The question stem says, which of the following most accurately expresses the conclusion drawn in the argument?

So, this is a main conclusion question.

Let's go ahead and break down the argument, identify the specific line that we think is the main conclusion,

and then look for the answer that best restates that line.

and contain many very similar themes and situations,

which might lead one to suspect plagiarism on the part of one of the authors.

So that's telling us that we have these two very similar books.

And because of those similarities, someone might think that there was some kind of plagiarism that was involved.

And just to be clear, that means someone might think that one of the authors copied the other author's book.

Now that part is just context. It is just telling us the situation that we're talking about.

We're talking about these two books that seem to be very similar.

But in the next line, it looks like we're about to get the author's opinion.

However, that's a transition word that tells us that this is likely to be the beginning of the author's argument,

which is going to be a comment on the context there.

The author says, however, it is more likely that the similarity of themes and situations in the two novels is merely coincidental.

Since, and the since here is telling us that what's about to follow is a premise,

so since, both authors are from very similar backgrounds and have led similar lives.

So the since tells us that the end is a premise,

and everything after the since is supporting a conclusion, which is,

it is more likely that the similarity of themes and situations in the two novels is merely coincidental.

That is the author's conclusion.

And the way that you tell it's the author's conclusion is,

first, as I mentioned, the word since introduces a premise,

and so that means the premise portion of the sentence supports the other part of the sentence.

And the other way that you can tell that this is a conclusion is because the author is giving his opinion about

what explains the similarity between X and Y.

Someone else might think, oh, it might be plagiarism.

But the author's coming along and shutting that explanation down and saying,

no, it's actually, or rather, more likely to be, coincidence.

This is the more likely explanation.

Now, because this is a main conclusion question when we go to the answers,

we're just looking for the answer that most closely matches the claim

that it is more likely that the similarity of themes and situations in the novels X and Y is merely coincidence.

and the two novels contain many very similar themes and situations.

Well, A is simply stating the context.

This is just matching the first half of the first sentence,

which is describing the similarities between the books.

But that's not what the author is trying to prove to us.

That's not the main conclusion.

The main conclusion is the author's opinion that the similarities there are due to coincidence.

Nobody copied the other.

It's more likely that the similarity is purely coincidental.

So A is not the main conclusion.

and contain many very similar themes and situations might lead one to suspect plagiarism.

Well, that's true, but it's not the main conclusion.

Again, that's just part of the context.

Someone might come along and think that one of these people must have copied the other.

But the author's argument then is trying to reject that idea,

or at least say that it's less likely than coincidence.

Remember, we're looking for an answer that matches what is in these brackets here,

and B is not a match to that.

So B is not the main conclusion.

If you're at all tempted by answer choices A or B,

remember that a main conclusion question is not just asking us

which of the following is something that's supported by the passage.

There is a specific line that is the conclusion,

and our job is to find that line and pick the answer that states that line the best.

are from very similar backgrounds and have led similar lives.

Okay, that's true, but that's just matching the premise.

The author makes the claim that is described in C

in order to support the idea that the more likely explanation for the similarities is coincidence.

So C is not the conclusion, it is a premise.

And just to reiterate, the reason we know it's a premise

is because it was preceded by the word since.

Since cannot introduce a conclusion.

It's going to introduce support for a conclusion.

Let's take a look at answer choice D now, which says

is guilty of plagiarism than that the similarity of themes and situations

in the two novels is merely coincidental.

And this is what we are looking for,

but the LSAT is just wording this main conclusion in a way that might throw you off.

So here's what's required in order for us to understand D well enough to pick it.

First, when you look at this conclusion here that says

it is more likely that the similarity of themes and situations in the two novels is merely coincidental,

you'll notice that the idea of something being more likely is a comparison.

Now the conclusion does not explicitly flesh out that comparison,

but there is still a comparison.

So it's on us to understand what it means to say that something is more likely.

If the idea of the similarity being coincidental is more likely,

we have to ask, what is it more likely then?

And the answer, of course, is that it is more likely

than the other explanation that someone might have for the similarity.

Remember, the first sentence started by saying,

these novels are very similar, someone might think plagiarism is involved.

So when the author then says it is more likely that the similarity is due to coincidence,

what they're saying is that the coincidence explanation is more likely than the plagiarism explanation.

So that's challenge number one in picking AnswerJoy's D,

just making sure that we understand that more likely here is a comparison.

Now the second challenge that they present in AnswerJoy's D

is that they just word that exact same relationship here in a different way.

What's another way to say that the coincidence explanation is more likely than the plagiarism explanation?

Well, it's that the plagiarism explanation is less likely than the coincidence explanation.

The LSAT thinks that wording AnswerJoy's D in this way is going to throw off a lot of people.

They're intentionally changing the way they express the meaning of the conclusion

because they know that a lot of people are just looking to see the exact same words,

and if they don't see the exact same words as what we thought we were looking for,

then that's going to turn off a lot of people.

But if you understand what the conclusion means,

and if you also understand that you can word the conclusion here

as a statement about what's less likely as opposed to what's more likely,

then AnswerJoy's D will make sense as the answer.

Now I want to emphasize that this is not a case of just picking the best answer,

that D is, like, pretty close.

This is actually a case where what is stated in D

is an expression of what is in the parentheses here, which was the conclusion.

The wording might sound different, but the meaning is exactly the same,

and that's why it's correct.

If the authors of Novel X and Novel Y are from very similar backgrounds

and have led similar lives,

suspicions that either of the authors plagiarized are very likely to be unwarranted.

Now, this is going to be a very tempting answer for a lot of people

because E sounds like the author's argument.

It sounds like, essentially, the entirety of this last statement,

which includes both the premise and the conclusion.

I think another reason that E might be very compelling is that

it just sounds like the author agrees with that.

But when you're doing a main conclusion question,

remember that the correct answer is not just going to be something the author agrees with.

We are being asked for something very specific,

which is the specific line that is the conclusion of the argument.

And if you understand that the word since introduces a premise

and the other part of the statement is a conclusion,

then that should tell you that what we're looking for

is just the other part of the statement.

We are not looking for, like, the combination of the since part plus the conclusion.

The problem with answer choice E is that it is not actually just restating

what is in parentheses here.

It's trying to restate, essentially, the connection between the premise and the conclusion here.

The assumption that the author makes that because

the authors are from very similar backgrounds and have led similar lives,

that that is something that suggests plagiarism was not involved.

That's certainly something the author believes,

and it's certainly underlying the logic of their argument,

but it is not an expression of the idea

that it is more likely the similarity of themes is due to coincidence than plagiarism.

So that's why answer choice E is not correct.

Now, if you are still really tempted by answer choice E,

let me give you this more abstract example.

If we have a premise that says A is true,

and then the conclusion says B,

in a main conclusion question, we are looking for an answer that best restates B here.

Now, it is true that when the author gives you this argument

of premise A, conclusion B,

when the author gives you that argument,

they are assuming that A implies B.

You can think of this as an assumption underlying their argument.

But that assumption is not the conclusion.

The conclusion is just B.

It is not the idea that the fact of A, if true, would lead to B.

That is not what we are looking for on this kind of question.

E is very similar to that idea there,

the link between the premise and the conclusion,

but it is not the conclusion.

And finally, let me just point out something that's kind of superficial,

but you can still use to get rid of answer choice E.

Notice that it says that suspicions of plagiarism are very likely to be unwarranted.

That isn't quite what the author would agree with.

The author said that coincidence is more likely than plagiarism.

Does that mean that plagiarism is very likely to be wrong as the explanation?

I don't know. Very likely seems to be a little bit more extreme.

So yeah, you can get rid of E for that reason.

But I didn't lead with that

because that isn't really the more important takeaway

that I want you to have if you were tempted by E.