnt exist.

This is my breakdown almost exactly. I got a 34/40, 5 wrong on the Picasso passage and one wrong on some other passage.

I think it's just the Picasso passage... it was an absolute disaster. I didn't understand its main idea, and that cost me pretty much every question.

There was an artist passage on AAMC 7, and I only got one wrong on that one.

 

[notbobtrustme]

This picasso one can go eff itself. Full of "weasel" questions.

 

[Palam]

Sorry to bump, but am I reading #80 wrong on this passage? I did ok on this passage but I got #80 wrong and its wording seems backwards to me. They ask which reason makes you suppose Picasso was an artist of the "first type" which is the unreflective virtuoso who relies on their mastery, yet the answer OPPOSES that notion.

 

[Palam]

1 word: nature

That question was confusing at first but it's pretty straight forward. Let's just say you know it's not going to be the literal definition for starters

 

[Mornhavon]

.

 

[mangoshakes]

This was my high point for verbal lol. 34/40 i think. Got all of the picasso passage. Effing neanderthals on the other hand....missed 4/5 ha.

 

[Palam]

This was my high point for verbal lol. 34/40 i think. Got all of the picasso passage. Effing neanderthals on the other hand....missed 4/5 ha.

Great! Can you do me a favor and explain your reasoning for #80 then? Maybe I was tired when I read it but the question is asking for support of an idea and the answer provides a contention of that very same idea.

 

[Palam]

I guess I just misunderstood the passage. The unreflective virtuoso relies on his mastery and so I thought of this as more academic and rigid than experimental like a child.

 

[mangoshakes]

I just looked at the question and remembered nothing about it lol. So whatever you figure out is probably true.

 

[actor]

....