For LR, do you read the question or stimulus first? Forum

Systematic1 · Post by **Systematic1** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 9:51 pm

Princeton Review recommends reading the question first, LG Bible recommends reading the stimulus (and they scorn anyone who preaches otherwise). Personally, I like reading the stimulus first. I was doing it the other way around, but I noticed that I almost always ended up rereading the question when I went about it this way. What do you guys prefer?

Kurst · Post by **Kurst** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 10:06 pm

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 8#p4176948

Mr. Pancakes · Post by **Mr. Pancakes** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 10:12 pm

for most questions types it is helpful to know what the question is before attacking the argument so you know what to look for.
For assumptions, flaw, strengthen/weaken, main conclusion questions it is extremely important to go into the stimulus looking for the conclusion and the main premise. You don't really know what to look for in the stimulus until you read the question. For these questions types it is crucial that you find that sentence that is the main conclusion and the main premise or the "why".
Once you find the conclusion and main premise for these types then the questions are fairly simple.
Inference questions don't usually have a conclusionary type sentence. Most of the time in inference questions the passage supports the correct answer. In strengthen questions the correct answer supports the main conclusion.

Read question first.

Systematic1 · Post by **Systematic1** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 10:26 pm

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=150508#p4176948

Someday I'll have a completely unique question...

VasaVasori · Post by **VasaVasori** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 10:32 pm

Geetar Man · Post by **Geetar Man** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 10:39 pm

Question, that way I know what I'm looking for.

VasaVasori wrote: I actually find having the question in my head really distracting. For RC I think reading the questions first would be a ~~huge~~ mistake, but for LR some people might find it helpful.

It takes practice, but anyone can do it. I think its super helpful to have in mind what the objective of the question is.

Clearly · Post by **Clearly** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 3:22 am

Funny, I read the stimulus every time first. If I read the question I hunt too much for answers. More often then not I go through the stimulus and halfway through, I think something like "Thats retarded, that thing up there isn't even the same thing down at the bottom" and the question will say "The argument relies on which assumption: That thing up there is the same as that other thing down there". It's weird but after a while you almost know the question type based on the stimulus itself. Flaws are repeated so often that as soon as you spot them you're almost guaranteed it's a flaw question. ie If I read the stimulus and see something like "Mary wants her house to be half blue and half red, so she mixed blue and red in a paint can, and painted her house with it" You already know your going to see the error I call the "Stop fkn combining things stupidly" error. Likewise without specifically reading the question stem, you kinda know your gonna see a parallel reasoning question if it takes up half a freaking page and reads like conditional logic. Anyway, the point is, I could see how question first might help some people, but it just narrows my focus too much and doesn't work out well for me.

tl;dr: Stimulus

Easy-E · Post by **Easy-E** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 1:43 pm

Question first. I've only started doing it as of a month ago (this round of prep), but I'm doing much better with it. You don't really need to have the question memorized perfectly, just what kind of question it is. I find it immensely helpful to know what I'm reading for, especially when it comes to prephrasing my answers.

Micdiddy · Post by **Micdiddy** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 2:10 pm

I read the stimulus first and I would put myself in the Bible category of feeling, even somewhat irrationally, complete scorn for those who do otherwise.
I cannot explain exactly why I feel this way, and I also logically understand that others could benefit greatly from reading question first, but since this option is so personally repulsive I innately transfer my emotional response onto others.

When it comes to justifications, the Bible does a fine job of explaining the reasons, I can only add subjective pathos to the equation.

Read the STIMULUS first.

Systematic1 · Post by **Systematic1** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 2:43 pm

I cannot explain exactly why I feel this way, and I also logically understand that others could benefit greatly from reading question first, but since this option is so personally repulsive I innately transfer my emotional response onto others.

Mr. Pancakes · Post by **Mr. Pancakes** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 2:44 pm

emarxnj wrote:Question first. I've only started doing it as of a month ago (this round of prep), but I'm doing much better with it. You don't really need to have the question memorized perfectly, just what kind of question it is. I find it immensely helpful to know what I'm reading for, especially when it comes to prephrasing my answers.

Trips · Post by **Trips** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 2:45 pm

Micdiddy wrote:I read the stimulus first and I would put myself in the Bible category of feeling, even somewhat irrationally, complete scorn for those who do otherwise.
I cannot explain exactly why I feel this way, and I also logically understand that others could benefit greatly from reading question first, but since this option is so personally repulsive I innately transfer my emotional response onto others.

When it comes to justifications, the Bible does a fine job of explaining the reasons, I can only add subjective pathos to the equation.

Read the STIMULUS first.

This is exactly how I feel.

Excellent117 · Post by **Excellent117** » Sat Mar 24, 2012 3:43 pm

Stimulus first

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