Flaw Questions

TigerDen

I recently finished the flaw questions portion of the 7sage curriculum and found this question type to be my weakness. Once I got to level 3 difficulty questions, I started having problems. I don't know if it's the language of the questions or if I'm just not understanding the concept. Anyone else have this issue and improve drastically?

Eric25

Have you gone through the 19 common LSAT flaws? That list was really helpful in learning common flaw types and things to keep your eye out for. I used to create fake arguments using one of the flaws from the list, to practice formulating what a flaw like that would look like in an argument. Give it time and practice and you'll get them!

LSATcantwin

Yes! I had to implement a strategy of turning LSAT English into "Dumb" English.

Examples:

• Actual Answer Choice: "The argument fails to justify its presumption that what is true of part of the budget is also true of the total budget."

• Translation: The argument doesn't prove that what is true for a part is true for a whole

• Actual Answer Choice: "Fails to consider that a pejorative claim is true can be more harmful to a person's reputation than a false claim."

• Translation: Fails to see that a negative true claim can do more harm to reputation than a false claim.

Once I did that, I would then think back to the stimulus using the "dumb English" version and ask myself "did the argument do that?". Just by making the answer choices easier to grasp mentally I saw a pretty decent jump in my ability to handle flaw questions.

Also - repetition. Flaws will repeat, a lot. The more flaw questions you do, the more use to seeing them you will be, the easier they will become.

TexAgAaron

Agree with what @Eric25 and @LSATcantwin said. What was a game changer for me was studying the list of the most common flaws and then going around the internet and seeing different ways they were used. An example was I would go onto YouTube and look them up. This just gives you a broader perspective and I saw results immediately. For many of us, we aren't aware of many logical flaws. Once you have studied up on them, you will start noticing them more and you can predict sometimes where an argument may be going. And as mentioned above....repetition will be your best friend!

Ignatius

Flaw question types are definitely one of my weaknesses, too. I've been studying for about a year now and flaws still give me some issues to this day. For me, the problem was with the abstract language in the answer choices, as @LSATcantwin stated. I was only able to get better at answering flaw question types after repeated drilling. There was a month where I would start my studying with a set of 5-10 Flaw questions. I would write out explanations for each problem, then watch the videos, even for those questions that I got correct. This was done everyday to ensure I had the right mindset. I strongly believe it's about exposure for improving on flaw questions. Also, don't hesitate to revisit the CC again. I've gone through it twice during my time here, and I still revisit the occasional lesson. You got this.