LSAT Boss Class 6: Know Your Roles

Class 6: Know Your Roles.

Role questions ask you to identify the role that a particular statement plays in an

argument. Since there are only two parts to every argument, the roles will describe how either a premise or a conclusion does its job in the argument:

For premises, their role may be one of the following:

to offer hypothesis or explanations; 

to provide specific details to support       generalizations; 

to describe or distinguish one group in       comparison/contrast to another; or

to offer possible or necessary causes for an       effect.

For conclusions, their role may be one of the followings:

to provide results; 

to make generalizations based on specific details; or       

to identify the effects or consequences of events       mentioned in a premise.

Your task in a role question:

o Identify the type of argument o Rearrange the sentences of the argument so they spell out a clear and logical argument (either sequentially, analogously or otherwise) o Identify the premises and conclusions using the “Why? Test”.  o Locate the statement mentioned in the call of the question.  o Then, carefully assess which answer choice corresponds perfectly to that role, considering what you identified as the premises and conclusion of the argument. We'll be going through this lesson thoroughly, with a homework review in Thursday's class.