Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ PhotoReading, Memory Optimizer Legal Cases (Briefs)

So I'm in this undergraduate law class (not law school) which I am thoroughyl enjoying, but am getting frustrated by the reading. We have to read certain cases, usually just the majority opinion and be able to discuss it in class the next day (which is a socratic seminar, so you must be able to argue and comment effectively, and the prof will know whether you have done the reading or not).

Today I got frustrated because I spent 1 hour reading a 10 page case. Granted, I expect these things to take longer - but THAT much longer? I superread the whole thing twice and didn't find it very helpful, so being nervous of time, I rapid read, or basically regular read through the whole 10 pages. I found it amazing how much more information I got than from the first two pass throughs and how important every sentence seemed to be. Yet I found myself re-reading each sentence mutliple times, just trying to grasp it's meaning.

Help? I sort of feel like I've been floundering with Photoreading lately, although it helps me with my other classes.

What was your purpose for reading the case?

Mind Probing questions (what did you want to know)?

How many breaks did you take, please don't tell me you did that in one sitting? How long your activation pass?

The reason I wouldn't want to to activate for an hour straight.

You need the breaks to incubate and articulate. The mind sorts the information during the breaks so a 5 minute stop between 20 activation passes allows your it to gel a little more. It also gives you an opportunity to refresh your mind probing questions.

Also would be good if you mind mapped or made notes between activation.

It's a bit like cooking a stew. If you just put it on the stove and let it cook for an hour it's going to stick, cook unevenly and won't get the necessary condiments during cooking which means the flavour will be bland.

If you open the lid every 20 minutes or so and stir it. (what happens when you stop activating and review for 5 minutes) It doesn't stick to the bottom. You can add more ingredience to give it more flavour (mind mapping, note making, reviewing and refreshing your mind probing questions add boost to your activation.)

Alex

Alex,

Ah, after 20 years of cooking, I could never figure out until today, why my stew never tasted great and always stuck to the bottom of the pot ... I love ya!

Michael

Ked,

Frustration can arise from not seeing the results one expects in the given time frame one has set for themselves.

Best to let that feeling of frustration go, it is not an indicator of your ability to PR. If fact, it probably was meant as a lesson of which Alex has given some great suggestions.

I sense that this particular time, there was a sense of being rushed and some form of immediate expectation which led to some form of stress which led to frustration when the desired results did not show up ... agian, only you can know what the lesson to be learned was, I'm just sensing.

As for floundering with PR, that usually is an indication that you are about to make a major breakthrough, stick with it. This is your test as to whether you graduate to the next level.

Michael

I just graduated in Law.

Do not worry about it. You are not a law student, so a lot of the terminology will be unfamiliar. It often takes a long time to read the cases,as they lack good punctuatin due to the complexity of the material.
Cases do sometimes take a long time to read. I would be weary about photoreading cases. It does help but you may not know what you need to concentrate on. Some cases should be read in full and especially some majority judgments.

Personally I found photoreading better for textbooks.

quote:

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Originally posted by Alex K. Viefhaus:
What was your purpose for reading the case?

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My purpose is to understand the complexities, precedents, specifics, etc. of the case presented in my textbook so that I can discuss it knowledgably in a seminar class and refer to it again for my examinations.

Mind Probing questions (what did you want to know)?

What was the majority decision? Why did they decide that way? Which precedent cases did they apply? Which statutes did they apply? How is this case affected by the Endangered Species Act (in this particular case)? How did the majority opinion refute contrary evidence to their opinion? Those were some that I started out with.

How many breaks did you take, please don't tell me you did that in one sitting? How long your activation pass?

Yes, unfortunately I did do it in one sitting. I do know that's not the best situation, but I found myself wanting to get it done quickly since it was already late at night and so I just regular read it for about 30 minutes after having photoread/superread it for about 15-20 minutes. (and small break in between).

I guess I got frustrated when three passes through 10 pages only gave me peripheral awareness of the text. When I went back to read it carefully, I realized that I had missed a lot of the important dense material.

Also - I'm running into this problem again where when I'm superreading, I'm understanding what's going on, but can't formulate words to mind map - somethign I always try to do after each pass.

Thanks for the advice.

And I agree with you, Chris, the legal writing is pretty dense and more difficult to apply photoreading to, but I'm sure it can be done since I seem to apply PR to everything, if only adequately.

[This message has been edited by ked (edited July 26, 2005).]

Ked,

Did you form those mind probing questions before or after you activated the text?

Because if you had them before you had the foundation of a mind map. With each pass you would have been extending the branches with the answers. When you dipped. Two or three key words from the text can do the trick to help you trigger recall.

Also which such complext text I would mind map as I go. Sort term memory, the 7 plus or minus 2 bits of information just isn't enough room and I would forget more making it feel like I only got the edges of the information.

True it does slow down the activation. But in the end it's pads out the information more.

Also after a preview or post view of the whole book, when I know I'm going to want more detail I'd go straight into rapid read with mind mapping pens in hand.

Of course if you had to do a whole book. Remeober to PhotoRead at the very least the chapter that you're activating again.

Subjects where you feel bogged down and are missing information might mean your mind needs mull over it some more. PhotoReading again can work like re-reading a passage 5 or six time.

Even in traditional reading 10 pages can take 3 hours to get the analytical level of information. The reading speed is about 45 - 90 per minute (analytical reading speed). Which is 74-minutes (45 wpm for text consisting of 330 words per page.), just reading it once if they have to read it again to improve their level of comprehension...

All books are not equal and it is still worthwhiil applying the system to that text. Lawyers have successfully used it wo why shouldn't you?

Alex