“Author’s Attitude” Questions

Kharmon1994

Does anyone have any advice for approaching “attitude” questions? They often seem highly subjective and trip me up, while other have clear right or wrong answers.

Ex: June 1997 - RC Q. 13
Which of the following most accurately describes the author’s attitude toward proposals to introduce personal stories into legal discourse?
A. Strongly Opposed
B. Somewhat Skeptical
C. Ambivalent
D. Strongly supportive
E. Unreservedly optimistic

While a - c were obviously false since the narrative spoke positively about personal stories in legal discourse, how do I distinguish between D and E?

I chose E because the author stated “narrative might play a crucial, positive role...” (a very optimistic statement) but never directly comes out in support of a proposal to make the change. Tips are appreciated!

Alex

@Kharmon1994

What helps me most with Author's attitude questions are paying attention to the adverbs that subtly express an author's opinion. These are often the only real textually derived justifications of the answers on these questions. So, you'll want to become attuned to words like: fortunately, regretfully, correctly, conveniently, sadly, etc. I circle these and other rhetorical markers as I read to make sure I'm paying attention to them.

Bamboosprout

I actually remember this question, and it taught me an important lessons. Definition matters in LSAT. Optimistic, by definition, doesn't mean you support something, and only means that you expect it to turn out successful. Supportive means that you are behind something, and "want" it to be successful. So, because the passage only says that it might play a role, we know the author doesn't expect it to be successful, and instead, is hoping that it is successful.