RC Question Types Webinar Notes

Special shoutouts to @DumbHollywoodActor, @"Quick Silver", and @"Nicole Hopkins" for this amazing webinar because without them I never would have had these notes, which I know will help me as I start going through RC again. I know the webinar was long but I highly recommend that anyone struggling in RC check out the webinars because there's tons great amount of wisdom shared in each one. I apologize for this being so long but there was a lot of great information that I didn't want to leave out.

RC Question Types with @Quick Silver

General RC Tips:
1. Use the LSAT Trainer to supplement for RC:
• Tons of good information and complements the material very nicely
• Also goes into Question types and tries to get you to focus on passage structure when reading, which is very useful

2. What to annotate in RC?
• Nicole Hopkins did an amazing webinar focused on RC annotations but in both they stressed this:
i. Have an annotation system that works for YOU. What other people do, might not work as well for you, so try different things and tweak and make your own method that works

2 things to annotate:
1) Main Point of the Passage:
2) Author's Opinion/ Point of View

1) Main Point of the Passage:

How to do this:
1. Follows JY’s memory method somewhat, take the main point of each paragraph and write a phrase or a symbol that represents the main point of the paragraph
2. Look at all of the main points after you’ve read the passage and see what the main point of the entire passage is

Modifications to this system:
1. Timing Issue: If you run out of time because you’re writing slow then consider taking a few seconds and running through the main point of each paragraph in your mind and then the main point of the passage. While this isn’t the best it’s useful to at least start engaging with the passage
2. Main Point Sentence: If there is a sentence that encapsulates the main point of the passage somehow to annotate that (box it, circle it, underline it, star it etc.)
a. This RARELY ever occurs because the reading is very difficult and having one sentence that gives away the main point is considered far to easy.

Why this is important: Both of these are forcing you to engage with the passage much more than one had originally thought. The material is very difficult and you don’t want to get lost or fall asleep and this is forcing you to engage and internalize the material


2) Author’s Opinion/Point of View:
How to do this: when you’re reading if you see the author’s opinion or someone else’s view on a certain topic annotate that somehow (Underline it and mark AO or POV)

Why this is important: Whenever someone gives their opinion generally this is either tested directly or indirectly
1. This can also be combined with Nicole Hopkins Pivot annotation so that you know exactly where the point of view’s switched in the passage and can go back if necessary to answer a question

3. I seem to struggle with natural science passages, how can I deal with this?
• Last Resort: If you know a passage is going to be challenging for you personally there is no harm in saving it for the end. You keep your momentum going however, psychologically it’s good to move away from saying “something is challenging” we want to go into this LSAT war aware of our strengths and weaknesses but we don’t want to go in defeated
• When we read any passage we don’t have to understand everything in the subject matter. WE’RE TRAINING TO BE LAWYERS NOT SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS. When you realize that you read and approach the passages in a different way.
i. Read for the big picture and not the details
ii. Read for function: What is the author doing in this paragraph, “why did he write this”
iii. You only need to identify the big picture and be able to seek out the specific pieces of information when necessary
• See the structure of the passage rather than the subject manner and you begin to see that many natural science passages are formulated in a similar manner. (Watch the Story of Science in the 7sage Curriculum)
i. Introduce a hypothesis/theory
ii. Introduce new evidence against hypothesis/theory
iii. Original theory is either accepted or rejected
iv. If rejected outlook for future is given (whether new theory is accepted, whether problem will ever be solved, etc.)

4. RC is definitely possible to improve dramatically on:
• One of the biggest myths is that LG improves a bunch, LR improves a little less than that, and RC improves little to none. You’re in control with how much you can improve every single one of those areas.
• Tips to improve RC:
i. See how much similarity there are between various questions. We categorize every other section but for RC we go in with a “I’ve been doing this all my life, hope for the best kinda thing”
ii. Have an annotation system that works for you, whatever it may be
iii. Feel free to make some changes and try to experiment with different strategies to find which works the best for you and break through plateaus
1. Go to BR calls
2. New annotation system
3. Ask yourself if you’re reading for understanding or just to attack the questions?
4. Are you reading for detail or for structure?
5. Are you actively reading and engaging with the test or are you just surviving RC?

RC Question Types:
1. Main Point: What is the passage trying to tell me, what is the passage looking to convince me of, what is the central argument

Tips/Traps:
i. Make sure that you don’t supply a sub-conclusion as the main conclusion
ii. There are specific questions that won’t talk about the entire passage, they will talk about a specific paragraph and these are NOT main point questions. These are Purpose of Paragraph questions
1. Read carefully so you actually do what the question is asking
iii. Similar to doing a Main Point LR question

How is this question phrased:
i. “What is the primary purpose of the passage”
ii. “What is the main point of the passage”

Strategy:
i. Want to actively read the question and determine are we having to supply the main point of the entire passage or just a paragraph within the passage
ii. This should fall right in line with both the 7sage memory method and the annotation system because we should have a good pre-phase for the main point of each paragraph and the overall passage
iii. Pick the answer choice that best matches your pre-phrase

2. General Organization: How is the passage structured, from a bird’s eye view what is going on in each paragraph

Tips/Traps:
i. The answer choices won’t always be specific they will be intentionally vague
1. Ex: “Idea is introduced, critique is given, idea is rejected on the basis of critique, and possibility for a new idea to emerge is deemed unlikely”
ii. Anticipate Answer Choices whenever possible:
1. Forces you to engage with the passage from a macro level
2. Makes you less likely to fall for trap answer choices
3. Gives you a standard to apply to each answer

How is the question phrased:
i. “The passage proceeds by”

Strategy:
i. After reading the passage combing the 7sage method and the LSAT trainer that focuses on structure you’ll have an understanding of what the flow of the passage is
ii. Use the Main Points of the paragraphs to compliment your understanding of the passage structure so that you can pre-phrase the answer, then select the one that best matches your pre-phrase

3. Purpose of Paragraph: This is looking for the main point of a specific paragraph rather than the entire passage

Tips/Traps:
i. This is what happened if MP questions and General Organization questions had a baby. You use the elements of general organization to understand a bird’s eye view of a passage and then zoom in on a micro level to find the main point of that specific paragraph
ii. You want to be sure that you realize that this is NOT the same as MP question types because there will be a TRAP ANSWER CHOICE that gives the MP of the entire passage

How are these questions phrased:
i. “The purpose of the 2nd paragraph is to…”

Strategy:
i. This continues to build off of the memory method and LSAT trainer foundations, if you have the MP and understand the structure of the passage at a macro level then when you zoom in and look at each paragraph you know how it fits into the passage.
ii. From there pre-phrase how you believe it fits into the overall passage and choose the answer choice that best fits.

4. Purpose of word or phrase (Vocabulary in Context): These you are trying to figure out what a specific word or phrase meant or why it was used

Tips/Traps:
i. Don’t just look at the word or phrase read at least a sentence before and a sentence after to see how it works in context
ii. The biggest trap for this question type is the bias towards our own definition of certain words
1. Our brains automatically favor our definition and what we believe the word means as opposed to what a dictionary says.
2. Test makers prey on this because they know that people approach these as “I know what these words mean and I know that the test is hard so the answer won’t be the easiest definition”

How these questions are phrased:
i. “In line X the author most likely used the word Y to mean”

Strategy:
i. Cross out the word/phrase or cover it up until you can’t see it within the sentence.
ii. Reread the sentence without saying that word and turn it into a “fill in the blank” where you supply what word/phrase you believe should be there
iii. Use whatever word/phrase you put there as a pre-phrase and look for a synonym as the answer choice

5. Contextual Definition: This is similar to purpose of word/phrase but instead you’re applying the same approach to context rather than a specific detail

Tips/Traps:
i. The question won’t be for a single word but maybe it would be for something like asking for a definition
ii. This is more cut and dry because you won’t have to replace a word
iii. Not as common of a question type

How these questions are phrased:
i. “The author defines X in the second paragraph as …”

Strategy:
i. Find where the word/phrase/context is within the passage
ii. Read the sentence before and after the context
iii. Pick the answer choice that supplies the context in the answer choice

6. General Author Opinion: This is the author’s general feelings/position/opinion
a. Tips/Traps:
i. In your annotations be sure to note when there are multiple opinions so you don’t supply someone else’s opinion instead of the author’s
ii. The answer choices will not be as specific or airtight as some other answer choices

How these questions are phrased:
i. “The author would agree with which one of the following”
ii. “The author would be most likely to agree with which of the following”

Strategy:
i. In your annotation system take note of the author’s position or opinion along with when the opinions change between different people
ii. Also look for the way the author says certain things throughout the passage because you might have to use certain words to ascertain his opinion on a topic that isn’t directly given to you
1. “While the second approach wasn’t helpful, the 3rd approach was slightly more effective” we could conclude that the author believed the 3rd approach was better than the 2nd
iii. After going through and noting the author’s position use that to answer the question

7. Specific Author Opinion: This is the author’s feelings/position/opinion on a specific thing

Tips/Traps:
i. Having an annotation system is vital in this because you want to know not only where the author talks but also where the author talks about a specific thing so you can refer back to it to refresh yourself
ii. Make sure that the position that you’re taking note of is indeed the author’s position and not someone else’s opinion. The latter is NOT the same question type (specific opinion)

How these questions are phrased:
i. “The author’s attitude between X and Y can be accurately described as…”

Strategy:
i. Look back over your annotations regarding the author’s opinion on this specific subject and take note of his position
ii. Find the answer choice that matches his position

8. Specific Opinion: This is someone, other than author’s, opinion on a specific subject

Tips/Traps:
i. Make sure that in this you do not accidentally supply the author’s opinion because that’s not what the question is asking for.
1. There will potentially be answer choices that are the author’s opinion and this is not what it’s asking for
ii. The key to answer this question type is again a good annotation system that lets you know when another opinion has started and how they interact with the author’s opinion
iii. Just because it’s not the author’s opinion this does not mean that the opinion cannot be the same as the author’s

How these questions are phrased:
i. “Scientist A would most likely agree with which of the following”

Strategy:
i. By having a good annotation system along with reading for structure you should have a decent idea where the individual in question’s opinion is in the passage.
ii. From there read a few sentences before and after so you can understand his position within context
iii. Choose the answer choice that best outlines his position

9. Strengthen/Weaken: These add information that either strengthen or weaken the author’s argument

Tips/Traps:
i. These are based off of the author’s opinion but actually end up applying the author’s opinion because you have to see how the information interacts with the passage
ii. This is why having a good annotation system where you know exactly what the author’s position is key because if you don’t know his opinion you don’t know what will weaken/strengthen it
iii. Make sure that the answer choice actually does what you’re looking for the test makers might provide TRAP ANSWER CHOICES that do the opposite (strengthen when you want to weaken and vice versa)

How these questions are phrased:
i. “Which of the following would weaken the author’s argument”
ii. “Which of the following provides most support for the author’s argument”
iii. “Which of the following undermines the author’s argument”

Strategy:
i. This all boils down to having a good annotation system so that you know what the author’s opinion is to begin
ii. Once you have the author’s opinion you want to add information that either weakens or strengthens his argument
1. This is the exact same strategy as the LR strengthening and weakening questions
iii. Remember that you’re only wanting to support/attack the support between the premises not the premises/conclusion themselves these could be TRAP ANSWER CHOICES
iv. Pick the answer choice that fills the gap and does what you’re wanting to do

10. Illustrate: This relates you understanding to the answer choices by providing another example that is similar to this one

Tips/Traps:
i. You want to figure out the opinion of the author and then apply it to another example
ii. This is very similar to a Parallel Reasoning Question and Parallel Flaw question type
iii. Work from wrong answer choices to right answer choices
1. Eliminate all of the wrong answer choices you see and then attack the remaining ones

Right Answers:
1. These will illustrate the author’s opinion but they may not necessarily be a slam dunk and match the subject matter, the illustration of the concept is really what matters

Wrong Answers:
1. Misunderstand the author’s opinion or a concept
2. Present an opinion that is too strong or too specific, i.e. will go beyond the text
a. Text will support “some people say X” and the answer choice will say “all people say X”

How these questions are phrased:
i. “Which of the following is an example of X”
ii. “Which of the following illustrates the dangers represented by X”

Strategy:
i. For questions like this you really need to fall back on your understanding of structure and what the passage is saying once you know what the passage is saying or how a concept fits within the current passage then you can illustrate that in an answer choice.
1. Also like I pointed out above many times there will be answers that go beyond the scope of what the passage will support so in going through answers it helps to go through and eliminate those so it’s easier to find the right answer choice
ii. Choose the answer choice that best matches the illustration of the concept within the passage.

11. Identify the Detail: A question about a specific detail in the passage, that usually is referenced by a line number, paragraph, or a specific topic that was talked about

Tips/Traps:
i. Because it’s so specific it is hard to find a way into the answers
1. Not like main point
2. Not like Structure
3. Not like Context/Definition
ii. Helpful to eliminate other answers and reverse engineer the right answer because they’re not like anything else we’ve done
iii. They will not phrase the answer choice in the same way that it is phrased in the passage
1. Have to paraphrase between the two
2. Beware of exact wording of a similar detail because it might not be the detail you’re looking for and they’re a TRAP ANSWER CHOICE

How these questions are phrased:
i. “What was one of the reasons that supported X in paragraph 2”

Strategy:
i. This also goes back to your annotation system and understanding of the passage structure because if you have a big picture idea and have noted where certain things are talked about you can refer back to the passage
ii. Because you understand the framework of the passage then when they give you a line number, paragraph, or major topic you know where it is in the passage and you have a grasp of how it all fits into the entirety of the passage
iii. Once you do that you’re ready to attack the answer choices and find the one that best matches your understanding of the detail in question and how it fits into the overall framework of the passage

12. Infer the Detail: These questions ask you to make an inference based off of some details given in the passage

Tips/Traps:
i. Key Words: Inferred, Suggested, Implied, Indicate, Most likely, probably, Most strongly supported
ii. These are not cut and dry
1. Have to play detective
2. Want you to make a logical leap from details to make an inference

How these questions are phrased:
i. “What can be inferred from the passage”
ii. “What can be suggested from the passage”

Strategy:
i. Look at the information and make an inference based on the information
ii. Not going to be directly paraphrased in the passage
iii. Logical leap that you can make using those details
iv. Doesn’t have to be airtight
v. Ask yourself what can I “reasonably draw” from these details
1. Extremely difficult to be 100% true with an answer choice

13. Infer From: These are the exact same as Infer the Detail but may be a concept instead of a detail that you make an inference from

Tips/Traps:
i. Key Words: Inferred, Suggested, Implied, Indicate, Most likely, probably, Most strongly supported
ii. Have to play detective:
1. Use a detail/concept as clues to make an inference
iii. You do not have to be 100% sure with the answer choice

How these questions are phrased:
i. “What can be inferred from the passage”
ii. “The passage strongly suggests”

Strategy:
i. Look at information and make an inference based on the information (details/concept)
1. Understand that this isn’t going to be a paraphrase of a detail/concept
ii. Ask yourself “what can I reasonably draw from these details/concepts”
iii. Pick the answer choice that best matches your inference

14. Find an analogy: In this question we’re looking for an answer choices that mirrors the relationship given in the passage

Tips/Traps:
i. Do not take these questions for granted/think they’re easier
ii. Understand what an analogy is: Similar situation between two objects that don’t have to be the same
1. Do NOT be biased to situations where the subject matter is the same, the only thing that matters is the relationship between the two objects
2. Want to see a similar relationship between the two objects
iii. Want to be careful about answer choices that are too extreme as well
1. A lot of the answer choices are not going to be slam dunks, we just want to have something that’s too right
2. LSAT Trainer: Price is right example
a. If you guess over the amount then your answer is wrong, on LSAT questions if you go too far then the answer is wrong
b. Even if an answer choice isn’t as strong but doesn’t go over it is right

How these questions are phrased:
i. “Which of the following is most analogous to X in the passage”
ii. “Which example/scenario is most similar to”

Strategy:
i. Articulate in your mind what the relationship between the 2 objects are
1. Ex: Dolphins eat tuna, so the answer choice we’re looking for is something that eats another object
ii. After you’ve found the relationship between the two objects/theories/entities then you find the answer choice that mirrors the relationship
iii. Remember:
1. We want to avoid having an analogy that’s too far
2. We also don’t want to fall for the trap of similar subject matter we care about the relationship more than the subject matter