Main Point / Main Conclusion Questions
Recap: Argument Anatomy, Now As a Question Type
Day 2 taught you to find the main conclusion of any stimulus. Main Point questions ask for exactly that, directly, as the task — which makes this the most direct payoff yet of that early investment, and a good confidence-builder before the harder Describe-family types (Role, Method, Flaw) arrive next week.
1. The Task
Find the sentence (or a correct paraphrase of it) that the rest of the argument exists to support. Nothing more — you are not evaluating whether the argument is good, just identifying what it's arguing for.
2. Prephrasing
Before you look at the answer choices, form your own one-sentence version of the main point from the stimulus. This turns the five answer choices from "which sounds most plausible" into "which one matches what I already found" — a much more reliable process.
3. The "Therefore" Test
For each candidate sentence, ask: could I insert "therefore" right before it and have it read naturally as the payoff of everything before it? The real conclusion passes this test; premises and background don't.
4. Traps
Four recurring wrong-answer patterns: (1) premise restatement — a true supporting claim dressed up to look like the point; (2) the sub-conclusion — correct-sounding but one logical step short of the real main point; (3) the opposing view — what the author is arguing against, not for; (4) an answer that's too broad or too narrow — capturing more or less than what the argument actually established.
5. Conclusions in Rhetorical Questions and "But" Sentences
A conclusion can be phrased as a rhetorical question ("Isn't it obvious, then, that the policy should change?") or buried in a "but" sentence following an opposing view. Don't let unusual phrasing hide it from you — the "therefore" test still applies once you convert the rhetorical question to its implied statement.
6. Fill-in-the-Blank Variants
Some stimuli end mid-sentence with a blank, and the question asks which answer choice best completes the argument's own conclusion. Treat this exactly like a normal Main Point question — find what the premises are building toward, then pick the answer that would complete that thought.
Practice items on this page are curriculum-authored in LSAT style; they are not official LSAC questions. Real drilling happens on LawHub — see the assignment below.
Original Practice Items
Q1. Main conclusion: "Municipal composting programs reduce landfill volume. They also lower methane emissions, since food waste is a major source of landfill methane. For a city serious about its climate targets, composting is not optional — it should be mandatory for all residents." What is the main point?
Q2. Which of these is a "premise restatement" trap rather than the actual main point of the stimulus in Q1?
Official Drill Assignment
On LawHub, open one "Additional Practice" LR section (drill tier). Scan the whole section and work only the questions whose stems ask for the main conclusion or main point. Log each one in the error log with type "main-point."
Peek into Tomorrow
Saturday: the first mixed-drill synthesis day, tying together everything from Days 7–11, plus your first timed LR section — a real timing baseline, not just untimed accuracy.