Weaken Questions - how to approach

Epic waffles

Just a quick question

If assumptions are premises the author left out then does that mean that I am trying to find that assumption in the answer stem?

I am just having a hard time with these so if anyone has any hints or suggestions that would be awesome.

help

ALLCAA123

Had a lot of trouble with weaken questions for the longest of time, but here's what helped me:

So, you're looking to weaken the support that the premises lend the conclusion. That's it. End of story!

Of course, if you see a glaring assumption right away you want to keep it in mind going into the answer choices, but if you don't (as is usually the case), keep an open mind about how best to attack the support that the premises lend the conclusion. First, be observant about the argument– what is the author's conclusion exactly, down to the last WORD (yea one word, like 'only' or 'must', can make or break the entire conclusion, and the right answer can point that out)?

If the wording doesn't lead to any glaring mistakes, then think about the next best thing: what's the author using as support? Is he basing his conclusion on a bad comparison or a potentially insufficient set of facts? What's his evidence? Could there be important things he's leaving out? Usually the author's going to leave out some important stuff that could play a big role in how good or bad the argument is, or make some crappy comparison between two things, and the right answer might point that out. Just by thinking about these things and the premise/conclusion, you're already a step ahead in getting the right answer.

Epic waffles

Excellent thank you so much!!!!! I will definitely use this I am sure it will help a lot

Mariposadebarrio17

I would check out the webinar on this topic (and STR) super helpful breakdown!