Study and Strategy questions relating to the GMAT.
abhitechie
Forum Guests
 
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 8:00 pm
 

Sentence - Diagramming : Useful for SC ?

by abhitechie Mon Oct 31, 2011 12:44 pm

I like to learn things from the ground up - the fundamentals, generalise the concepts, develop a strategy and attack. There are two thoughts going in my mind regarding developing my SC strategy. I have read Manhattan SC book thrice and solved first 100 problems of 0G12. However even after i am getting the right answers i am not sure of my approach/logic as i am in Critical Reasoning and RC questions.

1.) Should I go by the brute force route and solve problems after problem? However when i look at OG problems solutions, they don't show a standard approach of attack and the take - aways cannot be generalised. I have also heard that solving problem after problem will lead to saturation after a point.

2.) Another approach would be to refer to Sentence diagramming books such as "Doing Grammar". This however involves a time commitment and i am not sure if i would ultimately able to apply the concepts to GMAT Problems.
StaceyKoprince
ManhattanGMAT Staff
 
Posts: 9360
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:05 am
Location: Montreal
 

Re: Sentence - Diagramming : Useful for SC ?

by StaceyKoprince Mon Nov 07, 2011 11:54 am

There are times when a diagramming-like technique can be useful, yes, but it is too time-consuming to use on every problem.

In terms of technique for working through any problem, use this:

http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... n-problem/

BUT if you hit a problem with *everything* underlined, or where large parts of the sentence are moving around or big chunks are changing all at once, rather than more discrete differences, then you may want to use an approach that lets you break down the sentece into its component parts.

You can do that by looking at a grammar text. You can also take a look at the two articles I've linked below, and we also talk about a "core / modifier" diagramming technique in our Quest for 750 SC Slam workshop. So you have lots of potential options!

http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2011/03/ ... sc-problem
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2011/03/ ... -problem-2

I'd start by trying out the things discussed in the above articles and then go from there!
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep