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Sentence - Diagramming : Useful for SC ?

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Sentence - Diagramming : Useful for SC ?

by AbhiJ » Mon Oct 31, 2011 8:33 am
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.
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by essaysnark » Mon Oct 31, 2011 8:45 am
Hi AbhiJ - really great questions.

We're not studying for the GMAT so hopefully others will add their thoughts here too. But what we do when we're looking at an SC problem posted here on BTG is (and this is probably obvious) we first identify the core sentence. What's the subject, verb, and object? Does the verb agree with the subject? Breaking out any subordinate clauses is important too. What is the main independent clause in the sentence? Not only does this help you start to identify any potential grammar problems, it's a very important first step in understanding the meaning of the sentence. It's often easy to eliminate at least one or even two of the answer choices based upon a subversion of the intended meaning in the original sentence.

So, this quick subject-verb-object process -- which again, this is definitely not rocket science!! -- is critical, and it's sort of a "diagramming" process as you're suggesting.

EssaySnark's expertise is in every other part of the application, so surely there will be others who can offer more sophisticated tips and tricks on your question. :-)

(We're just really weird - we sorta *like* the SC problems! Most other GMAT problems are waaaaay over our head. :shock: )

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by MBACenter » Mon Oct 31, 2011 9:23 am
Sentence diagrams can be useful. I am a big fan, but there are several things you need to be getting out of them:

- The MAIN SUBJECT, MAIN VERB and (if the verb is transitive) DIRECT OBJECT are the top-line and most important parts of the sentence because they are the anchors. If these fail or are missing, everything else about the sentence falls to naught, however interesting it may be.

- You need to correctly identify each subject/verb pair in all the main clauses, subordinate clauses and relative clauses.

- Verb participles are NOT by themselves main verbs to be coordinated with subjects and apart from progressive or perfect tenses function more as adjectives or adverbs (present only for this one) than as verbs.
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by MBACenter » Mon Oct 31, 2011 9:25 am
One other thing: you are very astute to suppose that too large a quantity of Sentence Corrections can lead to saturation, especially with explanations as unsystematic as those in the Official Guide.

Quality over quantity. Ask yourself very honestly after reviewing an error you have made, "Is this something I understand and know how to prevent in the future?" If there is any doubt, that means the answer is "no" and you need to get help.
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by Jim@Grockit » Tue Nov 01, 2011 4:53 pm
I don't consider diagramming valuable, but the things you need to know to be ABLE to diagram are definitely useful. For example, knowing what kind of line to draw around an adverb is not great, but recognizing that your adverb is actually modifying a noun, and should therefore be an adjective, is very helpful.
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by Luke.Doolittle » Tue Nov 01, 2011 7:03 pm
I would agree with pretty much everything posted here.

Doing Grammar is a great read though. Very interesting. In addition to the "core" constructs discussed above and how to identify them that book talks about embedding, which I've found quite useful in really complicated SC problems. If you have the time I recommend it not only for some useful tidbits related to GMAT SC problems but also for your general writing ability.
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