Reading for Structure

High school and college have trained most of us to focus on the details and thematic elements of passages when reading. However, rarely are students trained to analyze the function that individual sentences play in the context of an entire argument. For this reason, many test takers find reading for structure, identifying the role played by individual pieces of the argument, to be difficult. Both the logical reasoning and reading comprehension sections of the LSAT will contain several questions whose credited answers will hinge on a test taker's ability to correctly apply this skill-set.

Developing the ability to read for structure first requires an understanding of the possible functions played by the elements of LSAT reading comprehension and logical reasoning passages, and thereafter targeted exercises to improve this ability.

Structure of LSAT Passages

The constituent parts of each LSAT logical reasoning or reading comprehension passage will play one of the following five roles:

Premises. These are pieces of information offered by the passage author which support the main conclusion of the argument.

Supporting Conclusions. These are subsidiary conclusions are additional premises which have been offered by an author in support of a main conclusion.

The Main Conclusion. The main conclusion of the argument, also known as the main point of the argument, is the final assertion presented by an author toward which all other premises and supporting conclusions are designed to support. This is not necessarily the final sentence of the argument and may occur at the beginning of the passage.

Opposing Conclusion. This is an assertion which draws a conclusion which differs partly or fully from the main conclusion of the argument. Premises may be presented which support this conclusion.

Floating Information. These are general facts that are presented that may or may not support a particular argument. However, its purpose in being presented is not to directly support one conclusion or another.

The following example contains each information type:

"17 teams have won the NBA championship since 1972. However, the greatest among these teams is the Utah Jazz. Because the Utah Jazz have not won a single NBA championship, some would conclude that the Utah Jazz are not the greatest NBA team. However, the Jazz have the loudest stadium in the NBA, and the oldest coach in the NBA who simply will not leave this team or its community. Undoubtedly, this means that the Jazz and their fans must have the most “heart” of anyone in the NBA. Also, two of the best players in the NBA have played for the Jazz, Karl Malone and John Stockton. Finally, Deron Williams may be the best point guard in the world. With all of this evidence, who could argue against my conclusion?"

The first sentence in the example above is general floating information, it is not used in support of a particular position. The second sentence is the main conclusion of the argument, the author’s purpose in crafting this passage is to make the argument that the Jazz are the greatest team in the NBA. The next sentence contains the opposing conclusion that the Jazz are not the greatest team in the NBA and a premise designed to support this conclusion. The next sentence features a set of facts which serve as supporting premises to the main conclusion. Following these facts is a supporting conclusion, that the Jazz’s fans have the most heart of any team in the NBA. Notice that the information contained within also serves as a premise to support the main conclusion of the argument. The next two sentences contain additional supporting premises and the final sentence contains more floating information.

Targeted Improvement

When your mind subconsciously identifies these structural elements as you focus on detail, you are where you need to be. The best way to get to this point is to review logical reasoning and reading comprehension sections you've already completed. For every passage, identify and annotate the role played by each sentence in the argument according to the classification system above. Do not do this on actual tests, instead train your brain to automatically identify each of these elements during review of old materials. As you do this, you will develop your ability to read for structure.