LSAT Important Concepts

You got this bro.

conclusion

main point; needs to be supported by the premises

premises

evidence; assumed to be true, support the conclusion, statements of fact (ex. before, since, for, as, given that)

valid conclusions

conclusions that are proven; if premises are true, the conclusion must be true

interlocking point

a common term between two prmises, allows you to conclude something about the argument

premise indicators

before, since, for, as, given that

stated

answer is proven/explicitly stated in the passage

necessary assumption

answer must be true in order for the argument to make sense

agree

something the author must agree/disagree with

purpose

answer indicates the purpose or role of something discussed in the passage

strengthen

answer will provide the most support for an argument

specifiers

tend to specifiy things directly on the other side of a comma

translating

turning the stimulus into a story you can tell

supported

answer is supported by evidence cited from the passage

optional element

can be removed without grammatical consequence, makes sense on its own

core element

has the main NOUN and VERB in it; cannot be removed or all grammatical sense will be lost

middle out

2 or more commas are present; see if the content in between can be a sentence in itself

argument

premises support conclusion

reasoning

choose the answer that describe something the argument did. the 4 wrong answers will be different or extra

grant the premises, resist the conclusion

accept all facts presented are true, but argue those facts do not prove the main point

takes for granted

assumes without providing justification, proof, or logic

must

always, every single time, no exceptions, can’t get out of doing this no matter what

cannot

never, impossible in any circumstance, no way

could

possible, can, there’s a chance, maybe, might, encompasses both something unlikely and something likely, may or may not

not necessarily

doesn’t have to be the case, not guaranteed, could be an exception

inference

valid conclusion YOU draw from the premise sets yourself

nested claim

when someone besides the author makes a claim

hybrid argument

when the stimulus is only preises and a nested claim, without an author’s conclusion

cause-and-effect argument

when were asked to weaken a cause and effect argument, we must always look out for ALTERNATE CAUSES