Halima Priceoso

Feb 18, 2022Feb 18 at 2:26pm

Manage Discussion Entry

Hello,

Lawyers are required to analyze cases and make compelling arguments in court. For this reason, law students should exercise logical and analytical thinking in preparation for their future legal practice. Doing LSAT exams is an important step towards achieving rational thinking and sound judgment in law. I have recently done an LSAT exam to assess my logical ability, knowledge and critical thinking skills. I answered four questions incorrectly – two from the first section and one from sections 2 and 3 each. The key problem that caused me to miss those questions was failure to think logically and identify patterns of each argument.

Section 1

In the first section I answered questions 1 & 5 incorrectly. Question 1 was about patterns and sequences. At first, I thought the question was easy straightforward, but I later realized that it was difficult to rearrange the events presented. The question was about ordering events according to the sequence with which they occurred. This requires logical reasoning to establish a linear pattern. I failed in this question because I did not make an effort to write down all events and arrange them according to the order with which they occurred. I have realized that as I tried to remember the events, my mind could not register the sequence or order in which they occurred. The strategy that I will use is to draw a chart that will link each item to the next, showing which event precedes the other until the correct order is identified.

Question 5 was testing the student’s ability to identify and establish relationships between components of an argument. I realized flaws in the argument made, but failed to understand how the premises were connected to the flaws of the conclusion made. Perhaps I would have answered the question correctly if I had correctly recognized the relationships of the premises that led to the flawed conclusion.

Section 2

The question I answered incorrectly in section 2 is question 11, which asked about assumptions, arguments and conclusions. The examiner wanted the student to understand assumptions and claims, and use them to arrive at a conclusion. The key skill that I lacked is the ability to draw conclusion based on available premises (Rice, 2017). Although most of the answers appeared to be correct, some of them were not really conclusions. Rather, they were examples or evidence used to support the main argument. What I would have done to get the question correct is to write down all premises and use rational thinking to derive a logical conclusion from them. It is important to differentiate between examples or evidence that the speaker uses from the main point they are trying to put across (Rice, 2017).

Section 3

In section 3, I missed question 19 because I failed to think logically to solve the sequencing game. This question was testing whether the student is able to identifying rules in sequencing games. What I lacked was the ability to analyze and translate rules in order to recognize the sequence of events. According to Kaplan (n.d.), sequencing games involve eliminating answers that violate the rule. Going forward, I will first try to understand the rules, then eliminate answers that violate the sequencing rules. Although it may be difficult to apply the rules to each answer, I can perform better by making deductions and combining rules to form bigger rules that will make the sequencing game easier. In this case, the reading principle that would help me solve the question is combining rules for sequencing games.

References

Kaplan (n.d.). LSAT Logic Games: Combining Rules in Sequencing Games. Accessed from https://www.kaptest.com/study/lsat/lsat-logic-games-combining-rules-in-sequencing-games/.

Rice, S. M. (2017). The force of logic: Using formal logic as a tool in the craft of legal argument. Boulder, CO: National Institute for Trial Advocacy.