LSAT 154 – Section 4 – Question 15

LSAT 154 - Section 4 - Question 15

September 2017

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT154 S4 Q15
+LR
Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw
Causal Reasoning +CausR
A
16%
157
B
1%
154
C
15%
159
D
67%
165
E
1%
154
144
155
166
 +Harder 147.301 +SubsectionMedium

Many popular novels have stylistic elements commonly associated with journalistic writing. Moreover, many authors of popular novels began their careers as journalists. So using a journalistic writing style increases the chances that a novel will be popular.

Summarize Argument
The author concludes that using a journalistic writing style increases the chances that a novel will be popular. This is based on the fact that many popular novels have stylistic elements commonly associated with journalistic writing. In addition, many authors of popular novels began their careers as journalists.

Identify and Describe Flaw
The author assumes there’s a correlation between novels being popular and having a journalistic writing style or being written by people who were journalists. But this overlooks the possibility that just as many unpopular novels are written using a journalistic style or by authors who started their careers as journalists. So there might not be a correlation between popularity and having a journalistic style.

A
takes something that is required for a novel to be popular to be something that is certain to make a novel popular
The author doesn’t rely on conditional reasoning, so there isn’t a confusion of sufficient and necessary conditions. The author doesn’t present anything that’s required for a novel to be popular.
B
takes for granted that most journalists could become novelists if they wanted to
The author notes that many authors of popular novels began their careers as journalists. But this doesn’t imply a belief about what proportion of journalists could be become novelists if they wanted to.
C
fails to specify exactly what is required for a novel to be considered popular
The author doesn’t need to specify what is needed for a novel to be considered popular. The premises tell us there are popular novels that have a journalistic style. What exactly constitutes “popular” doesn’t affect the reasoning of the argument.
D
fails to consider how many unsuccessful novels have been written in a journalistic style
The author fails to consider that just as many unpopular novels have stylistic elements commonly associated with journalism. If this is true, this undermines the author’s assumption that there’s a correlation between having a journalistic style and popularity of a novel.
E
takes the fact that a novel is popular to indicate that it is well written
The author does not indicate that she believes popular novels are well-written.

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LSAT PrepTest 154 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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