Logical Reasoning Approach HELP!! Forum

[nosleeptillsuccess]

This post is intended for someone who is scoring in the 160s+ that may help a man out.

The question is... What exactly, step-by-step, do you do when approaching arguments on the LSAT??




For example, do you read for premise and conclusions THEN read the question stem THEN decide to chart or not THEN prephrase??

I'm basically trying to find out when one should chart and basically how STEP BY STEP to approach any random question during real time LSAT taking in the arguments section.

Thank you to anyone who helps!!!

Oh, and PLEASE no lawyer-like responses like "every question is different so yada yada ya"... If people claim to read the question stem AFTER reading the stimulus.. obviously every question is approached in the same mechanical way.

[echamberlin8]

I personally read each stimulus first, before looking at the question stem. Then read the question stem. Prephrase if I think it's relevant, and then go through each of the answer choices. I tend to not read all of the answer choices if I find one that I like, but I probably need to work on speeding up the whole process while simultaneously reading all of the answer choices, since, as we all know, the LSAT-makers try to trick us with tempting-looking answer choices that distract us from the real answer choice below.

[nosleeptillsuccess]

I personally read each stimulus first, before looking at the question stem. Then read the question stem. Prephrase if I think it's relevant, and then go through each of the answer choices. I tend to not read all of the answer choices if I find one that I like, but I probably need to work on speeding up the whole process while simultaneously reading all of the answer choices, since, as we all know, the LSAT-makers try to trick us with tempting-looking answer choices that distract us from the real answer choice below.

And when do you chart?? Do you chart as you read the stimulus OR return to the stimulus after reading the question stem then chart it out??

I'm having a timing issue and I feel like this may be one of my issues... I get confused because charting as you read the stimulus could be a waste of time when the question stem could just be something like "main conclusion" yet charting AFTER reading the stem could waste time because your basically re-reading the stimulus.

I used to just chart the obvious ones that needed to be charted, but my instructor told me he charted almost everything on the test.

[echamberlin8]

I personally read each stimulus first, before looking at the question stem. Then read the question stem. Prephrase if I think it's relevant, and then go through each of the answer choices. I tend to not read all of the answer choices if I find one that I like, but I probably need to work on speeding up the whole process while simultaneously reading all of the answer choices, since, as we all know, the LSAT-makers try to trick us with tempting-looking answer choices that distract us from the real answer choice below.

And when do you chart?? Do you chart as you read the stimulus OR return to the stimulus after reading the question stem then chart it out??

I'm having a timing issue and I feel like this may be one of my issues... I get confused because charting as you read the stimulus could be a waste of time when the question stem could just be something like "main conclusion" yet charting AFTER reading the stem could waste time because your basically re-reading the stimulus.

I used to just chart the obvious ones that needed to be charted, but my instructor told me he charted almost everything on the test.

I do what you did before. I "chart" (same thing as diagrammed? Like drawing, "A ---> B" for a conditional statement?) only the obvious ones that need to be charted. I think doing any more than this could be a waste of time. As you say, for questions like Main Conclusion or whatever else, you don't really need a diagram. Up to you, but I suspect charting everything might be messing up your timing. I don't think that many of the really high-scorers chart everything in the LR sections. LG, yes, but not LR. I could be wrong, though.

When I do diagram, I try to read through the whole stimulus first, and then diagram. I probably am likely to look at the question stem first, before diagramming, just to make sure that a diagram would be good for this particular question, but other times I might just diagram before reading the stem just so I understand the stimulus better.

Hope this helps.

[nosleeptillsuccess]

thank you so much n god bless

[Theopliske8711]

I think there should only be a few questions that you should chart and those are probably the difficult parallel reasoning that involves twists in contrapositives. I had a difficult one recently on Preptest 54 which I got wrong and then realized how important charting it would have been. Some of those ones can really twist the logic and the only correct answer. Even then, a lot of times its just a matter of looking at the proper word arrangement. Consistent charting of LRs is difficult because very often they cannot be charted since they are not logically structured that way, its heavy informal logic that relies on twists in language. I think ultimately, the best bet is to perfect your reading than bother with charting.

[nosleeptillsuccess]

When you say "prep test #" what are you referring to?

I got some of the TM material.. like the diagnostics... Is there a place to order 50 of those tests?!! If so link me!

[crate2012]

I won't chart if I already have the stimulus in my head. I second an earlier opinion that people mistaken charting without understanding. Ideally you can chart in your head for most questions (assumptions and inferences). I only chart down 1 or 2 questions per section.

[echamberlin8]

When you say "prep test #" what are you referring to?

I got some of the TM material.. like the diagnostics... Is there a place to order 50 of those tests?!! If so link me!

This book has PT 54: http://www.amazon.com/Actual-Official-L ... +preptests.

If you look on Amazon, they have a lot of books that have full-length LSATs from the past. I'd order a few of these books, because you will definitely get a lot better by using actual past LSAT tests. Also, the most recent ones PTs 61+ aren't in a book like this yet, and you can order them individually on Amazon.com or on the LSAC official site.