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Month left and me and Flaw questions still don't get along...
LSATcantwin
Alum Member Sage ⭐
So about a month out from the September test and I'm feeling....okay. There is one kind of questions that really bothers me though. Flaw. People always tell me that "in repetition you'll eventually get them" and that they repeat. Well I'm like 20 PT's in at least and they still look pretty foreign to me. It's specifically the flaw questions with abstract answer choices.
"Presents only evidence whose relevancy to the issue raised by the opponents has not been established."
Presents stuff that is not relevant?
Okay but the amount of time it takes me to translate each AC out, and then to figure out what is going on, is far to great. Even then I still choose wrong a great deal of the time.
One method that has not worked for me is the Trainer. That book is very vague. 1+2 =/=3 doesn't help me, my mind doesn't see it as such.
How do you handle flaw questions?
Comments
Tagging. Flaw's are a thorn in my side. LSAT gods, where art thou secret weapon?
Lol good old @Mellow_Z , you're like my LSAT clone. Supper splitter, Flaw suffer, just pushing the 170 mark.....part of me wishes September would come just to put me out of my misery. The other part wants to work harder to ensure I achieve my goal...
Following! Flaw is kicking my butt...
Wish I could help since I usually always get flaw questions. the only thing I really do though is circle key words (some, most, probably, only, only if and so on..) and just focus on the premise and conclusion. not really sure what kind of advice to give tbh.
when it comes to abstract language flaw questions though, I do know what you mean by it being bleh. but all you can really do is just link each element of the AC to the stimulus and make sure it connects just like you would with say, a parallel question.
Im with you on the confusing nature of tge LSAT trainers approach. Until recently i was struggling with flaws.
I went back to consciously breaking down the argument into its seperate parts, which has become second nature, this took a little getting used to. BUT it helped me mentally envision what is really nasty about the argument. Going into the AC with a clear idea of why the support is crap will give you that confidence boost and will make it a hell of alot easier to parse through the LSACs crappy wording
They're just so strange to me. Sometimes it clicks, and it clicks fast. I read the stimulus and find the one AC that fits and am done. Other times it's a slog. I have to constantly refer back to the stimulus, try to understand what the AC means, go back to the stimulus....
It's not like other question types, on a hard weaken/NA/strengthen I know from the word GO what I am in for. With Flaw each question gives me apprehension lol
try to learn the different form on Flaw questions types such as correlation vs causation, sufficient and necessary condition negation, source of argument and so forth.
I can spout off all the differnt flaw types failry easily. Straw man, Suf/Nec, Corr/Caus, Red herring etc.
It doesn't make it clear to me though when an answer choice is worded like;
"Presents only evidence whose relevancy to the issue raised by the opponents has not been established"
I have to stop, and break it down. Once that is done, I have to see if that is what the argument actually did. It eats my time up. It's not that I don't know what flaws look like/are, it's them getting lost in translation that kills it for me.
literally just did PT C2 and a flaw Q AC had that exact wording haha.
Haha thats the PT I got it from because I did it today also.
How about that RC though?! wtf....lol
RC was tough, I went -7 on it while nearly acing the other sections
Dude...You're a clone. I also went -7 on RC. Did perfect on LG. My LR was a bit messy at -6....damn flaws...
I went -7 RC, -1/-2 LR and -1 LG for a 169. RC is so dumb I hate it
I think flaw questions can be hard in two ways:
1. It could be difficult to see the flaw on your first read.
2. You could know what the flaw is but it is very well hidden in the answer choices.
For number 1, when you have difficulty seeing the flaw in your stimulus you want to skip that question. Time away and a second read can make the flaw apparent more readily than first time alone. Its possible that even on your second round you don't see the flaw. You want to go in the answer choices and see if what the answer choices say occurs in stimulus and if it does, is that a flaw?
For number 2, you want to get down quickly to two at most three answer choices you will consider. For example if its a sufficient/necessary flaw, often times with flaw a lot of answer choices will be saying a completely different flaw that we know for sure does not occur. Once that is done and you are down to two answer choices that are mentioning the flaw you want to slow down a bit and make sure you can translate the answer. For example if it says "presents only evidence", you want to ask your self what would be considered evidence in the stimulus? Then see if the answer choice after filling in for the referential phrasing is indeed the flaw in the stimulus. This is a bit slow, but not that slow if you are only doing this for 1 at most 2 answer choices.
Additionally, to get better and faster at flaw questions in general you want to practice making your own parallel arguments for questions you have trouble with. Putting yourself in LSAT writers shoes but keeping the logic the same helps create a mindset where you can see patterns faster on the test.
I hope this helps.
@Sami I really like the idea of writing the questions around the flaw and AC. I'm going to try and parallel all the flaw I've missed in the past forever. Thank you!
Hahahah we gotta hold it down! Unfortunately over the last few weeks I've dropped from the 170+ echelon due to a variety of things that come with life, but plenty of time to get back on the beaten path. Hoping to really get this LR breakthrough and keep tightening down my RC woes. Should be in decent shape.
Man I feel you. I'm in such a weird place right now. I have days where I score 172ish and I feel like I've finally got a grip on the test. That'll be followed by a day where a hard LG or RC DESTROYS my score and I drop all the way down to like a 166.
It makes me really, really nervous for September. All it takes is one rouge game or passage and I'm done. Unfortunately I can't postpone any longer. It's such a weird feeling to know I can break 170 and yet be full of doubt.
I make excuses - I only broke 170 because I had seen this question before. I only broke 170 out of luck....my confidence just isn't there...
Yeah I'm nervous for Sept. I think I've come to terms with taking in December, even though I don't like the potential outcome of acceptances/scholarships with the prolonged applications as a splitter. But, if I even score 1 point higher by waiting it's going to be the right move. And I feel like by going all in for September I might not be studying optimally, which I don't want either. Who knows. I just want to be done and out of this prison
@Mellow_Z I completely get it. I have been at this for a year. While I can boast significant improvement, it's still not quite what I need in order to feel comfortable applying to the school I would like to attend. Sadly my life has already been on hold for a full year - and will be on hold of one more - I can't afford any more time....I'll take September and keep Dec on the back burner but it's time to apply O_O