If the key words in the question stem include:
- Main Point
- Main conclusion
- Argument is structured to lead to
- Which conclusion
The question type is a MAIN POINT:
- Read for REASONING
- Identify P-C
- Paraphrase the C
- Confirm with the Why Test
The correct answer will:
- Articulate your paraphrase of the C
- Match tone and scope
use POE for matching the answer to the main point/conclusion. These wrong answers are:
- Verbatim premises
- Too strong
- Don’t match the strength of the language in the C
- Take a step beyond the C
Use the “why” test: read the sentence and ask “why?” Other statements in the argument need to support what you just read for it to be a conclusion. Remember that conclusions are predictions.
If the key words in the question stem include:
- X responds to Y by…
- claim(s) that…plays what role
- technique
- method
- strategy of argumentation
- reasoning
The question type is Reasoning. So:
- Read for REASONING
- Identify the P-C and sometimes the P-C-F
- use POE to match the answer to the reasoning used in the question to arrive at the conclusion
If the key words in the question stem include:
- Assumption on which the argument depends/relies
- Assumption required
Realize that the conclusion in the passage is solid and treat it as such. Identify and understand it.
- Read for REASONING
- Identify P & C, esp. P-C-F and look for language shifts.
- Connect evidence to the conclusion
- Look for language shifts in the passage as well as potential obstacles or flaws in the argument
- IMPORTANT: look for the answer that matches the the author’s explicit position or beliefs
- Don’t go beyond what the author assumed: only look at the evidence and ask, “What evidence is needed for the conclusion to be made?”
- Ask yourself, “Is it clear the author believes that?” for every answer choice.
- Use the negation test: look for verbs (esp. the first one to appear) and quantity statements that you can negate. When you do so, the correct answer will turn the correct answer into one that will effectively destroy the conclusion.
- Look for answers with NEUTRAL LANGUAGE (this may have negative language in it–cannot)
- Look for answers that mirror the premise that is necessary for the conclusion to take shape.
- The correct answer wil bridge the gap between premise and conclusion
- The correct answer will also rule out obstacles
- Remember: the correct answer will be essential to the argument’s conclusion
It will mend the flaw between P & C
REMEMBER: With necessary assumption questions, the assumption must be true for the argument to make sense.
POE:
- Not relevant
- Contradicts the conclusion
- Is too strongly worded given the argument’s scope–language outside the argument is usually a problem.
If the key words in the question stem include:
- If assumed, allows the conclusion to follow logically
- Allows the conclusion to be properly drawn
This is a Sufficient Assumption question type.
Realize this means that the conclusion is solid and so it needs to be supported.
The question stem’s “if assumed…” indicates a hypothetical. That is, the question stem is saying: “If this is added to the argument”
- Therefore, read for REASONING
- Identify P-C
- Note language shifts as they are very common in this question type
- Look for an answer with stronger language
- Look for an answer that fills a missing link in the logical chain; that makes the conclusion valid
- Realize that the assumption is already a part of the argument.
Note: This question has a lot in common with Principe-Strengthen questions
The correct answer will:
- identify the answer that helps support the conclusion–prove the conclusion.
The answer will link up the conclusion with the premise, supplying the missing link
POE:
- Answer restates premises
- It brings in new info
- Necessary but not sufficient
- Answers that are too weak or too vague
- Answers that are out of scope
- Answers that prove the reverse of the C or reverse of the evidence
If the key words in the question stem include:
- Most supports
- Most justifies the argument above
- Most strengthens
This is a Strengthening question:
- Read for REASONING
- Identify P-C
- Look for language shifts
Use POE to identify the answer that helps strengthen the argument, esp. the conclusion. This includes:
- Irrelevant answers (not relevant to the C)
- Answers that are in the wrong direction (weakening the argument)
- Answers that simply restate a premise
The correct answer will:
- Solidify an assumption
- Introduce new evidence that supports the conclusion
- Eliminates an alternative explanation of the premises
- Bosters the integrity of the evidence
- Explains why or how the evidence leads to the conclusion
- Will likely use strong langue
- May include new info that is relevant
If the key words in the question stem include:
- Principle that, if valid, justifies the argument
This is a Principle-Strengthen type of question.
- Read for REASONING
- Identify P-C
- Use POE to find the answer that helps you justify the argument. These questions will be:
- Irrelevant: they won’t be strong enough
- Provide unnecessary reinforcement of a premise
- Can’t be applied to the situation to reach a definite conclusion
The answer will:
State a general rule that, if applied to the evidence, allows you to reach the conclusion
Say a crucial assumption is true
Makes the reasoning airtight
If the key words in the question stem include:
- Most undermines/most seriously undermines
- calls into question
- casts doubt oon
This is a Weakens question type.
- Read for REASONING
- Identify P-C
- Look for language shifts
- use POE to find the answer that hurts the argument/conclusion. This includes questions that:
- Are irrelevant
- Go the wrong direction (strengthen)
- Attempt to weaken by appearing to contradict a premise
The correct answer will:
- Introduce new evidence that hurts the conclcusion
- Attacks the integrity of the given evidence
- Provides an alternate interpretation of evidence
- Introduces another consideration that might make the conclusion wrong
If the key words in the question stem include:
- flaw/error in reasoning
- vulnerable to criticism
- Read for REASONING
Necessary and sufficient flaws occur most often in these kinds of questions. The flaw in the answer type is often described in answer choices as:
- treating something that is necessary for a phenomenon to occur as something that is sufficient (guaranteed) to bring about that phenomenon (mistakes necessary for sufficient)
- concludes that a condition that by itself guarantees the occurrence of a certain situation to be a condition that therefore must be met for that situation to occur (mistakes sufficient for necessary)
The correct answer will:
- Identify a weakness in the argument
- Identify an assumption
- Correctly identify the common flaw pattern
- Match the argument as closely as possible
- Watch the author’s tone–vague language can be okay
POE: find the answer that hurts the argument/conclusion. This includes answer choices that:
- Are irrelevant/out of scope/contains new information
- Use language that is too strong
- Do not correctly match the argument or its conclusion
- Describe a common flaw that the argument does not contain
If the key words in the question stem include:
- Statements above, if true, support
- must be true
- must be false
- could be true
- could be false
You’re looking at an Inference question.
- Read for INFORMATION
- Quantity statements
- Conditionals
- Strength of language
- Chain of facts
- Paraphrase the information
- Ask, what does the argument say? What are its nuances? What are the premises and how do they link (or not) to the conclusion?
The correct answer will:
- Be supported by the passage
- Preferably will use softer language (more wishy-washy or mild v. strongly put)
- Sound like a simple paraphrase
Use POE to find the answer that enables you to extract information from the argument. The incorrect response will:
- Introduce new information not in the passage
- Present unknown information
- Be too strongly worded
- Indicate unsupported value judgments or unsupported predictions
- Present direct contradictions
The incorrect answer will be extreme and out of scope. Look for a pure match!
If the key words in the question stem include:
- Committed to disagreeing about
- Would likely agree about
Then you’re looking at a Point-at-Issue question.
- Read for both reasoning and information in both passages
- Absolutely make sure you have properly identified both the premises and conclusions
- Make sure you understand the main point and nuances of each argument
- Look for quantity statments and strength of language
- Ask, what does the argument say? What are the premises and how do they link (or not) to the conclusion?
- Use POE to find the answer that enables you to extract information from the argument. The answers to reject will:
- Have new ideas not clearly related to both arguments
- Be points of agreement
- Be relevant to only one of the two arguments
- The credited response will:
- Have an answer that one speaker explicitly agrees with; the other would agree with the negation of the answer (its opposite).
- If there is strong language, make sure someone agrees with it
- If there is weak language, make sure somoene disagrees with it.
If the key words in the question stem include:
- Puzzling statement
- apparent contradiction
- paradox
- resolution
- explanation
You are looking at a Resolve/Explain question.
- Read for INFORMATION
- Identify the conflict
The credited response alows both facts to be true/clears up the paradox. Strong language may help to resolve the argument, so don’t discount those answers that use it! New info is also at times helpful, so don’t necessarily eliminate choices with it.
- Use POE to find the answer that helps to resolve/explain. Rejected answer choices:
- exacerbate the paradox
- Only deal with one side of the paradox
- Try to contradict the facts
If the key words in the question stem include:
- Most analagous
- Similar pattern of reasoning
This is a Parallel question.
- Read for REASONING
- Identify P-C
- Look for recurring flaw if the question requires it
- Diagram conditional and quantity statements
- paraphrase argument’s structure
- Analyze answer choice structures by aligning conclusions first
The correct answer will:
- match the structure, but not necessarily the order of the original argument
- contain a relationship between premises most similar to the original
- match the strength of language
- It may include new information
use POE to find the answer that matches the reasoning/conclusion. Reject answers that:
- Are similar in content but not in structure
- Have dissimilar conclusions
- Have a different number of key features than the original
- Contain a different flaw than the original
- Uses dissimilar language
If the key words in the question stem include:
- conforms/illustrates…principle/proposition
This is a Principle-Match question.
Read for information:
- Paraphrase the passage or principle
- Diagram any conditionals
Sometimes, read for reasoning and use POE to find the answer that matches the principle. The incorrect answers will be:
- In the wrong direction, especially with conditionals
- Too strong to match
- Ones that support a conclusion by different means
- Out of scope
Remember, it is easier to match a principle worded softly and easier to violate a strongly worded principle.
If a question contains:
evaluate
answer to which question would allow you to judge the validity of the argument
You are looking at an evaluate question.
Read for reasoning:
- Look for flaws and missing information
The credited response:
- Identifies missing information
- reveals a flaw
- Poses a question, the answer to which would definitively decide the argument’s validity
POE:
- Answers that are not relevant to the conclusion
If the question asks about flawed reasoning…
Read for reasoning and look for the flaw within it.
POE:
- No flaw
- Different flaw than what is in the argument
- Answers where the C doesn’t match that in the argument
For questions that ask: What role does this statement play…
Read for Reasoning and identify the correct conclusion (which will be helped with the “why” test and identification of a statement as being a prediction.
POE for a wrong C.
