Read For The Nuanced Conflict
Every text has a conflict
If you don't think there's a conflict, look again.
The conflict will not be a simple binary
Simple Binaries
- A vs. B
- Dogs are better than cats.
- The proletariat must resist the oppression of the capitalists.
The LSAT favors nuance.
Nuanced conflicts
- You cannot understand the evolution of anti-trust law without understanding neoliberalism.
- Torts and Contracts are functionally the same area of law.
- Although judges claim to be neutral, ideology predicts the outcome of cases more reliably than precedent.
To understand the conflict, you should understand both the...
- content and
- degree of the disagreement.
Know what the author believes, know what they're against, and know how strongly they're against it.
Read for the why
Most LSAT texts come from academia and high-end journalism. Academics and high-end journalists write because they believe they have some new and brilliant insight.
There's always a reason they wrote this text. As you read, pause to ask yourself: "Why did they write this?"
Every word was included for a reason. Use your understanding of the author's purpose to contextualize the details. Use the why to understand the whats.
Some useful clues
| Clue | How to find it | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Thesis sentence | End of paragraph 1 / beginning of paragraph 2. | Overall purpose |
| Pivots | "but", "yet", "however", "although" | Conflict |
| Topic sentences | First (or second) sentence in a paragraph | Purpose of that paragraph |
| Strong language | "must," "no," "cannot," "should," "always" | Importance / Opinion |
| Repetition | similar words or ideas | Importance |
| Questions | "?" | Conflict |
| Roadmap sentences | "first we will show X, second we prove Y..." | Structure |