Week 4 Synthesis: The Describe Family (Main Point, Role, Method, Flaw)
Week 4 Synthesis: The Describe Family
Main Point, Role, Method, and three flavors of Flaw all belong to the same family — they all ask you to characterize an argument (or part of it) rather than evaluate or extend it. Today contrasts them directly, since confusing tasks within this family is the most common error at this stage.
Decision Matrix: Describe-Family Tasks
| Type | Task | Answer style |
|---|---|---|
| Main Point | Find the conclusion | A restatement of the conclusion |
| Role | Classify one statement's function | Abstract functional description |
| Method | Describe the reasoning technique, neutrally | Abstract technique description, no criticism |
| Flaw | Describe what's wrong with the reasoning | Abstract description naming the specific logical error |
The fastest self-check when torn between two of these: Method and Flaw answers about the same stimulus often look almost identical except Flaw's includes an implicit "and this doesn't actually work because..." Main Point and Role differ in scope — the whole argument's point vs. one sentence's job.
Official Timed Section
One drill-tier LR section, timed at 35 minutes. Blind-review afterward and log the result — your third timing data point.
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.
Q1. Which task asks you to identify what a single bolded sentence is doing within an argument, without evaluating the argument's overall quality?
Q2. Which task asks for a description of reasoning technique with no implied criticism?
Week 5 moves into the assumption/gap family — Necessary Assumption first, using the negation test, which is arguably the single most powerful mechanical tool in all of LR.