LSAT Trainer vs. 7Sage

kH573201

Hey guys!

Hope everyone had an amazing holiday weekend!

I've decided to go back over some of the very beginning core stuff to make sure I have a solid understanding before moving on in the curriculum. I have the LSAT Trainer and I'm trying to use that as supplemental material to explain the concepts I'm having trouble with. This is going to seem really silly...maybe it's because I'm just starting out, but this threw me for a loop:

"When we are asked to evaluate the reasoning in an argument, it is always in terms of a very specific task: our job is always to evaluate and understand why the reasons given DO NOT justify the point that is made. For every one of these questions, your understanding of why the support doesn't justify the conclusion will be your primary gauge for evaluating right and wrong answers (p.35)."

So every argument is wrong? For some reason I remember hearing JY say don't worry about whether the argument is RIGHT OR WRONG..... What is the logical reasoning section asking me to DO?

If anyone could help clarify this, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Thanks guys!

Heart Shaped Box

Not necessarily every argument is wrong but what the question stem is asking of you. For assumption ones such as S, W, SA, NA or flaw etc, then yes, there is definitely something wrong with the argument, and our job is to expose the assumptions/flaws made therein, hence having a critical mind would be beneficial like advocated by Mike Kim in those specific chapters.

However, for questions like MP, AP, our job is simply a labeling exercise, (what's conclusion, argument parts, how it functions etc,) it doesn't matter if the arguments are right or wrong, hence J.Y.'s remark. (to critically analyze such Qs might be a waste of time as per such Q types)

They both are correct in their advocate for the approach to the specific scenario, due to the situational nature of the LR section.

Hope this clears things up a little.

tanes256

@kH573201 exactly what @"Heart Shaped Box" said. You just have to know the question type so you know how to approach the answer choices. I think reading the question stem first helps set your mind in the right gear while reading the stimulus but there are some that say read the stimulus before the question stem.

kH573201

Thanks guys! That's starting to clear things up.

leslieh327

I go into every question skeptical that something in the stimulus can be questioned but like others have stated, sometimes it's over kill if they just want u to identify the MP or the support or something..

Alex

Yeah, with the exception of a few types of questions you'll learn about, every question has something "wrong" with it.

@"Heart Shaped Box" said it perfectly!